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“Everywhere there is an interaction between
a place, a time and an expenditure of energy
there is a rhythm.”
                                   - Lefebvre
Bodies, Rhythm and Digital Games
An introduction to Lefebvre’s Rhythmanalysis and its
relationship to digital, traditional and pervasive games.




                                                                      Dan Dixon
                                               University of the West of England
                      Digital Cultures Research Centre | Pervasive Media Studio
Aims

➡ “Gameness” and aesthetics

➡ Why rhythmanalysis?

➡ The elements of rhythmanalysis

➡ The rhythmanalyst

➡ Dressage

➡ Digital games

➡ Pervasive games
rhythmic aesthetic	 	 	      tactical aesthetic

• physical                   • cognitive
• ecstatic                   • individuating
• chaotic                    • understandable
• intoxicating               • astounding
• interaction                • simulation
• rhythm                     • rules
• dialectic/conversational   • narrative
• “playing”                  • “gaming”
movement                                                systems/rhizome
   & rhythm                                                 understanding
                                        autotelic

           lay ful                                                     pla
                                                                           yfu
       p         Twirling           Pervasive
                                                              Lego
                                                                              l
                                     gaming           RPGs
                       rhythm-action                         PnP RPG

                                               esMMORPGs
   sensation
       rhythmic                            gam                   tactical
                                       FPS
                Dancing                                        Gambling

 eve                        Ballroom
                                                                       Navigation
    ryd Walking             Dancing                    Stockmarket
                                                                          ryd ay
                                                                     eve
                                         Sports
       ay
       Dionysian                         earnest               Apollonian
Lefebvre / Gadamer                                            de Certeau
Henri Lefebvre

• Reacting to Marxist focus on Big
  and Time.


• Le Quotidien
   • mundane, everyday, repetitive


• Intro to Modernity constructed
  like a symphony
• Rhythmanalysis specifically
  mentioned in POS (1974)
• Rhythmanalysis published
  posthumously in 1992
“Is there a general concept of rhythm?
Answers: yes, and everyone possesses it [...]
Yet the meanings of the term remain obscure.”
                                     - Lefebvre
Rhythm according to
Lefebvre
• Repetition
   • Reprise
   • Measure

• A sequence of movements

• Time + Space... Rhythm
     • dialectic


• “An organ has rhythm, but the
  rhythm [...] is not an organ”
     • “... it is an interaction”
                                    Rhythm of Black Lines, Piet Mondrian



• Not just a beat or a waveform
Types of rhythm
• Cyclical
   • Cosmic
   • Natural

• Linear
   • Begining and end
   • Human and Artificial

• Isorhythmia
• Polyrhythmia
• Eurhythmia (symphonic)
                           Violin strings vibrating
• Arrhythmia
The rhythmanalyst

• “The body produces a garland
  of rhythms... a bouquet”
      • An aesthetic quality to
        rhythms
• “At no moment have the
  analysis of rhythms [...] lost
  sight of the body.”
• Rhythm is a tool of analysis, not
  the object to be analysed
• The body is not just the
  subject, but also the tool of
                                      Form is the Language of Time
  analysis                                  Robert Horowitz

• The Rhythmanalyst listens
Dressage

• Gestures are not natural


• We are “broken in” by
  society and culture


• Personal gestures are
  manipulated by external
  rhythms



                             Construction: Black and White Counterpoint
                                         Burton Wasserman
Digital Games

• Traditional, digital and
  pervasive games all different


• Player forms a eurhythmia (or
  isorhythmia) with the cybertext
  that is the digital game


• There is a specific rhythm of
  gameness, which is different
  from the rhythms of other
  cybertexts
                                    Broadway Boogie Woogie, Piet Mondrian



• A form of dressage
Pervasive Games

• Social space and rhythms


• Not cybertexts
• Artistic spatial practice


• Explore rhythms of social space
• Explore dressage
   • Breaching experiments

                                    Personal Domain of Freedom and Ecstacy
• Turn the player into a                       Robert Horowitz

  rhythmanalyst
Summary

➡ Rhythms are a route to “gameness”

➡ Time, Space, Rhythm

➡ Cyclical, Linear, Eurhythmia, Arrythmia

➡ Rhythmanalysts uses the body to listen to the aesthetics of social space

➡ Dressage - Culture breaks us to certain gestures

➡ Digital games - break us into certain gestures

➡ Pervasive games - artistic spatial practice that can explore gestures
Bodies, rhythms and digital games

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Bodies, rhythms and digital games

