As submitted via the Placed Camp Questionnaire
Interactivity Description
Our camp’s interactivity is ultimately focused on play and participation, and this leads to close and energetic connections between our campers and the participants. We try to create interactivity that is bolstered by the random and spontaneous encounters that delight us on the playa. Our camp thrives on foot traffic, and our “callers” gently but expertly compel them to play our games, visit our homebrew bar, and otherwise interact improvisationally with our games, art and numerous bits and sight gags.
Our active forms of interactivity are:
- Department of Collections, our long-running and practically indescribable game in which we collect and create experiences based on “clues” we display on individual tiles and try to “collect” from the community, consisting of improv comedy, stories and challenges, stupid human tricks, and rare/desirable playa objects (open all afternoons and some late nights)
- Department of Boidoir Photography in which anyone who shows up gets adored, glowed up and cheekily photographed (three afternoon sessions and some night time “blacklight boudoir” sessions),
- Department of Dumpster Dive Bar serving excellent homebrew and craft cocktails at regular hours three early afternoons,
- Let’s Talk Forums on the most current thinking on UFOs and Collapse (hosted by a well-known expert in those fields), and
- Temporary Anonymous Zone (TAZ) unique behavioral experiment involving anonymous persons conversing in total darkness (three week night events).
Our passive forms of interactivity are:
- The Pug-Witch, an interactive LLM-driven fortune telling witch that lives in a 1920’s refrigerator (built and programmed by long time camper Sean Connor). The Pug-Witch is fully autonomous, and is offered as a roadside attraction;
- The Hissing Booth, an interactive blacklight art project standing 12 feet tall, consisting of a psychotic carnival cat face atop a booth that (at first glance) appears to be a booth for kissing (designed and built by Mathew Lauritsen). The Hissing Booth is lit with blacklights at night and anyone can operate the Hissing Booth at any time; ;
Alien Abduction Mural, an 8×12 blacklight reactive mural depicting a large flying saucer over a field of sunflowers. The plywood forms have numerous hidden doors cut into the surface for surprise puppet shows, heckling, etc.
The Department of Collections is our primary frontage and the visual center of our camp. It requires building a platform, a 10’x16′ display wall for our “tiles,” a bar/service counter, hanging our large LED camp name sign, and running solar power and lights. The game is played by us enticing passer-bys to “collect” an experience, story, super-human (stupid human?) trick, group activity, or cherished item/donation from them. We put a lot of time and effort into thinking and work-shopping the clues we want to “collect.” For example, one clue is “Ex-Cultist,” which means if an Ex-Cultist shows up and tells us their story, we give them a prize. This particular clue has led to some of the most powerful, cathartic, intriguing and even healing experiences any of us have had on the playa. On the other hand, another classic is “Whistle in 4 Different Ways,” which is harder to do than it sounds. We refresh or change many of the tiles each year, leading to new experiences each year but still focused on participation, immediacy, inclusiveness, and play.
Schedule of Happenings
Sunday
N/A
Monday
1000-1700 Department of Collections open!
1300-1400 Oh, you want to learn Go?
1400-1500 Dispute resolution
1600-1700 Boudoir Photography
000-0300 Night Boards – Department of Collections open!
Tuesday
1000-1700 Department of Collections open!
1100-1200 Let’s Talk UFOs
1300-1400 Let’s Talk Collapse
1400-1600 Dumpster Dive Bar Open
2100-2300 Temporary Anonymous Zone
Wednesday
1000-1700 Department of Collections open!
1100-1200 Let’s Talk UFOs
1300-1400 Let’s Talk Collapse
1400-1500 Dispute Resolution
1600-1700 Boudoir Photography
1500-1600 Oh you want to learn Go?
2100-2300 Temporary Anonymous Zone
2300-0100 Blacklight Boudoir Photography
Thursday
1000-1700 Department of Collections open!
1100-1200 Let’s Talk UFOs
1300-1400 Let’s Talk Collapse
1400-1600 Dumpster Dive Bar Open
2100-2300 Temporary Anonymous Zone
000-0300 Night Boards – Department of Collections open!
Friday
1000-1700 Department of Collections open!
1400-1500 Dispute Resolution
1600-1700 Boudoir Photography
Saturday
1000-1700 Department of Collections open!
1400-1600 Dumpster Dive Bar Open
000-0300 Night Boards – Department of Collections open!
Sunday
N.A