The Twentyfivefold Manifestation by Brody Condon

SonsbeekLive: the TwentyfiveFold Manifestation was an outdoor performance art live game/exhibit. The event took place in historic Sonsbeek Park, Arnhem, The Netherlands during the 10th Sonsbeek International Sculpture Exhibition. The annual show is well-known for its efforts to involve society in art. Works were installed in the natural forest setting where organizer Brody Condon incorporated his game TwentyfiveFold Manifestation “as a work of live public art” viewed by the thousands of exhibition attendees. Condon intended to enhance Anna Tilroe’s art show ‘Granduer on a human scale’ about “the urge, the dream, the conflict and the struggle that linked to this aspiration” (http://www.sonsbeek2008.nl/read/en/home). Concurrently, the game offered individuals complete immersion in a ‘futuristic’ world. A total of eighty players/performers participated in intervals of three days at a time over summer of 2008.

Although each character had an improvisational role, the game had a highly-organized structure. It was designed as an exercise of physical, psychological and emotional experience of a fantasy, futuristic, ritualized society. Each three day ‘episode’ was composed of 30 players in basic ‘bands’ of five character types each. Bands of players converged with other groups of players in the future holy forest’s tower where the all resided together to vie for favors from the 'Immortals'. They immersed themselves into an unfamiliar world of deity worship manifest in the objects of art borrowed from sculpture exhibition. Each participant could play as many times as desired and paid the Euro40 for each ‘session’.

The “Forest Guardians of the Immortals” (Condon and his assistants) worked pre-game directly with the participants through the Internet. Bands and groups were constructed, roles were arranged online prior to arrival at the park. An interesting variety of roles were combined for each episode, including the Archivist, the Scholar and the Navigator. Roles were not assigned but discussed and adapted.


The goal of enhancing the exhibit was considerably thought out for both the show attendees and the game participants. The opening exhibit event was a procession that took the art ‘to the streets’. Local Arnhem residents carried some of the portable art show objects. Volunteer game players carried one of their players in costume as their contribution to the parade of art. The procession had a multi-faceted affect: casting art in a celebratory light, introducing the ‘game’ as an art exhibit and introducing the players to the various objects representing their embodied deities, a huge part of the game play.

To justify TwentyfiveFold Manifestation as a New Media art piece is a little bit of a stretch. It’s classification as such is probably based, at least in part, on Condon’s reputation for modified computer games like Adam Killer. Condon has a reputation for a long-term “interest in blurring games and life” (Rhizome). Without Internet communication, however, this performance art may not have been attempted. Promotion was on line. Participant selection and entry was online. Band selection and modification was online, etc. etc. The smooth, rapid flow of information was essential for this complicated game play/art exhibit to be successful. The possibility of this human experiment was potentially disastrous without the intense, daily communications between the organizers (the Forest Guardians of the Immortals) and the participants. Its failure could have dramatically marred the “Granduer” exhibit if this addition failed. Success was ‘virtually’ guaranteed by the Internet.

The game does rub elbow with the ‘sci-fi’ themes of ‘retro-futuristic’ societies recovering from near destruction. Technology was also available during play, given to players by “the Immortals”. Specifics were not supplied in the Player’s Guide.

Classification as New Media Art may be justified in yet another way. Although not an entirely original game (i.e. Survivor), it was an entirely unique approach to promoting an outdoor sculpture exhibition. This performance art certainly added a human dimension. The reverent use of art objects as icons or images, acted out by the performance artists may have stimulated a reminder that art should be treated with reverence. Players who worshipped the art and viewers who watched their rituals may have been reminded of the indefinable nature of art, the ‘Granduer’.

Although, I found no reviews of either the success of Condon’s experiment or the Sculpture Exhibit, there were plenty of listings available on Google.com that encouraged interest and attendance. Based on my experiences with live performances I would guess SonsbeekLive: the TwentyfiveFold Manifestation generated greater interest and depth for the exhibit contributing to the annual show and Brody Condon’s reputation in the New Media Art world.

I do think it would have had a very different feeling than the interactive reenacted roles I have experienced, like the role of Godiah Spray at Historic St. Mary’s City or Civil War reenactments. In Condon’s game, players treat park visitors as “wandering spirits that are simultaneously feared and respected, as well as impossible to communicate with” (Sonsbeek Players Guide). Players were informed they were allowed to create their own way of coping with the ghost but it is unclear whether visitors were informed unless they read the Players Guide before arriving at the exhibit.

The only reference to visitor behavior in the Guide was “the artviewer will experience the game like birdwatching”. For me, this one ‘rule’ was the only not well-thought detail of the game. Human curiosity could make the desire to question or communicate with players a point of contention since they did not get a choice in the matter. This, to me would, most likely, create dissatisfaction for the at least some of the viewers, that they were not allowed to interact with the characters they were presented.

I hope it was a successful experiment. The Player's Guide seemed constructed to make the participatory experience valuable and designed to attract attention to the Granduer Show. Brody Condon continues his efforts to blur the lines between life and games.

References

Rhizome.org. Previous Posts, Enchanted Forest [Internet]. Available at
http://www.rhizome.org/editorial/fp/month.php?month=200807

Sonsbeek 2008. Unique tradition. Legendary reputation [Internet]. Available at http://www.sonsbeek2008.nl/read/en/home

Sonsbeeklive.org. The Players Guide [Internet]. Available at
http://www.sonsbeeklive.org/playersguide.html