Student Name: Michael Semenov
Faculty Advisor: Mario Gandelsonas
Project Title: Danteum21
Subject Decription:
O Marx the Spot
This board game acts as a device for reading Burle Marx’s Flamengo Park in Rio de Janeiro. Seeing the linear park, which largely serves the function of circulation, as an archipelago of unique islands connected by pedestrian, jogging, biking, and car paths, our group pulled out specific sensory experiences of each of these islands as “tokens.” Four characters, who represent the four speeds and thus four distinct experiences
through the park, are each represented by a game piece corresponding to its field of vision. Each turn, equivalent to 15 seconds of time in the park, players move across the board at the speeds appropriate to their characters, picking up experience tokens on the way. A car drives quickly, picking up only the top token, perhaps a tree or a color; a pedestrian, on the other hand, digs deeper into the well, discovering textures and details. Staying even longer, he may discover more subtle details and even architectural references to Marx. But not all experiences are positive; scattered throughout the park are negative experiences: getting robbed, getting hit by a car, stepping in poop. The ultimate goal of the game becomes to discover the unique experiences of each island.
