CounterPlay

Tag: Freedom

  • The double-edged sword of the modern library

    The double-edged sword of the modern library

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    The classic library is a conundrum in and of itself, a building dedicated to the imaginary worlds of fiction, of curious characters from the minds of authors and playwrights, and a space where you are asked not utter a word louder than your breath, and where more angry stares hit your eyes than at a busy train station.

    For us CounterPlayers the library is a valued venue, it is a space for us to explore our ideas, and moreover it’s a collaborator and friend that enables our annual festival to become a reality. My job as a volunteer was to make sure that the allocated rooms and spaces where ready for both participants and hosts, and required both a laptop in one arm and a friendly face when walking around asking students, library guests and the like to kindly leave the space open for our festival.

    Luckily for me, most students seemed to understand the relevance of a debate staged in the library, others, however, had their doubts as to what a festival of play was doing, first of all in the library, and second of all, why it involved adults.

    It was and still is curious to me how the users of such a vast mecca of literature and knowledge are unaware of their own need and desire to play. Are we not, as readers, part of an adventure that far exceeds ordinary life? I would even argue that the pages of non-fiction and newspaper as well as literature require us to step out of our immediate present and let words form the bridge between us and somewhere else. To learn and experience is to take a leap of faith.

    Exactly this dilemma was what brought the participants and listeners to the debate in the spring. What are the possibilities of the library, and how do we change the norms adherent to it? Kindergardens, schools and organizations as well as us at CounterPlay, wish for the library to evolve into a room and community that embraces imagination not just in the written word.

    Here on our blog I wish to take the question even further: how is it that the library, the home of books, adventures, fairy princesses, epic wars and deceptive murderers is a space of silence? Even the division of a children’s wing indicate a need to separate the immediate imagination and play (and noise?) of children from the seriousness of the adult reader. But I believe that just as much action is present within the mind of the adult reader, and thus the physical space of the library, the seriousness and silence seems to be in clear opposition to the realm of the inner experience.

    Perhaps the library should be a place for us to explore and to play, where children are free to move around and experience narrative in their own way? Perhaps a place where old prejudices can be challenged by who knows – a laughing kid, a bubble show, a reading or performance art? Even smaller libraries without the resources for separate rooms for play or immersion might open up the space for a little less quiet and a little more laugh.

    We all here at CounterPlay dare you to challenge the conventions of the home of the written word and accept, show and respect the inner need for play and imagination.

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  • Playing With Power – an Invitation

    Playing With Power – an Invitation

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    [Image text: Alex is a friendly guy, but what if he was not? How could this pose be a demonstration of power?]

    The theme for CounterPlay ’17 is “The Power of Play“, and I urge you to not solely understand it in the “usual” sense. I believe the phrase is commonly used to point towards, well, “the power of play”, the way play is powerful and holds transformative potential in a wide range of situations throughout our lives.

    I obviously agree that play is massively powerful, and I think this is, in part, due to the participatory nature of play, which again means play is powerful because it invites us to play with power:

    This is to say that if there is not a shift of power, if those expected to participate are not powerful (to a never precisely defined extent), “at some point participation simply stops being participation”. Participation, then, should not be used as a glossy term to hide the fact that often, there is no real power for the socalled participants. Exactly the same can be said about play and playfulness. Do you want to cultivate a playful culture in the workplace? Well, it can’t be sugarcoating (like ping-pong tables or other gimmicks), it needs to be embedded in the fabric, and it requires actual power and decision making to be put in the hands of those you expect to play along.

    I reiterated this in my discussion of “playwashing“:

    play is only real if it entails real participation and participation is only real if it entails a redistribution of power among the participants. Consequently, an organization is not playful if there is not a connection between the proclaimed presence of play in the organization and the distribution of power.

    Do the opportunities to play (if they are at all there) come with real agency and influence? Are employees frequently engaging in negotiations of rules and purpose of the work they’re doing? Is there a real sense of ownership and a shared responsibility?

