Infoparty

Collaborative Performance/Installation 2001

www.infoparty.org


Infoparties are a special kind of party. They aim to bring people together to create bodies of information which will have a common value, either by virtue of their unusual character, or by virtue of their usefulness. And in some cases, maybe both. Everyone in attendance becomes a collaborator and participant by writing answers to a series of questions on stickers, and then sharing these answers with eachother by placing them on large boards which are displayed.

In a sense each party is a real-life, real-time analog chatroom, in which all contributors are able to interact be with eachother in real space. This spatial and temporal reality imparts a sense of safety to the whole experience. Safety, both in the sense that one can physically see with whom they are interacting, as well in the sense that socially there is no pressure to interact directly with strangers. The message boards and the stickers serve as a buffer zone for the exchange of information.

And as one witnesses the information accumulate on the walls at an Infoparty, one becomes aware of there own inescapable desire to match the faces present with the answers on the walls.

These answers are being organized and will live online, as a resource for participants, at www.infoparty.org.