late 14c. (implied in configured) "to form, dispose in a certain form," from Latin configurare "to fashion after a pattern," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + figurare "to form, shape," from figura "a shape, form, figure"
In The Garden of Forking Paths (2019) collective
improvisation was guided using formulas like Propp’s
‘Morphology’, an analysis of the basic structural elements
of Russian folk tales, also used in Machine learning.
The tool served well as a framework for the collective
creation but ultimately reinforced narrative stereotypes.
ZOOM (2019) adapted a world building game called
Microscope, because the players jump freely from the
overarching narrative to zoom into details within the
fractal storyline. Similar to the Epic theatre by Bertolt
Brecht, in which spoilers created an alienating effect,
the players start by deciding where the story ends and
where it should begin, to then in taking turns, flesh out
the stories that may have occurred in between.
All participants are co-authors and owners of the film
and can decide where, if and how the film was and will
be presented.
AGENTS:
The Institute for Scene Experiments by Nikhil Vettukattil is a fictional institution devoted to investigating scenes. The workshop aims to reflect on the film crew as a social form, and the generative potential of scenes independent of plot, development and conclusivity.