Created in Birmingham

The Emergent Game starts in earnest on 5 June although it’s been warming up for a little while now.

In case you’ve not been following it, it’s an ‘alternate reality game’ (although I prefer their description of ‘a framework for exploring your surroundings’) and is part of the New Generation Arts Festival.

Explaining what The Game involves is a little tricky but its main component is playfulness, which is hopefully enough to get you interested.

There’s still plenty of time to take part though and even a couple of workshops to help you on the way:

• Workshop 1 is at Rooty’s in the Custard Factory tonight (2 June). Drop in any time between 4.30pm and 7pm.
• Workshop 2 will be at BCU’s Dept of Fine Art on Margaret Street (just behind the BM&AG) between 2pm and 4pm on Friday 6 June.

There’ll be a sackful of toys and assorted items/materials for customising your new Luden. You can also get involved in devising the street games that will be played later in the month.

If you’re an existing player then don’t bring your avatar, whatever you do.

If none of this makes the slightest bit of sense then all will be revealed on the Emergent Game website. Well, some will be revealed.

A free, one-off performance will take place at Ikon Eastside at 10pm on Tuesday 3 June.

The Society of Futopia has been developed by four final year students at BIAD, Birmingham City University and will take place during the New Generation Arts Festival. One of the artists, Gareth Burnett did have a blog he was using as a diary – there’s some interesting stuff there but that seems to have petered out. According to the artists:

The performance is rooted in Futurist Theatre and mixes live performance with film and animation; at its core it is an exploration of the human condition. There is a level of interaction with the audience; instead of conventional lighting the audience will be given torches to discover the characters themselves.

Or, rather more excitingly:

In violence we worship beauty. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. This is the truth according to the Society of Futopia.

The performance will also be filmed and exhibited alongside a set of photographs based around science and genetics in the future, religious structures and the human condition. This exhibition runs from 17th June – 20th June. On the subject of filming, here’s a trailer they prepared earlier: