Step by Step

2025



The work is a performance that explores the evolution of the rules of the game and the distribution of power. The game is played in small groups, with each group of players acting under set rules and voting on and changing them at specific stages to gradually develop new game mechanics. The game's requires players to reach the center point through their respective path diagrams as the goal of completion, but the rules of advancement given to each group are not the same and players influence each other. As the rules migrate and iterate, the players change from being bound by the rules to being the rule makers, and the game itself is continually reconfigured by individual decisions and understandings. Through dynamic rule changes, the work reveals the game between control and autonomy, order and change, while examining the adaptability and creativity of individuals in the system, allowing participants to experience in practice how the rules shape relationships and find possible paths to breakthroughs within them.

Participated by: Najee-Zaid Searcy, Irina Zadov, Toby Zallman, Erica Zhan
Photo documentation: Deanna Miera