Entry: When The Forms Exhaust Their Variety

[jwalton]

When The Forms Exhaust Their Variety (hereafter abbreviated "WTF") is a game set to minimalist composer Philip Glass' 1973 recording of Music With Changing Parts, a single track which clocks in at 1:01:40 and is available for $9.90 from iTunes. Play begins 1:40 after the music begins and ends at the exact moment when the the music is finished, lasting 1 hour.

A campaign is exactly ten sessions long, one for each of the ten , an ancient Chinese symbology that dates back to the 10 suns of Shang times.

Further details shall be forthcoming.

[HD Carter]

That's spectacular. What's the theme of the game?

[jwalton]

Um, reflecting Glass' personal ideas about his work, the Chinese symbology I'm drawing from, and Rebecca Sean Borgstrom's description of actual play as the narrowing down of infinite possibilities to determine "what happens"...

I think it's going to be a game that reflects Buddhist themes about the revolving cycle of reincarnation and the infinite variety of existence eventually becoming one (as per the title).

It won't be nearly as pretentious as it sounds right now, promise.

[jwalton]

Also, the title is a quote from Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, which is also a major source of inspiration.

[DevP]

DO IT NOW.

EDIT: I meant to say, "Now is the time, my good Mr. Walton. Seize your elements completely, and show no mercy!"

EDIT: Oh, this is unrelated to the early concept as posted in your blog. Still: wicked cool.

[Graham Walmsley]

[jwalton]

Dev, sorry for the confusion. But if I'm not going to end up using this title for that concept, the title is still too good to waste, as Graham observed.

Graham, I just got done listening to Music with Changing Parts all the way through, and I'm also wondering whether people could stand to hear it 10 times. Minimalism isn't the easist thing for some people to listen to anyways and Music with Changing Parts is not Mr. Glass' most accessible work. But I wanted to choose something that didn't already have its meaning clearly established (unlike one of his film soundtracks or a work with spoken or vocal music) and wouldn't cost people a pretty penny to get a copy of.

I'm thinking of switching to the 2-hour, 1 session requirement and have the game take place in two one-hour acts, but I'm not sure yet. That doesn't seem long enough for some of the repetition and multiple itterations that I have planned.

[jwalton]

[Kevin Allen]

the idea of using a static peice of music to count down the time is really innovative. Also, using Phil's name to fufill an ingredient, totally cheeky.

it might be neat to see a list of 10 works all round about the hour mark that could be used in a specific or unspecified order for each of the games. I'm a big Reich fan and would love to see "music for 18 musicians" used as it has great atmosphere and is only 67 min long.

Also, the mandala looks great.

[Harlequin]

That's fabulous.

Have you read The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson? Not that you necessarily have time within the IGC week, but do, do... it will echo this piece back to you with style.

- Eric