Gaming the System is a project that uses the structure of games as a starting point for exploring systems and interaction. Art and game thinking are both becoming increasingly generic, and through their pervasiveness into other systems they can force one to inhabit new situations. The project spans several weeks and key works will be showcased during the Pixelache Living Spaces festival, where the artworks will be based in communities, on tram carriages, in metro terminals, on the streets and within our homes. Gaming the System focuses on how we 'game the system' to act, how we artists challenge such systems, and how game structures interact within these environments. Gaming the System is curated by the artist collective These Animals.
Works:
R.A.T.I.S.M. - SPART Action Group/Justin McKeown
R.A.T.I.S.M. (Random Alternative Tourist Information Service Machine) is a machine displayed in public spaces (in the virtine next to Lidl at Sörnäinen/Kurvi) that dispenses information for tourists in Helsinki. R.A.T.I.S.M. is based on the belief that 21st century tourists are not interested in quotidian pursuits such as museums, cathedrals or zoos; they are looking for pertinent information about DIY art events, tattoo parlors, underground music, and hip cafés. R.A.T.I.S.M. will be functional from 17 September through the end of the festival, the 27th, and can be interacted with via SMS. More info >>>
THE FIGHT NIGHT - Alan Bulfin and Pii Anttila
The Fight Night game is a board game, inspired by the everyday domestic relationships and requires only one skill - a close attention to detail. It is open for participation of 3 – 10 people, playing for any amount of time. In the game, there are cards with pictures of domestic objects, of different sizes and shapes. Players take turns to turn a card over, and if it matches one already on the table, he or she attempts to get a hold of a trophy placed in the middle of the table, to take it before the person with the same card does. It is a simple game that everyone can take part in, yet it establishes relationships between people, as the players have to pay close attention to your opponents. It will be played in an allocated place in a metro car, engaging the commuters.
You can play The Fight Night in a Kallio apartment on Thursday 24 September starting at 19:00. Ring the buzzer marked with the PIxelache sticker (if the door is not already open). More info >>>
DISCORDION - Steve Maher
DISCORDION is an interactive sonic sculpture which makes use of both human interaction, relationships and the moving central corridors of a Helsinki City tram. Corresponding to the bellows like junction of the tram, making use of its movement as the tram navigates the city, a Piano Accordion will be suspended. As the tram moves the bellows of the accordion expand and contract, when passengers interact by pressing buttons and keys the accordion will play its traditional sound but limited to the movements of the tram. In this way the art work is collaboration between passengers and the driver.
DISCORDION is being presented as part of Pixelache's "Festival centre" tram, with a performance beginning on Friday at 16:00. The tram will start at Paavalin kirkko in Vallila and the performance will last for one loop of the tram, with the regular stops. You can view the tram timetable and route map on our Locations page.
STREET LINE CRITICS - Lotte Bender
Street Line Critics - On Tour is an interactive process by Lotte Bender. Street Line Critics - On Tour in Helsinki gathers questions, dreams, and creative expressions about Helsinki from its collaborators in Ireland. They invite passer-bys of Kulosaari metro station to respond by writing the urban poetry, this way creating a dialogue between places and cultures.
Street Line Critics - On Tour will be ongoing from 12:00 - 18:00 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the festival in the tunnel/walkway underneath Kulosaari metro station (Ukko-Pekkan tie). A presentation of the project will take place at 13:00 on Sunday. More info >>>
Other projects
We encourage you to see the other parts of the Gaming the System programme that are not explicity part of the Pixelache Festival. These works (Timo Bredenberg: The Last Worker Standing; Pouyan Mohseninia: Metro Beat; Pii Anttila: Thief of Time; Anastasia Artemeva: Helsinki Underground; and Raine Vasquez: Profane Displacement) begin on 17 September and continue throughout the duration of Gaming the System, which also concludes on the 27th (at the same time as Pixelache does). Further information about these projects can be found via the These Animals website.
These Animals is an artist group comprised of Pii Anttila (Finland), Anastasia Artemeva (Russia), Alan Bulfin (Ireland), and Steve Maher (Ireland), brought together through their shared interest in creating an art happening in an urban place. The artist collective invited practitioners from Finland and abroad for their debut event in September 2015.