Dwelling in the dark - On active and hopeful conversations with the crisis of imagination through live action role play

Abstract

Dwelling In The Dark is a design practice-based artistic research exploration of the transformative potential of live action role play (larp). Through an ethnographic inspired methodology the work is embedded in discourses around the crisis of imagination, climate change, deep time, the unknown, collective storytelling and play. Leaning on sentient dialogues of becoming-with and becoming-other, this text weaves through theories and approaches that allow for the building of communities who cultivate ecological imaginations that may undo the linear states of being in this world. This journey is approached through an investigation in and with the participatory arts exploring moments of dance, sensory movement, meditation, play, deep listening and mythmaking. The project finds its translation in a designed roleplaying experience that embraces uncertainty and communes with the other-than-human world. I aim to spark a conversation within the practice of design ab- out new forms of world-building, language-building and relationship-building through play, for the significance of this research lies in its recognition of playfulness and collective story-making as a catalyst for change.

Dwelling In The Dark is a story about darkness and love: How grief and hope can coexist.