Creative chaos - scratch the surface (final ezine)

1. Scratch the Surface
Seeing throught the eyes
of a LARPer
by Danijela Bulimbasic
Organizing your own
LARP
by David Hirst
LARP Gear
by Catalin Ardelean
Dumpster Diving:
A sustainable solution to
a capitalist nonsense
by Chloé Trieu
Dead Drops: How to be a
spy for an afternoon
by Johannes Otto Skjærbæk
1

2. SEEING
THROUGH
THE EYES OF
A LARPER
Getting to know Copenhagen, I found
many different ways to experience the
city.
WhenIfirstarrived,asatourist,Ilooked
at the city through camera lens, walk-
ing around the centre, Nyhavn and
other places listed in “Places to see in
Copenhagen”-type of articles. Colorful
buildings, modern design and won-
derful landscapes filled up my photo
galleries.
When I moved to Copenhagen, I start-
ed to experience it through people.
The locals and foreigners living here,
the Danish culture mixing with other
cultures, sometimes more successful,
sometimes less. I’ve learnt that a birth-
day party can’t go without the flags;
2

3. I’ve started to move around the city
on my bicycle and switch to summer
clothes as soon as the sun stays out
for more than 2 hours and the temper-
ature is above 10 degrees. Ok, I haven’t
gotten to that last part just yet.
However, the city isn’t just aesthetically
pleasing arranged pile of concrete and
metal and the people living here aren’t
just what they look like and the way
they speak. I wanted to look deeper,
to scratch the surface. I wanted to look
at the historical and invented past, the
present the way it is or the way it could
be and imagine the future...possible
and impossible one. As I let my imag-
ination play with what my eyes could
see, an abandoned graffiti filled ware-
house at the edge of the city became
a shelter for a group of people trying
to protect their last canister of water
from ongoing raider attack. The Round
Tower became a place where the wiz-
arding guild was experimenting with
the powers of aether, and I could al-
most see Victorian inventor presenting
the latest discovery in the steam-pow-
ered aeronautics in front of Rosenborg
Castle. Yes, I started to look at the city
through the eyes of a LARPer.
LARP was originally an acronym for
Live Action Role Playing, but today it
is often used in lower case and as a
name in itself. It could be described as
interactive storytelling, where players
take a role and act as a character with-
in the set fictional world, as close or as
far to the real one as they chose it to
be. LARP could also be defined as inter-
active theatre, without the audience or
script.
3

4. Special style of larp emerged in the
Nordic countries in the past decades
and became increasingly popular. A
few things that make Nordic-style larp
different and unique:
- Nordic larp is deeply immersive, with
the goal to create convincing illusion of
being in different world - living in the
fallout shelter after the blast; being
captured in the dungeon of medieval
castle or on a spaceship travelling to
another galaxy.
It is important to play a character very
close to your own appearance, and
feeling the character’s feelings. Deeply
immersed larpers would speak in their
character’s accent; walk the way their
characters do, even dream in charac-
ter.
- Nordic-style larp is collaborative. You
do not play to win the game, but to cre-
ate exciting stories together. It might
mean that your character will fail in
their objective, but that failure can be
turned into deeply emotional and in-
teresting experience for you and other
players.
- Nordic larp is more than entertain-
ment - it can make artistic or politi-
cal statement, and affect players in
the long term - helping them to learn
new skills, change the way they see the
world and how they behave.
LARP has also changed me, in more
than one way. It has allowed me to be
more creative, to open my mind to ex-
citing new possibilities. It has helped
me to see my surroundings and people
from different points of view, and to be
ready to explore the unknown. It has
enabled me to travel without leaving
home and experience what it would be
like to live someone else’s life. It has al-
lowed me to scratch the surface, and
to look beyond.
4

5. If you would like to hear more about
Nordic Larp, we recommend this bril-
liant introduction by Johanna Koljonen.
She is a writer, radio and TV host, critic,
and a popular lecturer on larp and re-
lated topics.
Her groundbreaking larp criticism, in
essays like “Eye-Witness to the Illusion:
The Impossibility of 360° Role-Playing”
and “The Dragon Was the Least of it:
Larp As Ephemera and Ruin” are wide-
ly quoted in the field.
From Nordic Larp Talks Stockholm
2010.
5

