Day of the Figurines. The Board. Photo courtesy of Blast Theory

‘A key feature of Day of the Figurines is that it is a slow pervasive game that unfolds over a month through the exchange of just a few text messages each day. This slowness opens up new artistic possibilities for creating interactive narrative that mixes pre authored rules and content with improvised responses to players’ actions. From a research perspective, this structure enables us to explore the temporal issues of how a pervasive game can be mixed with the patterns of players’ ongoing daily lives, an aspect of pervasive gaming that has hitherto largely been ignored in favour of location oriented issues.’ (Benford, 2006: 1)

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The Gasometer

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On 28 September 2006 I started to play Day of the Figurines in Berlin. I ill then continued to play it from Exeter, and wherever I was between then and the end of October.

Gabriella Giannachi's figurine

Check the game's website at [link]

To see how the game, to quote Benford, 'mixed with the patterns of players’ ongoing daily lives', I planned to keep a day by day diary of the piece.

The destinations' table

METHODOLOGY

• Preface 27/9/2006

MEMORY | IMMANENCE | ESSENTIAL ABSENCES | VERFREMDUNG

• Day of the Figurines 28/9/2006
• Day of the Figurines 29/9/2006
• Day of the Figurines 30/9/2006
• Day of the Figurines 1/10/2006

TRANSITION | KNOWLEDGE | PALIMPSEST | SURFACE

• Day of the Figurines 2/10/2006
• Day of the Figurines 3/10/2006
• Day of the Figurines 4/10/2006
• Day of the Figurines 5/10/2006

THE HOMECOMING | TRAMPOLINE GOSSIP | THE UNCANNY

• Day of the Figurines 6/10/2006

RESPONSE to Day of the Figurines by Stefanie Kuhn

METHODOLOGY N. 2 | RESPONSE TO STEFANIE KUHN

• Day of the Figurines 7/10/2006

THE GIFT

• Day of the Figurines 8/10/2006

TRANSITION | WAITING | TRACING

• Day of the Figurines 9/10/2006
• Day of the Figurines 10/10/2006
• Day of the Figurines 11/10/2006

THE SENSE OF AN ENDING

• Day of the Figurines 12/10/2006

TRANSITION | REPETITION

• Day of the Figurines 13/10/2006

second RESPONSE to Day of the Figurines by Stefanie Kuhn

OPPOSITIONS | SECOND RESPONSE TO STEFANIE KUHN

• Day of the Figurines 14/10/2006

ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SAVELOY

• Day of the Figurines 15/10/2006

ENDURANCE

• Day of the Figurines 16/10/2006

RESPONSE to Day of the Figurines by Nick Kaye

RESPONSE TO NICK KAYE

• Day of the Figurines 17/10/2006

COLLAPSE | THE SIGN | COLLAPSE OF THE SIGN

• Day of the Figurines 18/10/2006

A LAST FEW WORDS ON METHODOLOGY

• Day of the Figurines 19/10/2006

A LAST FEW WORDS ON MY PLAY

• Day of the Figurines 20/10/2006

THE END

• Day of the Figurines 21/10/2006

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feedback by Mieke Matzke

Laura Cull tracing Deleuze

Some figurines, including Hassan

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The locations in blue are those I visited. The ones in white, for one reason or another, are locations I could not visit on this occasion.

• 24 Hour Garage
• Allotments
• Big Chef
• Bins
• Blue Cross
• Boarded up Shop
• Bus Shelter
• Canal
• Car Showroom
• Cash Creators
• Cemetery
• Chefwok
• Cop Shop
• Council Block
• Dance Hall
• Gasometer
• Hospital
• Internet Café
• Kath’s Café
• Level Crossing
• Locarno
• Max Agra's Curry House
• Multi Storey Car Park
• The Nuclear Bunker
• Pirate FM
• Product Barn
• Rat Research Institute
• Rec
• Ron's Top Chip Shop
• Royal British Legion
• Sauna
• SK8 Park
• Slaughter House
• Sparkies
• Street Sign Depot
• TH Plating
• The Battle of Trafalgar Square
• The Conveniences
• The Lock
• The Pound Shop
• The Vic
• Timber Yard
• Tower Block
• Traffic island
• Trap Solutions
• Underpass
• Video Zone
• XXX Cinema
• YMCA

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