PERFORMING (UN)REAL ECONOMIES

BY MING UNN ANDERSEN & YENTSEN LIU

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. What’s the difference between work and play? Where does productivity end and unproductivity begin? Does purposeful play go against the very nature of playfulness?

Performing (un)Real Economies is a playful workshop exploring the use of improvisation games and Live Action Role-Play (LARP) as tools for collectively designing alternative worlds. Through LARPing we can safely fail and try out things we would avoid in real life, making them natural spaces for exploration of what kind of worlds are possible and/or preferable. 

Let’s blur the lines between real and (un)real economies, shifting our sight from the dominant capitalist market, to the unseen diverse practices of work and exchange. Drawing inspiration from the unpaid housework, alternative currencies, gift giving, civic hacking, co-gardening, and candy sharing, we will speculate on what (un)real economies could exist in the future (or a parallel universe). 

The workshop is aimed at creative ‘professionals’ interested in exploring new tools for their practice or anyone interested in questions of diverse economies and spending a day to play. Through peer-learning, laughing, discussion, make-believe and bad acting we will collectively question our own notions of values, labor, productivity - and economy. The workshop will leave you with a new sensibility to economies, and a taste of different improv exercises and how to create and play a LARP.

Take a break from reality and indulge in some (un)real fun.

For more info check our website http://un-real.fun

Monday, June 25

10 AM - 5 PM

antwork 

Free of Charge

EXPERTS BIOS:

Ming Unn Andersen

Ming designs strategies, experiences and publications at the intersection of the social and political dynamics of design. She is based in Helsinki and is completing her MA in Collaborative and Industrial Design at Aalto University. In the past she has founded Cirka, an art magazine aimed to celebrate the mundane in everyday life whilst giving a platform for young Norwegian artists to showcase their work. In 2016 she co-founded Popsykkeli, a start-up selling artisanal, vegan popsicles. She is also a design production and communication manager at Creagent, an international design talent broker. She runs a facebook group called “WTF IS CRITICAL DESIGN” collecting various forces and ideas that are using design as a critical tool for creating new social systems and possible futures.

While drawing on previous theatre experience, she has recently been studying various embodied and performative methods exploring how they could contribute to a feminist, critical design practice of investigating alternative realities.

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Yentsen Liu

Yentsen is a co-founder of Dualai Design Studio in Taiwan and now pursuing his master's degree in Collaborative and Industrial Design at Aalto University, Finland. His previous works in Taiwan were mostly in business context, including brand identity, information design, and product design. He recently discovered new value in non-profit projects intervening with social matters.

Some of his design works include an installation guide for unisex restrooms, research on the early deaf education in Taiwan, promotion of the Creative Commons license and design proposal for the new identity card of Taiwan. Currently, he is interested in creatively exploring opportunities of design and play to facilitate debate, participation, and collaboration.