[spectre] V2_: Oct 30 Test_Lab goes Noordkaap

[V2_]

V2_ Test_Lab goes Noordkaap: Urban play in action

Thursday, October 30, 2008, 20.00h, Noordkaap, Voorstraat 123, Dordrecht 
(NL)
Entrance: free

Please note that this event will take place at Noordkaap Foundation in
Dordrecht (Voorstraat 123), and NOT at V2_ in Rotterdam.

Featuring: Stichting de Stad, Stealth Unlimited, Arturo Hernandez,
on-signal.org, Pablo Valbuena and more.


Test_Lab goes Noordkaap is a special edition of the bi-monthly public
event Test_Lab, organised by V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media, that
provides an informal setting for the presentation, demonstration,
testing, and discussion of artistic Research and Development (aRt&D). In
this special edition, V2_ teams up with Noordkaap Foundation.

Urban Play can be described as ‘designing the city’ and is considered
common ground for architects and city planners on the one hand, and
designers, artists, and performers on the other. Theory on Urban Play
prophesises new forms of interactive spaces, stretching from virtual
game-spaces to physical architectural spaces, as discussed by Friedrich
von Borries et al. (eds.) in the book Space Time Play for instance.
Furthermore, exhibitions such as Droog Event 2: Urban Play (curated by
Scott Burnham) have clearly shown Urban Play’s potential in the design
field. In practice, however, only few architects and city planners
realise the potential of Urban Play; only seldom do they contact
designers, artists, or performers when faced with a tough urban planning
case. This special edition of Test_Lab proposes to look into the true
practical value of the notion of Urban Play by physically visiting a
concrete case in urban development. There, game designers, media
artists, and urban performers are invited to demonstrate how their work
could contribute to the challenges faced by architects and city planners
in their daily practice.

Can game designers, media artists, and urban performers live up to the
predictions made by theory on the notion of Urban Play? Are these new
forms of social interaction and uses of the city, these new ways of
mixing physical and virtual, and new strategies of interfacing between
citizens and their city really so useful to architects and city
planners? Let’s find out, when V2_ Test_Lab goes Noordkaap.


    Noordkaap Foundation, a non-for profit organization for the
    stimulation of temporary re-use of vacant buildings in the cultural
    sector, is located at the very heart of an urban re-development case
    for the city planners of Dordrecht; the Voorstraat Noord. It is
    evident that this street has the potential to grow into the cultural
    axis between the new center currently in development and the
    historical center of Dordrecht. City developers, however, have not
    yet succeeded in advancing the street beyond a mere connection hub
    for quick commuting. The challenge to re-develop the Voorstraat
    Noord into the cultural axis between the old and new center is
    taken as a perfect case to put the potential of Urban Play to the test.

V2_ and Noordkaap Foundation invite you to witness how artists,
designers, and performers give their views on potential solutions for
the Voorstraat Noord urban development case, by taking you on city
walks, seducing you to play urban games, and surprising you with
artistic encounters on the street.

www.v2.nl
www.noordkaap.org
www.manana-rotterdam.nl


For more information, please contact

Michel van Dartel
E: michel at v2.nl
T: +31 (0)10 206 7272