Janna Ullrich
Dispossessfull Monopolist
Janna Ullrich is a video artist and designer originally from Germany, currently living and studing in Amsterdam.
She describes her project:
"Many of the most known board games let us conquer land with the goal to make it our own. The concept of property is deeply rooted in our society, although access becomes more popular than ownership. During my residency I want to investigate the notion of unpossessing. I will look into forms and consequences of common (dis)ownership, open access and vanishing borders.
As a first step l want to work on rewriting the rules for the most known 'conquering' board games like 'Monopoly' or 'Settlers of Catan' to be able to play the games backwards–from individual ownership towards common property. From colonialization to liberation.
I would love to realize workshops with pupils / students in Pilsen to rewrite rules and redesign existing games, reflecting on mechanisms of current inequalities and discovering ways for playing our way out. It will become surgery room for property-glorifying games. Just as well as a laboratory for not-yet-existing frameworks to experiment with resigning one's ownership of something. A place to ask ourselves why do we want to own things? What are we afraid of when sharing? What would be valuable to share, and how?
My game 'No man's land' can as well become one of several frameworks to invite Pilsen's inhabitants to play their way from inhumane asylum procedures towards open borders. From No man's land to Everyone's land."
At final presentation Janna reached her goal to create brand new board game called Dispossessfull Monopolist, which teaches players to cooperate. Players have to keep on mind all the global problems and find out solution to avoid a global catastrophe.
All visitors of DEPO2015 are enabled to borrow this game at reception and play in on special game table in caffe.
This residency was enabled thanks to cooperation with the Dutch Embassy in Prague.
Gallery