  • 1. “Everywhere there is an interaction between a place, a time and an expenditure of energy there is a rhythm.” - Lefebvre
  • 2. Bodies, Rhythm and Digital Games An introduction to Lefebvre’s Rhythmanalysis and its relationship to digital, traditional and pervasive games. Dan Dixon University of the West of England Digital Cultures Research Centre | Pervasive Media Studio
  • 3. Aims ➡ “Gameness” and aesthetics ➡ Why rhythmanalysis? ➡ The elements of rhythmanalysis ➡ The rhythmanalyst ➡ Dressage ➡ Digital games ➡ Pervasive games
  • 4.
  • 5. rhythmic aesthetic tactical aesthetic • physical • cognitive • ecstatic • individuating • chaotic • understandable • intoxicating • astounding • interaction • simulation • rhythm • rules • dialectic/conversational • narrative • “playing” • “gaming”
  • 6. movement systems/rhizome & rhythm understanding autotelic lay ful pla yfu p Twirling Pervasive Lego l gaming RPGs rhythm-action PnP RPG esMMORPGs sensation rhythmic gam tactical FPS Dancing Gambling eve Ballroom Navigation ryd Walking Dancing Stockmarket ryd ay eve Sports ay Dionysian earnest Apollonian Lefebvre / Gadamer de Certeau
  • 7. Henri Lefebvre • Reacting to Marxist focus on Big and Time. • Le Quotidien • mundane, everyday, repetitive • Intro to Modernity constructed like a symphony • Rhythmanalysis specifically mentioned in POS (1974) • Rhythmanalysis published posthumously in 1992
  • 8. “Is there a general concept of rhythm? Answers: yes, and everyone possesses it [...] Yet the meanings of the term remain obscure.” - Lefebvre
  • 9. Rhythm according to Lefebvre • Repetition • Reprise • Measure • A sequence of movements • Time + Space... Rhythm • dialectic • “An organ has rhythm, but the rhythm [...] is not an organ” • “... it is an interaction” Rhythm of Black Lines, Piet Mondrian • Not just a beat or a waveform
  • 10. Types of rhythm • Cyclical • Cosmic • Natural • Linear • Begining and end • Human and Artificial • Isorhythmia • Polyrhythmia • Eurhythmia (symphonic) Violin strings vibrating • Arrhythmia
  • 11. The rhythmanalyst • “The body produces a garland of rhythms... a bouquet” • An aesthetic quality to rhythms • “At no moment have the analysis of rhythms [...] lost sight of the body.” • Rhythm is a tool of analysis, not the object to be analysed • The body is not just the subject, but also the tool of Form is the Language of Time analysis Robert Horowitz • The Rhythmanalyst listens
  • 12. Dressage • Gestures are not natural • We are “broken in” by society and culture • Personal gestures are manipulated by external rhythms Construction: Black and White Counterpoint Burton Wasserman
  • 13. Digital Games • Traditional, digital and pervasive games all different • Player forms a eurhythmia (or isorhythmia) with the cybertext that is the digital game • There is a specific rhythm of gameness, which is different from the rhythms of other cybertexts Broadway Boogie Woogie, Piet Mondrian • A form of dressage
  • 14. Pervasive Games • Social space and rhythms • Not cybertexts • Artistic spatial practice • Explore rhythms of social space • Explore dressage • Breaching experiments Personal Domain of Freedom and Ecstacy • Turn the player into a Robert Horowitz rhythmanalyst
  • 15. Summary ➡ Rhythms are a route to “gameness” ➡ Time, Space, Rhythm ➡ Cyclical, Linear, Eurhythmia, Arrythmia ➡ Rhythmanalysts uses the body to listen to the aesthetics of social space ➡ Dressage - Culture breaks us to certain gestures ➡ Digital games - break us into certain gestures ➡ Pervasive games - artistic spatial practice that can explore gestures

Notes de l'éditeur

  1. Dionysus looks more like a gamer than apollo Introduced in the Birth of Tragedy Intertwined but separate Not simple, equal, binary opposites Described variously as principles, urges, attitudes not properties
  2. Not implying that Computer Games or any other form of game is like Greek Tragedy Movement is an intrinsic part of thinking about play, one that is often ignored when discussing computer games. Pathways and patterns in rhythm action games, 2D shooters, platform games, etc. Gaming is the pleasure of figuring out rules, understanding the system, the enjoyment of information and knowledge, the pleasure of mathematical beauty Interestingly narrative is part of the Apollonian element and complex narrative is a new comer to games, really only emerging with computer games. Apollonian is probably most evident in PC based RPGs, especially the turn based RPG where the flow of action is, or can be, interrupted by the player.
  3. Rhythmic - conversational, dialectic, Fuzzy areas
  4. His Rhythmanalytical project took a long time to develop Flows/Flux from Marx. Marx is economics/politics, big power Influenced by Bergson, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Marx.
  5. Rhythm is something that we all get, but it is difficult to put one’s finger on it. Bear in mind that this is French philosophy. So we’re not going to get definitional here. Rhythm is a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." While rhythm most commonly applies to sound, such as music and spoken language, it may also refer to visual presentation, as "timed movement through space. (WIkipedia, 2010)
  6. Works at a physical and affective level it is musical utilises repetition and difference not simply mechanical but also organic cyclical and linear at once continuous and also discrete unites the quantitative and qualitative Bergson’s duration... goes on to Lefebvre’s moment Waves on the Mediterranean
  7. Cyclical come from the heavens From the massive scale of galaxies, suns, planets, down to the scale of cells, molecules and atoms Not afraid to bring in some scientific metaphors or similes Linear come from the social (not the internal biologically human) Isorhythmia - in frequency polyrhythmia - many rhythms going on at once Eurhythmia - symphonic rhythms - the body - the rhythms working together Arrhythmia - rhythms breaking down
  8. A successor to the psychoanalysts Maybe to all social and psychological investigators Sense through using eurhythmia and arrhythmia Data from all the senses Must step outside the experience and evaluate
  9. Humans break themselves in like animals Again metaphors of organs, to society. The rhythms of dressage are not the totality of rhythms
  10. Linear and cyclical rhythms in games linking into our cyclical and linear rhythms The game designer is a rhythmanalyst. Tying into our rhythms. Game play is choreographed Controller dances, popular dance form
  11. The successful pervasive games have a rhythms borrowed from other rites But also explore and play with those rhythms. In many cases they need to inflict dressage to get you to play In other cases they need you to break out of the cultural dressage, cf Garfinkel’s breaching experiments.