~ Event Scores ~

Jentery Sayers | MDIA 200 | UVic Media Studies

Slides Online: jentery.github.io/mdia200v2/slides/play/

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You have an event score before you.

Don't open it quite yet.

Next image, of Brecht's "Three Gap Events," care of Liz Kotz and October.

Now, open your envelope.

Read the event score to yourself.

Imagine enacting it.

Volunteer to read it aloud?

Context: Fluxus (1960s)

Art off the wall + out of the museum / gallery

Emphasis on everyday life, participation,
and routine activities

Not about the artist; intended for everyone

Intermedia (between musical score and poem)

Learn more about Fluxus.

The Event Score

Invites a "practical collaboration" (Kotz).

Both an object and an activity

Brief + precise; rarely more than a few lines

Often mailed or hand-delivered

Context of receipt + action is significant.

Open to interpretation; no genre

Read Liz Kotz's "Post-Cagean Aesthetics and the 'Event' Score."

The Event Score

Event is "internal to the score" (Kotz).

Repetition of singular performances

A "readymade action" or mechanic (Kotz)

"Bringing things into evidence" and
attending to what's already there (Kotz)

Read Liz Kotz's "Post-Cagean Aesthetics and the 'Event' Score."

An event score is playful.

"x is playing if and only if x has made a
temporary reallocation to autotelic activities
of resources primarily committed to
instrumental purposes." (Suits)

Read Bernard Suits's "Words on Play."

"REALLOCATION"

Mashed potatoes are served.

Someone plays with them.

Suits liked to talk about potatoes. He did not write this event score, tho.

Lessons for Narrative Architecture

Play may be entwined with procedure.

Uncertainty (not cause and effect) is the
"bedrock" of reality (McDonald).

"Chance only becomes visible ... when it matters
to the observer, when it becomes felt." (McDonald)

Surprising outcomes spark good stories.

How not to dictate interpretation, paths of
engagement, and forms of participation?

Read Peter McDonald's "The Impossible Reversal."
Also, check out Keith O'Hara's "Games at Work" syllabus.

Describe an expressive mechanic
for a game format of your choice.

Formats include video, board, tabletop,
party, and live action roleplay games.

(Here, we begin Prompt 1 in WS4.)

The following exercise is drawn from Moledina et al.'s "Playful Narrative" toolbox.

Begin by identifying some of your
favourite verbs for narrative action.

Examples include "agree," "disagree,"
"insist," "betray," "charm," "lie,"
"comfort," and "amuse."

Now think of some of your favourite
mechanics in games. Genre helps here.

Action/Adventure mechanics:
throw, climb, attack, dodge, fish

Match 3 mechanics:
simple match, 5+ match, combo,
clear screen, store piece

Articulate your verbs with your mechanics.

What would it look like to [Narrative Action]
by [Mechanic]?
(Moledina et al.)

What would it look like to betray
by clearing the screen?

What would it look like to insist
by dodging?

Test your expressive mechanic.

You might write an event score
and have someone playtest it.
Observe what they do and take notes.

How does context shape interpretation
and the stories that emerge?

Thanks again to Moledina et al.'s "Playful Narrative" toolbox.

When you're done, explain your motivations
for the expressive mechanic, why it interests you,
and how it prompts storytelling in the
game format you selected.

Use terminology from the "Narrative"
and "Play and Procedure" handouts.

Looking for inspiration?

I recommend reading this story by Renata Price.
It's about playing Citizen Sleeper.

Next

Please read Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood's
"Fighting for Food Sovereignty Amid Worsening Wildfires."

We'll begin Prompt 2 (WS4).