MAY 2020 – UPDATE AT LAST!
Hello people! BAGEL here! We last posted many moons ago, and naughty us for not getting news to you sooner of how BAGEL+BALLOON are doing in these strange, globally challenging times. O.O
Here is a quick summary:
PLANS TO MOVE TO CANADA
- Moving to another country during the corona pandemic might seem like the last thing one should be even considering! However BALLOON and I have been doing just that!
- We applied for BAGEL’s Canadian permanent residency visa in February, just before everything began to look dicey in Wuhan. We were inspired and excited to bring our ideas, ambition and experience in interactive theatre and video games across to BALLOON’s old stomping grounds. And of course to learn from a new dynamic and geography.
- The plan so far is to stay the course, and try to go! We’ll keep the website updated of our plans and any info we get on the pandemic as more information comes ‘aboot’.
A NEW PROJECT – CLOSER TIES
- Last autumn we had the great fortune of visiting Athens, Greece, as part of an initiative started by the TRUST IN PLAY (TIP) programme to bring urban game designers together to share and learn with each other. BALLOON spent a whole week in the company of architects, game designers, urban planners, and all sorts of fun-makers! You can find out more about her time at the TIP website: https://community.trustinplay.eu/t/notes-site-specific-game-design/657
- Part of this project was aimed at getting urban games off the ground – and after our Athens experience we were able to start planning a new game called CLOSER TIES, in which players could explore a physical space using a co-created maze made from yarn.
- However… due to the COVID-19 pandemic we quickly had to pivot our idea towards a digital solution instead. We recreated a physical London park in a digital platform and took players on a virtual exploration instead! We also started generating some online behaviour safety resources. You can check out the project here: ………
- The awarded partnership included funding from EDGERYDERS, the GOETHE INSTITUT ATHENS, and the CREATIVE EUROPE PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. This amount was graciously doubled in order to help artists and makers during the COVID-19 crisis – thank you so much folks :D!
- We’re now looking to expand the game to include more real-world-to-virtual locations, to run it over a consecutive number of play sessions, and once the pandemic has died down re-introduce the physical urban game version to our player base.
ACOUSCOUS – FURTHER ADVENTURES
- Also affected by COVID-19, the ACOUSCOUS project with RYAN, KAT and TANNER is now exploring ways to bring the unique mix of spatial audio expertise and organic creativity to people at home!
- We have been investigating the use of mobile phones as speaker array points, the use of radio plays, and jamming and live-streaming via programs such as JAMULUS
- Some funding applications are also in the works. Fingers crossed!
That’s all for now, plenty to get on with as you might expect! Chop chop!
~BAGEL X