Like music, play conveys additional feelings of momentary contemplation—once the game ends, those complex chains that held fundamental meaning cease to exist.
Thus, as part of the «alea» experiment, ten performance players executed various play practices over the course of an hour, revealing traits of different types outlined by the French philosopher Roger Caillois: agon, alea, ilic, mimicry, plus the two poles of play—ludus and paidia.
Graphic Score
Based on the composed score, a play experiment was conducted—examining the forms of individual and collective expressions of certain types of potential (or their combinations). Deviations from the score remain permissible; randomness dictates the progression of events, alters the dynamics between participants, and creates situations that cannot be fully planned in advance. The rules set the framework, but what happens within it remains open-ended.
Agon
The footage was captured from the players' perspective using a GoPro to maximally document the movements and angles.
Infographic View
Infographic View 2
During the experiment, the space was divided into three zones:«Stage» «Alea» Zone: An active zone for play or the «magic circle.» «Audience» Zone: Here, one could remain an observer of the performance, but only through the lens of overlapping «alea» movements.
For the final edit, video mind maps were created, consisting of «flashes» of game type expressions that reflected the players' relationships at that moment.
Agon 00:17, Iliniks 00:29
Each collection of «flashes» included an information card.
Video
Games in the Magic Circle «alea»
2026
02:55
