The Asobi Commune

 

The Asobi Commune is a computer game that reaches beyond the screen by employing material artifacts. The player is invited to become part of a poetry commune through the ritual of poetic games. The games draw on various historical examples from Japanese haiku, Chinese wall poetry to European avant-garde calligrams.

Poetry as a participatory, playful activity is contrasted with poetry seen as an elitist art practice. We explore the ritualistic aspect of poetry in the context of collective creative effort, leaving behind master-epigone-disciple distinctions.

The Asobi Commune assumes a fearless and joyful approach to technology encountered in the Japanese culture. We introduce a Twine game, an acknowledged format of electronic literature, as a mediator between analogue and digital poetry. Apart from recalling vast poetical legacy and modes of creating we tackle themes like poetry as a performance or tensions between the translation and the original poetry piece.

The Asobi Commune team:

Yu Xue

Hua Chun Fan

Natalia DÄ…browska