Art Game/ Personal Projects/analog game
Walking in a levitated Community
Site Specific Game, 2019
Walking in a levitated Community was a site-specific work made in ShenZhen TongFuYu Industry Park. It started by inviting residents to join a world building map based TRPG game which was inspired by Avery Alder’s The Quiet Year. It helps players to create a collective imagination of this complex formed community. People share their needs and tell stories with the park. Building on top of the imaginary world, I reinvited everyone to a fake children ’s book event which is the entry point for an alternative reality game. Following traces and clues buried in each scene, players hold a map in their hand and drift through dual sides of the park. One hand, there’s history, work culture, mundane life marked on the physical space of the park. On the other hand, there’s the absurd, religious, sexual, and playful disjointed narratives speaking itself through brochures, texts, links, and installations. The chosen places are often overlooked or even entirely unawares by the locals. The piece reshapes the way in which residents perceive the park.
hanging out playing tongfuyu TRPG Group A
game map everyone draw together in Group D
Game Map
The game started at Tongfuyu library where a fake children's book event was scheduled. A local library, Tongfuyu library offers a semiconcealed space for reading. Although it is open to the public, most people who frequent the park are not aware of it. At the library, everyone was given a map with hidden clues for the game.
The first clue, a children’s book, Abyss and Survivors, is itself based on the gameplay of four children playing the Tongfuyu Trpg. It’s a dreamy world of fire clouds floating in the sky and wind whales living in an abyss.
cover of children’s book Abyss and Survivors
Bookshelf where the Abyss and Survivors book is located.
Inside the library, Abyss and Survivors poster on the wall
Player reading the map and the children’s book.
The second stop is a long-abandoned bank, which the estate management staff was not aware of as well. The only person seemingly aware of the place is a thief who steals electricity for his electric bike. Clues in the form of USB devices are buried in a roadblock in the bank.
Roadblock
USBs on the roadblock, where players can plug their cellphones.
Abandoned ATM
Screenshots of the video stored in the USBs. The
ICP recordal number shown at the end of the
video is the clue to the next spot. The theme of
this video is based on a group of workers’
gameplay. When he was asked what was
scarce in the dystopian world which he built,
his answer was
women. It’s sexist. I was angry and wrote a
poem to satire the statement and himself.
The third stop is in the stairway of an office building. This stop is inspired by a game in which players build a nihilistic world. In this world, there’s only one collective mind that everyone contributes to; They consume nothing but ideologies. Inspired by this gameplay, I narrated a series of fragmented languages. As one walks to the rooftop, it mimics the questioning of what forms a community.
Endding point
Climbing the stairway, the rooftop of this building has a small Tibetan Buddhism temple. Its a spiritual and peaceful place to end.