UKAI x Raashan Ahmad’s SEA, 2020 to 2025
— A RPG (role-playing game) to contribute collaboratively to the universe of a song
THE FUTURE
In 2025 we enter songs and the worlds they create, and understand their nature by collaboratively contributing to them.
This Future is achieved by entering SEA, a song by Raashan Ahmad.
Trips to this Future (to experience the song, other songs, or to play the game– “The world of SEA”) currently need Raashan’s guidance.
This Future is achieved by entering SEA, a song by Raashan Ahmad.
Trips to this Future (to experience the song, other songs, or to play the game– “The world of SEA”) currently need Raashan’s guidance.
Raashan needed help designing a future where the soul of his work could exist online in alignment with his philosophy.
“We are part of a digital exodus and we need to make sure that everyone can see themselves in the culture being shared online. This residency will support culturally diverse performing arts organizations to migrate to digital platforms in ways that align with the qualities and traditions of their practice. We are asking artists and cultural producers to prototype approaches to reach people during a time of distancing.”
“We are part of a digital exodus and we need to make sure that everyone can see themselves in the culture being shared online. This residency will support culturally diverse performing arts organizations to migrate to digital platforms in ways that align with the qualities and traditions of their practice. We are asking artists and cultural producers to prototype approaches to reach people during a time of distancing.”
THE ARTIFACT AND ITS CONTEXT
aka the Optimistic SpeculationThere is a game in 2025 where players from all over the world can add scenarios, characters, challenges, and prototypes to an ever-growing universe based in Raashan’s songs.
The game can be played online by connecting with teams, families, or small local communities.
The game’s rules will be available in a time travel vending machine in Spring 2021 to download and print.
Raashan Ahmad, is an artist and musician residing in New Mexico migrating the co-creative nature of music into parallel creations that foster collaboration and togetherness during hard times. For the first time travel we worked with co-designer Bianca Li Channer.
The organization who commissioned the first trip, UKAI Projects in Toronto, Canada explores new models of cultural production. For 9 months in 2020 the UKAI MIGRATION prototyping residency was an incubator for 9 arts organizations looking to migrate to digital production and workflows.
The residency gathered over 50 artists, designers–prototypers, and cultural creators to create different outputs:
- Prototypes of individual and hybrid digital products,
- An open-source resource toolkit for other organizations looking to do the same, and
- Evolved business models, governance, and workflows.
The prototype RPG can be seen in this Miro board, including how to play:
Part of the New Not Normal residency at UKAI Projects:
