“big changes often start with acts that look pointless at the time” -
john holloway, crack capitalism

having installed the deviator app on your smart phone you take to the streets for 1 hr in the city formerly known as glasgow. deviator players are charged with the mission of seeking out hidden audio instructions which encourage them to temporarily transform their city into a playground. from the tiniest of private deviations to the boldest of public actions, deviator blends radically altered versions of childrens’ games with subtle live performance, placing audiences as interventionists out on the streets, ready to creatively disrupt the city, one game at a time… are you ready for some serious play?

deviator promo - 3.5 minutes

for children, the street has always been a de-facto playground. the ‘juvenile code’ rules supreme in a playground; space becomes transformed from its original intent, reality becomes flexible and the capacity to be creative and deviate from the norm is fundamental. deviator proposes revisiting the city streets with play in mind, inviting adults to rediscover a sense of freedom and consider public space as one of playful enquiry.

deviator is inspired by the situationist’s psycho-geography and ‘the coming insurrection’ an anonymous book written in 2007 which is part anti-materialist manifesto and part manual for a modern day revolution. deviator activates philosophies around revolution, positioning ‘games’ as a potential trigger to alter the official narratives of place.

deviator has been commissioned by conflux for their surge street art festival in premiere in july 2012. with grateful thanks to the following sponsors & supporters:

this project is assisted by the commonwealth government thru the australia council, its arts funding & advisory board. the state of western australia has made an investment in this project through arts wa in association with the lotteries commission. this work was developed with this assistance of a pica r&d funding grant.