6. ORGANISING
YOUR OWN
LARP
Urban spaces by definition are anywhere
within the urban environment (a city/town).
These spaces often have a defined purpose,
although with a bit of imagination they
can serve other purposes and with a bit of
preparation too, they could serve as the
ideal setting to your own Live Action Role-
play event. A wooded area at the side of the
park could, for example, be a vast forest, or
an abandoned building be re-imagined as
a post-apocalyptic ruin. Thus, with a bit of
imagination and ideally someone to share
them with you, the possibilities are endless.
Before you can do this though, you need to
understand a bit about organising your own
Live Action Roleplay, so today that is what I
will attempt to explain. Please read on as i
cover all the important aspects of organis-
ing your own Role Playing event.
6

7. The Idea
To begin with, you need an idea. What
interests you? What would you like to
do? There are many different types of
LARPs out there and you could even in-
vent your own. They vary hugely from
simple games set in a small room to
huge battles in a forest. To begin with,
you need to pick a theme. It could be
Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Steampunk
just to name a few. Once you have an
idea you are ready to start planning.
A set of Rules
(ruleset)
This can vary dramatically from a ba-
sic code of conduct, which is popular in
the Nordic countries, to a complex set
of rules the size of a small book. What-
ever you choose it needs to be some-
thing people can follow and relate to. If
you make it too complex, people may
be put off. So try to keep it simple, clear
and to the point. You do not want too
many rules, but a total lack of them will
also cause problems.
Location
Obviously, you need a location. The
basic principle of a live action role-play
is that it is live! Therefore, you need
to do it in a specific place with other
people. A location can be basically an-
ywhere. It can vary from your living
room to a purpose built village or an
abandoned factory complex. A good
place to start is to look at your theme.
What fits your theme? If you are going
for a fantasy LARP then a local park or
forest may be a good start. If you are
going for a Post-Apocalyptic scenario,
then an abandoned building may suit
your needs. (Although remember to be
careful, as these places can be danger-
ous!)
7

8. t t zv
A background
story/setting
This is based on your theme. It may be
complex and have a story built in or it
may just be a setting. In order to make
your LARP more engaging and fun you
need to create a background story/set-
ting, for people to connect to. Just like
in a movie or book there will be a cer-
tain amount of background so people
can relate to the story. Imagine Lord
of the Rings with no background story
whatsoever. No explanation of why an-
yone was doing what they were doing?
It would not really work would it... The
same goes for LARPs, so try to come up
with a good background story or set-
ting for your LARP, one that has mean-
ing and makes it easier for the players
to engage in.
Character types
and roles
Following on from your story you also
need to decide what type of charac-
ters your LARP will have. Will you de-
fine the type of characters players can
play or will you leave it up to the play-
ers to create characters? Some fanta-
sy LARPs, for example, may define the
classes that people can play to make
things more organised and easier to
define. A class could be ,for example, a
warrior, mage etc. just like in role play-
ing computer games. Decide if your
LARP’s story requires certain charac-
ters or whether the players can invent
their own.
8

9. Non-Playing
Characters
In addition to your players and GM you
will often have NPCs, these non-play-
ing characters can vary dramatical-
ly from providing basic support roles
like extras in a film to being an inte-
gral part of the story. NPCs can also
be quite engaged in the story and al-
though they are not technically play-
ers, the lines can sometimes be quite
blurred. In some games they will play a
major part in the game. NPCs are also
important to ensure events play out as
you intended. Say for example you had
a major fantasy LARP, set in a village
and raiders are going to attack the vil-
lage. This may well be the job of NPC’s.
NPC’s will often also have background
stories, although unlike players these
are less likely to evolve and are usu-
ally there to give the character mean-
ing and explain their existence. People
playing NPC’s may also switch roles de-
pending on where NPC’s are required
in the story.
Game Masters
To keep things running and organised
it is usually a good idea to have a game
master. Someone who knows all the
rules and who will oversee the game.
They will keep everything organised
and ensure things play out as they are
intended. For example this could be a
series of events that should take place
at a certain times.
9

10. Format of your
LARP
By format I mean, will it be a one off
LARP or a Campaign? A One off LARP
means that it will only happen once
,and when the LARP is over it’s over.
A Campaign LARP, on the other hand,
will be part of a series of LARPs one af-
ter the other. The idea of these type of
LARPs is that player’s characters can
continue from one to the other and
evolve along the way. Similar to com-
puter games where your decisions may
affect the story campaign LARPs can
play out the same way. They also give
people an incentive to build a strong
character with a great background sto-
ry, as they will continue to grow the
character from game to game.
Length of your
LARP
How long is it going to run? For 10 min-
utes or a week? LARPs vary in length
depending on the theme and story and
there is no set rules about how long it
should be. Some of the biggest LARPs
can run for days with people often
camping in the LARP. Some of these
technically never stop, with people still
“in game” even when they are sleeping.
So when it comes to a time frame, that
really depends on your story and how
long it should run for.
10

11. Equipment and
in-game items
Obviously most LARPs require some
props and equipment. This can vary
dramatically in detail from been very
basic to extremely complex. It all de-
pends on the theme and the level of
detail you are going for. More detail
usually requires a lot more time and ef-
fort and can be expensive for players,
so in some cases it’s better to overlook
things and to improvise. Often LARPs
aim for a high level of detail as this en-
hances the game experience, just as
graphics often enhance the experience
in a computer game. Although I know
they are not everything, imagine if all
the objects in a game were represent-
ed with single coloured squares. It’s
not quite the same is it? The same is
true of LARPing, the more realistic the
costumes mean that in game terms the
better the experience for the players.
Hopefully by following the points list-
ed above you should have some good
ideas about how to organise your first
LARP, so off you go and remember to
have fun! That is after all what it’s all
about!
Further reading:
If you are stuck for ideas or need some
inspiration here is a huge list of LARP
idea’s many of them are free too:
http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/LARP_
Scenarios.
11

12. LARP GEAR
When it comes to Live Action Roleplay
battle, nothing is better than having
the proper gear to make the experi-
ence even more thrilling and accurate.
It all depends on the theme of the LARP
and how you build your character. For
a post-apocalyptic/fallout city theme,
you can choose virtually any style of
gear: warrior knight, assassin, mer-
cenary, wasteland wanderer, doctor,
mutant etc.
12

13. The 3 main categories are: armor,
weapons and miscellaneous/objects.
You may choose how to create your
character by opting to have elements
from any and all of the three catego-
ries and making it unique. The stand-
ard in-game weaponry is made out of
a soft type of boffer, foam or latex ma-
terial, so in simulated battles no one
is injured. Before any LARP event, it is
very common to have your weapons
and other gear checked by a designat-
ed “Herald”, that approves or disap-
proves the safety of the gear.
There is a whole range of weapons, ar-
mor and other objects that you can at-
tribute to your character. You can buy
most of the gear or you can also create
your own. You just have to think about
what suits your character and the
overall budget you’re willing to spend
on weapons and armor. Rather than
limiting each class to only using certain
gear, players are encouraged to use
what they think their character would
use. For example, it would make no
sense to say that a doctor cannot use
a two-handed rifle, because “Doctors
don’t use them”. Instead, think about
how your character got their training
- are they self-taught? Did they study
under a ballistics master? Did they
learn in the military? Or did you pick it
up in-character over the course of the
game?
Categories
13

14. You can choose the type of gear you
can carry and it can be more utilitarian,
meaning that it can actually function
(fire “bullets”, arrows, laser or plasma)
or it can be more decorative, focusing
more how it looks and the story behind
it. In the post-apocalyptic theme, you
can carry firearms: guns, rifles, shot-
guns, pistols and also melee weapons
like machete, hammers, small daggers
or swords, wrench and even something
as simple as a lead pipe. Ammunition is
very important if you implement func-
tional firearms to you characters spe-
cifics. You can go from foam nerf bul-
lets (modified/adapted to the theme
nerf guns) to actual airsoft ammo. It all
depends on the rules of the larp and
how dedicated and creative you are.
Armor is also important (as long as
you envision your character need-
ing it) and you can go wild with it.
Going from something as simple as
worn out leather jacket and old pair
of jeans to “kevlar” metal plates with
helmet, a full metal body suit,
radiation suit, welding faceplates or a
hockey mask.
14

