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LAWS OF CHANCE
Artists vs. Gallerists. Are you ready to take your place in the world?
PREMISE
Laws of Chance was based off of Jean (Hans) Arp's 1916-17 series of collages. Arp was a dadaist artis who claimed to cede control to gravity and chance by dropping cut out squares onto a piece of paper and sticking them whereever they would fall.
In the world of art often feels gated and elitist, and is full of exploitation. Artists sell their work to galleries who then resell it at immensely greater prices. Often, artists from oppressed groups or lower caste communities are also exploited for their almost 'exotic' appeal - their art being sold and resold for millions while they themselves are put under immense pressure and earn little for it.
GAME PLAY
Laws of Chance is a 2 player game played between an Artist and Gallerist. The artist recieves a shuffled Art Deck from which they pick out a card and sell it to the Gallerist.
For selling this artwork, the Artist recieves payment in Connections and Money, and the Gallerist recieves payment in Money.
This currency is then used to purchase cut out pieces of squares which the Artist and Gallerist must take turns to paste on an A3 sheet of paper which is their 'real estate', thereby taking space.
At the end of the game, the result was meant to capture which party takes how much space or agency, but there was another play involved that neither players knew about.
While the intent of the game was to make the odds unfair and favorable to the Gallerist, since the Gallerist earns only Money and is able to save more, the game turned out to be a little more balanced than I hoped and thus requires some recalculation.
However, during their game, players started experimenting with their squares, folding them into different shapes, and sticking them on their sheets in creative ways. It was interesting to see how much they enjoyed this part of the process
PLACES TO BUY
15M
15C
5M
10M
5C
10C
Exhibit (1 Square)
Gallery (2 Squares)
Museum (3 Squares)
Collective (1 Square)
Sale (2 Squares)
Art School (3 Squares)
TRUMP CARD
By the end of the game,
this card was presented
to players before their
sheets were taken and
put on display
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We made and did plenty more during this 2 week course! If you'd like to see a strange little art film we made, click here!
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