links for 2009-04-17

Dan Hon rants about in which ways ARGs could be improved. I agree with a lot of this, but the ludologist in me squirms at the emphasis on storytelling. I’m not disputing that games tell stories, but I am wondering if it is their ultimate purpose.

Video of an awesome installation by Pablo Valbuena for TodaysArt 2008. Projections on the city hall of The Hague that create the illusion of the building’s façade transforming. Imagine this were real…

Tijmen Schep on the tendency of people involved with locative stuff to flirt with the Situationist heritage: “So, we have two options. Either we stop pretending the situationists are our forefathers, or we actually do see them as our forefathers, and start using computing to disrupt instead of streamline society.” Perhaps “disrupt” is putting it too strongly. I would go with “subvert”. Subversively changing people’s views on public life, public space and public identity. Not by destroying the current one, but by shifting it into new territory.

Wonderful bit of technology-mediated playfulness in urban space. It wouldn’t take much to turn this into a cool game. I would also love to try this in my home-town and compare the results with Kacie (this project’s initiator).