15. Post apocalyptic theme also brings
unique features, objects and rules to
the game. One such example would be
special electronic devices, like the “Pip-
Boy”, a watch-like contraption from a
computer game called “Fallout”, that
would provide you with information
on radiation levels, as well as function
as a GPS. Radiation itself is yet another
unique element in a post-apo setting,
and that of course leads to even more
specialised gear to protect against
it, and medication to cure or simply
withstand it.
The more complex the character,
the gear and the surroundings, the
more fun you will have in the game
and will make the experience of a
post-apocalyptic world or any other
theme, more real and enjoyable.
15

16. “I found a lot of bags of
peas when dumpster
diving the other day, so
tonight I’m serving a pea
soup for the soup kitchen.”
Martin Olle Josef Diedrichs is the coordi-
natorandavolunteeratFolketsHusinCo-
penhagen and his thing is to create some
popupsoupkitchenwithwhathefindsin
supermarket’s garbage.
Food waste
Every day, in supermarkets, withered
salads, single bananas* and milk car-
tons which are almost reaching their
expiration date are thrown away be-
cause customers would not buy them.
Some other supermarkets are just bad
at managing their stocks. In both cases,
one man’s loss is another man’s gain.
And Martin knows exactly where to go
and what to take when dumpster div-
ing.
DUMPSTER DIVING
A sustainable solution to a capitalist nonsense
*A single banana is a banana which was separated from its siblings by a customer who
only wanted four bananas. Four. Not five. The single banana remains alone and often ends
up in the trash even if the single banana tastes just as good as any banana. So do a good
deed and bring this banana home next time.
16

17. Re-distribution
Today, he’s taking me to Super-
Brugsen’s containers. When we arrive,
some employees are there, carrying
boxes. “We’ll wait until they’re done”,
he explains. Five minutes later we’re
back. A couple is there already, check-
ing a container and filling their bag
with what they found. “Do you want
some mushrooms”, they ask. Martin
takes some and offers them some chi-
li in return. You would be tempted to
take the whole garbage bags when you
see how much you can find for free. But
Martin reminds me that it is important
to leave some for the others.
Using our
senses
“I started with bread and vegetables.
Formeitwasafunthingtodoandaway
to save money and reduce food waste.”
Today, Martin only spends 20 DKK per
month on milk or garlic and dump-
ster dives everything else he eats.
“Vegetables, fruits, meat …” Meat ?!!
“You can find so much meat in the gar-
bage and if the expiration date isn’t
two days passed then it’s fine.” But is it
really safe, I asked.
“People don’t use their
senses anymore. They
forgot how to smell or
taste what they bought.
They just look at the date
on the package and throw
it out if it’s too old.”
17

18. Informing
people
What was supposed to help the cus-
tomers is now producing a ridiculous
amount of food waste. That’s why Mar-
tin does his “pop up dumpster dived
soup kitchen”, to inform people about
this sustainable way to find food and
get people to do it too. And the reac-
tions are most of the time really pos-
itive. “I even gave a tour to someone
who wanted to know about his local
dumpster diving places”, relates Mar-
tin.
Capitalist
nonsense
About the legal aspect, it seems to be
some sort of a grey zone. If you step
acrossafenceorbreakacontainerlock,
then you’re violating the law. “But if the
containers are accessible and open it
means that the supermarkets give up
their property right on the merchan-
dise”, explains Martin. However, gro-
cery store’s employees are often asked
to get rid of dumpster divers, even if
they’re not doing any harm. Martin’s
logical conclusion to this nonsense is
that supermarket’s owners don’t want
people to get food for free. Even if 40
% of the food that is produced in the
world never gets eaten**.
**Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story – 2014
- Documentary
18