     

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    This way of framing or understanding play, as inherently participatory, subversive, rebellious even, is rapidly becoming more important as politicians all around the world are increasingly ignoring or downright limiting our opportunities for civic participation and, eventually, our freedom. As Bernie DeKoven has told us time and again, “play is freedom” and games are metaphors that allow us to “imagine freedom“. Clay Mazing shows it. Miguel Sicart writes about it:

    Play is like language— a way of being in the world, of making sense of it. It takes place in a context as a balance between creation and destruction, between adherence to a structure and the pleasures of destruction. Playing is freedom.

    Playfulness frees us from the dictates of purpose through the carnivalesque inheritance of play. Through playful appropriation, we bring freedom to a context.

    Thomas S. Henricks touch upon similar perspectives:

    If play has a central quality, it is that this behavior (as action, interaction, and activity), first of all, celebrates people’s abilities to craft their own responses to circumstances free from interference. That distinctive process of making and interpreting, what I have called ascending meaning, is connected intimately to the project of human freedom.

    I’m convinced that playful people are better equipped to play with power, to challenge power, and to insist on freedom, but I also believe we need to explore this in more breadth and depth. Following our logic of cross-pollination and deploying a kaleidoscopic view on play is what leads me to the “invitation” part of this (already too long) post:

    Let’s collect and share bits and pieces that demonstrate the power of play to play with power.

    I’m thinking we could do a series of blog posts right here, but as always, I’m open to any suggestion that will make us, as a community, more knowledgeable on the power of play. Who knows, maybe it can lead to real, powerful and playful activism?

    Do you want to play along? Will you share your experiences, insights and ideas?

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  • Play is Freedom

    Play is Freedom

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    [su_box title=”Guest Post: Bernie DeKoven” box_color=”#023254″ title_color=”#ffffff” radius=”5″]This post is written by guest blogger Bernie DeKoven. For more of his work, see www.deepfun.com and www.aplayfulpath.com.

    If you also want to write a post, get in touch![/su_box]

    There are certain people, like you and me, who believe in fun. We believe in it so much and so hard and so completely that we have to share it. We just have to. We believe that the pursuit of fun is even more fun than the pursuit of happiness. We believe that fun is an inalienable right. Not that it should be. But that it really, really is. Like freedom. In fact, we believe that fun is freedom. Just like freedom is fun. For sure.

    IMG_2061 (Medium)Play? Well of course. We believe in play because play is fun. Especially playful play. Because, like Patrick Bateson said (yes, him, not me), “playfulness is what makes play fun.”

    We are a playful folk. Kind of like play circuses, don’t you know. Wandering hither and yon, finding people we can just hang with and get playful. We’re not quite famous, if you know what I mean, not really “mainstream.” But play, well, it’s what we do. Who we are. What we are meant for.

    Games? Toys? Sure. Sometimes. When they’re fun. And what we like about them is that we can share them, play with people with them. We believe in Frisbees.

    But for all our faith in fun, it’s not until our tribes can get together, like we do at CounterPlay, not until all these different groups of players get to play with each other that we feel the depth of it all, the profundity of the faith, of the fun, of the freedom we give each other by the sheer power and variety and faith in fun.

    I think the whole world believes in fun. But only a few of us actually practice it. Faithfully. Which is why it is so powerful for us when we get to play together. All us play practitioners, playing freely, safely, fearlessly together.

    Fearlessly.

    It’s funny – a sad kind of funny – that we so often feel that we’re doing something wrong, something illegal, having fun like this, together, in the open. Which is probably why, when we get together, it’s so much more fun. Because we free each other. Because fun is threatening to those people who aren’t having it. Just like freedom.

    And when we’re ready, or just feel like it, or find the right opportunity, maybe we can play like we do, in public. Not so much showing people how good we are at playing together. But more like inviting people to join in the fun.

    And then, then we become a cause, if you know what I mean. Then we make our statement. Freeing each other to play, and maybe, who knows, the world.

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