D & D = O.o

Tonight I got some people together to play D & D, I mean research role playing games. We never even actually played...or did we? I spent the better part of four hours creating my character. There has got to be a more efficient way of doing this!

...and It Begins

Lately I have been contemplating the rules for the game. Since the whole idea is to make art about my day job I need to figure out the best way of conveying what it is that I would like to convey.

First, perhaps I should spell out what the desired message is, although that seems to be difficult for me. Is it grief, difficult decisions, or the feeling you get when you need to ask a client for $5000.00 after "Fluffy" died? I am really not sure. That being said I feel like the best way to potentially evoke all of those things is to somehow mimic the overall veterinary experience.

Recently James gave me a copy of a role playing game to research. I am really not sure how I feel about it, though I do trust the source. The game is called "Kill Puppies for Satan" - designed by D. Vincent Baker. I'm sure you can now see my certain reservations about this game. I will at least read through the rules though and see if I can figure out some of the game mechanics.

For now, I will just begin work on my game with respect to illness and injuries - I mean there certainly wouldn't be a need for veterinary hospitals if all the pets in the world stayed healthy and happy all the time, right?

A Game?

For a really long time now I have wanted to make art about my day job as a receptionist in an emergency veterinary hospital - specifically the potential emotional stress (for everyone involved) of each case. Because of the nature of my job I decided that it needed to be interactive art. After much brainstorming I finally came to the conclusion I should make it a game.

I was inspired to make a game by the recent exhibitions curated by James Morgan and John Bruneau Learn to Play as well as Craft and Punishment. One of the artist talks that I went to was Brenda Brathwaite, who designed the game Train. I believe that Brathwaite is at least partially responsible for my decision to make this game. Above and beyond traditional game design [as in corporate industry design] Brathwaite designs games that are considered "art games" or "serious games." I have definitely been inspired by her and am grateful to James for the opportunity to meet her and talk with her.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been trying to figure out the rules of the game. I have spoken to James about this and I think it would be best represented as a role playing game. As far as construction of the game is concerned, I would like to use medical supplies to construct the physicality of it. More on this as it progresses.