Face Fight
Two players sit across the table from each other. They grasp handles. They stare straight at each other through a darkened tunnel, their faces perfectly aligned. The handles are physically coupled: when one player moves his handle left, the other is forced to the left. As the handles move, a line appears in the air between the players' faces, tracking its movement, creating a drawing. Each player tries to trace the face of the other. Where their faces are symmetrical, and therefore aligned, the players agree on the drawing to create and collaborate. Where their faces differ, the players are forced to negotiate a strategy for eliding the differences or to compete for physical control of the drawing point.
When they have completed their drawing, the players get a single physical copy of the drawing to share between them.
This project was developed in David Nolen's Drawing Machines class in the fall of 2009. It arose out of an exploration of drawing practices that involved multiple draughtsman, ranging from the Exquisite Corpse game played by the French Surrealists in the 20s to sophisticated computer-aided drawing programs used by contemporary architects. Where these practices use collaboration to erase the intentions of any single participant, I wanted to build a collaborative environment where two draughtsmen could make something together but still retain their individuality.
