Event
Mon 3 - Sun 9 Jul 2023 at six outdoor locations across Bristol
Playable City Bristol
Come and play with Playable City Bristol! The six brilliant sandbox commissions will be open to the public between 3 – 9 July. This your invitation to explore and play with each of the early prototypes.
Hosted by
Emma Boulton
Watershed producer supporting collaborative R&D programmes including Sandbox and Playable City.Playable City began in Bristol, and we are thrilled to return with a new series of commissions supported by MyWorld Ideas Programme. Through Sandbox, Watershed has supported the six fantastic commissions from Bristol and beyond to develop new early-stage prototypes that place play at the heart of our city. From July the commissions will be open to the public across six different locations.
During the week you can hug soft robots, dance with inter-dimensional creatures, be immersed in Somali weaving, fool the eye of an AI, move with pixels, and create dazzling light animations using movement.
These playable prototypes are not finished projects. Some of the works are testing concepts for much bigger projects and others are the first iterations of a design. Playable City is the first step in their journey, and over time we hope to see the prototypes develop, evolve and travel.
The prototypes are:
HOW (NOT) TO GET HIT BY A SELF-DRIVING CAR
Where: M Shed
When: 3 - 7 July, 12:00 - 18:00
A street-based game that challenges anyone to avoid being detected as a pedestrian in the eye of an AI. With advanced image recognition systems becoming increasingly prevalent through surveillance cameras and self-driving cars, the cities we live in are starting to see us back. By exploring how these systems observe us, and where their blind spots lie, the game aims to foster dialogue about the potential issues they may present whilst contributing to a more inclusive future of AI.
Creators: Tomo Kihara & Playfool
Where: Brandon Hill Park
When: 4 - 6 July, 16:00 - 22:00; 7 - 8 July, 14:00 - 22:00; 9 July, 14:00 - 18:00
Gigantic, inflatable and illuminated creatures will be wrapped around trees inviting passers-by to play by hugging, squeezing or poking them. Using pioneering soft robotic technology, the creatures will respond with shape-change, light and sound and influence the behaviour of other creatures nearby.
Creators: Air Giants
FIREFLIES, A GLITCH featuring ARCANE & SCREAMING COLOR
Where: Lakota Nightclub
When: 5 - 7 July, 14:00 - 18:00
An invitation to join Firefly Odyssey, a tour company specialising in the observation of inter-dimensional wildlife. Scan a QR code on your smartphone to experience the Moon Street mural (outside the legendary Lakota Nightclub) burst into life, becoming a portal to another dimension where a rebellious group of hard partying fireflies are on a mission to escape repression in their own land. A jungle-infused augmented reality show set to local artist Arcane’s track Curse of the Pharaohs (Rua Sound) and featuring awe-inspiring light show by award-winning virtual world builder Screaming Color. For the best experience bring headphones. No app required.
Creators: GlitchAR, Arcane & Screaming Color
Where: Trinity Community Garden
When: 7 - 8 July, 12:00 - 18:00; 9 July, 12:00 - 16:00
dhaqan collective, invites guests to step inside the House of Weaving Songs, a domed steel structure inspired by the Aqal, a nomadic Somali home. Once inside, become enveloped by a series of beautiful woven tapestries that when touched ignite a sonic patchwork of stories and sounds of Somali women’s traditional weaving songs. Offering the space as a sanctuary to reflect on the significance of Somali culture and our collective climate anxieties, dhaqan collective will also invite visitors to add their own voice, connecting the city to endangered ancestral cultural practices.
Creators: dhaqan collective
Where: Undershed, Watershed
When: 6 July 11:00 - 16:00 and 7 July, 10:00 - 16:00
A magical interactive pavement that transforms urban spaces through light, sound and play. By simply stepping or rolling onto the Street Pixels, visitors will activate colourful lights and sound allowing them to play favourite childhood games like hopscotch or whack-a-mole, make music with street piano, or simply sit back and watch as the pavement becomes animated with joyful light and colour.
Creators: Biome Collective
Where: Queen Square
When: 5 - 6 July, 21:00 - 23:00
In a work which asks us to consider our relationship with the natural world, night-time visitors will be invited to transform the trees in an urban square into living sculptures using only their own movements and light, seeming to enable these ‘lungs of the city’ to ‘breathe.’
Creators: Jack Wates & Thomas Blackburn
Visit https://www.playablecity.com/programmes/playable-city-sandbox-2023/ for the schedule and map.
