Schattenspiele

Decide among yourselves who will go first. Start when the light goes on.
Take turns placing different objects one at a time from the set onto your playing area.
You don't have to use all the objects from the set.
The game ends when the music starts.

With its strictly regulation on the one hand and its openness to the outcomes on the other, Schattenspiele investigates the contradictory nature of games between their freedoms and regulations. The game setup consists of four tables behind four projection screens. Beside the tables there are two chairs and a projector. On the tables between the two players are different selections of everyday objects. To play, you sit on one of the chairs and receive the instructions together with your opposite number. You take turns to move and position the objects on the playing area. The players enter into a silent dialogue, building a relationship between each other while building sculptures and small installations. The light from the projector throws shadows onto the screen and abstracts the three dimensionality of the objects into flat silhouette. The people not currently playing sit as spectators on the opposite side of the screens and observe the shadow dance. After about seven minutes the light from the projectors go out and signal an exchange of roles and perspectives. At the same time instrumental versions of sports songs are played live on an electric guitar.
A two-stage evaluation follows the game phase during which individual sensations and experiences during the game as well as the game itself is reflected upon and documented on large diagrams hung on the wall.
Schattenspiele was developed as a non-competitive game for the game and lecture series Das ist kein Spiel (It's no Game) at the Tanzquartier in Vienna during the European Football Championship in 2008.