jetSET - for playing SET on the go  

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boxSET

 text below featured in June 2007 issue of artwurl.org/PS 122 gallery (NYC), edited by HOMEWORK

In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players “play” by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one’s authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite.
The Game.
SET is a game in which a group of people organize a group of objects.
The objects may include:
pockets
Inbox
pantry
trashbin
archives
the clothes you're wearing
purse
backpack
 the magazine stand
wallets
grocery store aisles
desktops
family albums
drawers – any drawer
bookshelves
living room hutch
medicine cabinet
the newspaper
fannypack
the armoire
etc
Anyone can play.
Players can be found anywhere.

For example, you might try playing SET with:
your classmates
your boss
your mom
your mom's Mah-Jong friends
your Dad
your Dad's bar friends
your brother's wife
your brother's wife's work friends
 local cheerleaders
your History professor
the downstairs neighbor
the downstairs neighbor’s nephew
the bus creep
your 8-year old
your 8-year old’s play date
your roommate
your roommate’s work friends
your roommate’s little sister
the debate team
etc.Players mustn't necessarily have any relation to the objects at all.adding new rules
Given that these are the only rules, you as players are invited to add and contribute new ones. For instance, you might choose to instate a rule wherein players share what they are doing each round, every 5 minutes; or when a car drives by.
 Why play:
boardroom bonding
scientific inquiry
wonderment
ice-breaker
boredom
thrills
problem solving
enlightenment
teaching
parlor games
entertainment
self-diagnosis
So here's how you play:
Assemble your players.
Collectively decide the contents of the game.
If you don't have any ideas, ask the players to empty their pockets and play with whatever you find.
Establish a time limit. What you find might determine the stakes. For instance, you might find you don't need any stakes – to get to see what other people have is enough. On the other hand, you might want to redistribute possessions. In such a case, consider proposing a winner takes all game.
 Or, say you play SET with the contents of a cupboard. On the other hand, say you and your neighbor play SET with the combined contents of your cupboards. If you emplace some consequences (that the winner takes all the starch or the items with yellow packaging) you might discover consequent culinary ingenuities.
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Now here are the rules.
As an example, we will apply the rules as if the contents you are using are the contents of your pockets:
upSET – upset existing categories *
reSET – reset the categories. *

* By emptying your pockets, you begin the game – you are already upsetting the order of the pocket.
* You can place the categories of things into supporting structures such as boxes, plastic sleeves, posted onto vertical surfaces, etc.

 * You can reset and label your groupings by using little post-its or tags to keep a trail of the categories.
* When we play, we use custom-made tags that allow us to retain the traces of the categories overthrown...adding new rules
Given that these are the only rules, you as players are invited to add and contribute new ones. For instance, you might choose to instate a rule wherein players share what they are doing each round, every 5 minutes; or when a car drives by.

And YOU decide the objective of your round.

Now, you may find that some players are going to resist not having an objective clearly and already set out for them. By providing a modicum of order for this person, you will find them quite content. You might suggest that they think about the way that something like tossing a frisbee is fun, even when it does not have a clear objective other than to recreate.

 In general, should you find nay-sayers, mollify their if, and, or buts by either telling them it's art, that it's the process that is the artwork, or just get them playing and they will be amused.When the time comes to end the game, if you haven't already had conversations with other players about what you learned from each other, what you learned about what can be categorized, what you learned about yourself, what you learned about knowledge, then take the opportunity to do so.
Marisa Jahn & Erik Carver

BACK

SET
by Marisa Jahn & Erik Carver
2006-8
media: paper labels and other peoples' possessions

venue: the Art Gallery of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN) Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT (Massachussets, MA), the Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia, PA), and various random people