PERSONALDEBRIS  

so when jonah blogged house gymnastics he also provided a link to the submoves, a similar project done by parsons school of design students. and then you have fiasco, which i don’t think is actually up and running just yet - but extends the concept by adding territoriality to the mix. with fiasco stupid stunts win you turf in nyc, as opposed to owning a move (in the case of submoves).

i must say there is something to be said for the sheer simplicity and brilliance of house gymnastics . it provides simple ubiquitous constraints and is easily portable to any locale, allowing practically anybody if they desire to contribute or participate. while fiasco and submoves require locality and context (which can also be a great bonus from another perspective) the house or any kind of shelter or dwelling is such a ubuiquitous concept, and the way in which a very private place becomes public theater gives it a lot of appeal. since living outside of nyc i wouldn’t be able to take part in submoves or fiasco - but i could do house gymnastics right now if i felt like it. also nice to see how because of its extensibility (like RPGs) house gymnastics has diffused out to site specific moves (look at the gallery pics at the tate, or the office).

house gymnastics actually has a some connections to le parkour which has picked up a following around the globe as you can see here, and here and here. le parkour like skateboarding are darling subjects right now in the ubicomp/public space scene.

i don’t know if house gymnastics will get there, but it’s entertaining nonetheless - and reminds me of great childhood experiences… my siblings and i actually used to compete against each other this way - we had a hallway that connects all the bedrooms in the house - and we used to prop ourselves up between the walls and make funny bodily configurations.

this entry was posted 03/12/2004 at 6:45 pm and is filed under ART.DESIGN. you can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. you can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.