Location: Auditorium MNAC - National Museum of Contemporary Art
Time-frame:
Work: May 19-25, 2022 (11:00-18:00)
Opening and public play-test: May 26, 2022
Exhibition: May 27 - June 27, 2022
Time-frame:
Work: May 19-25, 2022 (11:00-18:00)
Opening and public play-test: May 26, 2022
Exhibition: May 27 - June 27, 2022
The Rousseau game is an exhibition playground based on a quote from Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Mankind. It proposes the analysis and documentation of the work process and the play process by creating a limited framework of time, space and materiality for the artistic research of the game. The design of the game as a stage of construction and testing in series of variants of the Rousseau Game is the object of the exhibition.
There are 5 mini-games in the Rousseau playground that follow different aspects of property. In one the space shrinks and players have to find a way to either get others out of the game or to create space for everyone. Others focus on hierarchies, enclosing space, possessions and borders. Each concept is expressed through abstract shapes that inform human movement and relations.
«Primul om care, împrejmuind un teren, s-a încumetat să spună acesta este al meu și a găsit oameni destul de proști ca să-l creadă a fost adevăratul întemeietor al societății civile. De câte crime, războaie, omoruri, de câte mizerii și orori ar fi scutit omenirea cel care, scoțând țărușii sau astupând șanțul, ar fi strigat semenilor săi: “Feriți-vă să-l ascultați pe acest impostor; sunteți pierduți dacă uitați că roadele sunt ale tuturor și că pământul nu este al nimănui.”»
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discurs asupra inegalității dintre oameni, Partea a doua
«The first man, who after enclosing a piece of ground, took it into his head to say this is mine, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society. How many crimes, how many wars, how many murders, how many misfortunes and horrors, would that man have saved the human species, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows, "Beware of listening to this impostor; you are lost, if you forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.”»
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Mankind, Part Two
«Le premier qui, ayant enclos un terrain, s'avisa de dire: Ceci est à moi, et trouva des gens assez simples pour le croire, fut le vrai fondateur de la société civile. Que de crimes, de guerres, de meurtres, que de misères et d'horreurs n'eût point épargnés au genre humain celui qui, arrachant les pieux ou comblant le fossé, eût crié à ses semblables: «Gardez-vous d'écouter cet imposteur; vous êtes perdus, si vous oubliez que les fruits sont à tous, et que la terre n'est à personne.”»
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes, Deuxième partie