19. 1. Don’t try
to get into a
confrontation
If you get caught by the supermarket
employees, just leave. Don’t try to dis-
cuss about it because first, it is not
their fault and their decision. And sec-
ond, they will end up putting a lock on
the containers and no one will be able
to dumpster dive there.
2. Use forums
There are many forums or Facebook
groups sharing info about the best plac-
estodumpsterdive.Findtheoneinyour
city and join. I also use this newsletter
from Fødevarestyrelsen (Food Comity),
who makes tests on different products
and decides if they can be sold or not.
For example, once, supermarkets had
to get rid of peanut butter jars from
a specific brand because it contained
one nut that was not specified on the
ingredients tag. It was edible, except if
you have allergies, but thanks to this
newsletter I knew I could take them.
3. Use your
senses
Look at the product, touch it, smell it
and see for yourself if it’s good or not.
Do not rely on the expiration date. For
example, you can drink milk after its
expiration date if it hasn’t been open.
Same goes for a lots of products like
yogurt, cheese …
3 tips about dumpster diving
by Martin Olle Josef Diedrichs
19

20. 20
Dead Drops:
How to be a spy for an afternoon

21. If you have ever seen a USB drive stick-
ing out of a wall, you may well have
stumbled on a Dead Drop. An interna-
tion art project borrowing tricks from
the world of espionage.
In October 2010, New York-based Ger-
man artist Aram Bartholl planted the
first five devices in what has become
an anonymous, global, offline, peer-to-
peer file sharing network. Anyone can
connect to the USB drives, and leave
any file they want. Text, music or video
files.
From those first five, the idea expand-
ed. There are now dead drops on every
continent in the world save Antarctica.
From Wellington, New Zealand in the
south to Vardø, Norway in the north.
Of course, when you plug your laptop
or phone into a publicly available USB
Dead Drops: How to
be a spy for an afternoon
21

22. flash drive, there are risks. Anyone can
access these drives, and on the Dead
Drops site, Aram Bartholl acknowl-
edges this: ”In general everybody is
responsible for the security of their
computers and systems. Is the Inter-
net a safe place?!? Malicious code for
USB flash drives is a problem in gener-
al. They could (and will) be misused for
malicious software. Be aware of that!
Secure your system! Boot a virtual ma-
chine! Or ask your friend to go first ;-)”.
Security professionals acknowledge
that if someone has physical access
to a machine, there is little they can
do. Here, we are willingly, potentially,
copying infected files to our system.
Using Dead Drops can turn into an en-
tirely different experience than what
the user hopes for. Why, then, are they
used at all? Why are they spread all
around the world?
22

23. Privacy and
Espionage
The term Dead Drop comes from
the early days of espionage. When
information needed to be exchanged
without a face to face meeting, spies
and informants had to get creative.
Behind or underneath loose bricks,
or other inconspicuous, small, failing
parts of the city, you could easily
stash documents that could then be
picked up later.
Now, while Dead Drop users might not
be putting on trenchcoats and dark
sunglasses when they venture into the
city to find the files left for them on the
USB drives by other users, they still get
the thrill of the hunt. Of being a part of
something only a relatively small sub-
set of people know of. And lastly, as we
experienced when we went hunting,
users get to know their city better, too.
There are troubles with anonymous
data-sharing, of course. On some Dead
Drops, recipes for poison, making a
bomb, or how to make crystal meth
have been found. In the same way as
the internet can be, Dead Drops can
be used as a replacement for under-
ground knowledge storages.
23

24. Scratch the Surface
e-zine by Creative Chaos
May 2015
Created for:
KEA - MMD A2014 - Module 5:Urban Expressions
Creative Chaos are:
Catalin Ardelean
Danijela Bulimbasic
David Hirst
Nadia Antoniou
Thao Do
Researching our main theme, LARP,
we came across quite a few awesome
photos that we included with our arti-
cles. We wish we owned copyright to
them, but we don’t.
We did manage to get in touch with
some of the amazingly creative people
intheLARPworld,whoallowedustouse
theirmaterials,sowewouldliketooffer
special thanks to Nuclear Snail Studios
and Johannes Axner of NordicLarp.org.
24