Competition Prompt
“More important than a work of art itself is what it will sow. Art can die, a painting can disappear. What counts is the seed.”
—Joan Miro
Demonstrate the symbiotic relationship between the artist, their art, and the world both inhabit.
Explore themes of physicality, connection, and/or ephemerality in the formation of this piece, which must primarily utilize an assigned medium outside of your major.
While the retreat competition will certainly have winners and losers, and some characters will benefit from privileges that lend them an advantage in the creation process, no positive outcome is guaranteed to any participant.
Outcome preferences will be gathered and taken into account during sign-ups, but they will merely inform the construction of your character and how driven they are to fulfill expectations and do what is necessary to succeed.
The competition, like the game itself, is designed to be diegetic. A favorable result cannot be promised, as it will hinge exclusively on your in-game performance in the competition. If any participant wishes to “win,” they must follow the advice and meet the standards set by the professors, same as the characters must.
Negative outcomes, on the other hand, are easy to ensure by simply disregarding the opinions and counsel of the faculty.
However, even if a positive outcome in the competition cannot be guaranteed, a positive ending for your character is always within reach.
Types of Attainable Positive Endings
- You win the competition
- Your character decides that “success” is not worth the cost to their integrity, convictions, interpersonal relationships, physical exertion, mental labor, and/or artistic vision
- Instead, they may choose to continue to engage in their art form without financial gain, or attempt to “make it on their own” (i.e. self-promote and/or sell their art themselves) with the understanding that they shall never attain notoriety, nor earn enough to live solely on the income from their art
- Your character decides that holding onto their vision and passions are more important than finances or fame, relegating their art to a beloved hobby for the sake of their sanity and/or artistic integrity
- You inform a member of the organizing team that you wish for your character’s chances in their industry not be completely destroyed at the larp’s conclusion, should their character not win the competition
- In cases like this, the professor facilitators will offer the character an alternative path to success. Possible plot avenues will be offered and agreed upon between facilitator and player, but alternative awards include: receiving a preemptive invitation to the following year’s retreat, a generic recommendation letter, extra studio time during the school year, etc.
Evaluation Process and Slot Preferences
Being early or late in art matters. Sometimes a work of art clicks because it was one of the earliest to explore something new, or simply one of the first of its kind that someone consumed. Other times, a work of art fails to find its footing for the exact same reason.
With the limited attention span of audiences and consumers today, opportunities in art have an increasingly short shelf life. For this reason, artists must seize the moment when an opening appears. Striving for perfection, and the time and dedication that requires, can put an artist at risk of losing out to equally talented but quicker or more prepared competitors.
One of the privilege mechanics within this game is Evaluation Slot Preference. This mechanic dictates that the wealthiest and most well-connected students will be able to sign up for evaluation slots before everyone else.
All students who still wish to enter the competition must sign up for their evaluation slots on Saturday morning, and evaluations will begin after lunch and continue until roughly 5:30–6:00 p.m. The professors will spend no more than ten minutes critiquing the final work of each student, and will conclude the evaluation by determining whether to award the student with an industry referral.
Awards will be given out (almost) entirely individually and in the moment. This means that if the first few students that are evaluated are so impressive that the professors feel compelled to award all five industry referrals (since there is a maximum of five that can be awarded) early in the day, that is it. No more referrals will be awarded and the students not yet evaluated will stand no chance of winning the competition whatsoever. This is intended to mimic the scarcity and time-sensitivity of opportunities in the art industry.
This means that the privileged students with evaluation slot preference will have a significant advantage in the competition—though an early evaluation by no means guarantees success. Professors often have higher standards in earlier evaluation slots, as an industry referral, once awarded, may not be rescinded. On the other hand, the professors reserve the right to return to a student they’ve already evaluated to award them a referral, if the comparison to artwork judged later causes them to look more favorably on earlier entries.
Signing up for the earliest evaluation slots may increase a student’s chances of winning, but it will also limit their time for art-making and final touches by several hours. There are benefits and risks to either choice, to be weighed and agonized over by the characters in-game.