What is  this project about?

This project is devised as a ‘game’ which involves co-creation between strangers operating remotely at different parts of this process. The entire process of the game will result in the birth of objects known as Strange•R, formed by the encounter between Strangers who have taken on different roles in the game.

What is a Strange•R?

The term Strange•R comes from the word stranger. A Strange•R is an everyday object which once was familiar but now seems strange, having random words derived from the dreams and experiences of the people in the city applied on them, through a devised Methodology*.

R is Re-live, Re-born, Re-use, Re-visit, Re-learn, Re-think, Re-create, Rejoice, Relationships…

These diverse interpretations will see the transformation of everyday objects into something that can
be reapplied into our daily life in a renewed way. At the same time, they will assume characters
that tell of the stories of our city.

What are the roles a stranger can take to play this game?
What are their contributions to the birth of a Strange•R?

1.     The traveller and his/her passport

- The traveller will take part in the game called [Journey to Strange•R World] in which s/he will map out his/her journey in a normal day with a Passport to Strange•R World collected from us. The passport contains  instructions and guides to be filled in with notes from a day’s journey. In the process, s/he will engage with strangers, come face to face with his feelings and dreams… and may for a moment return to the consciousness of the everyday.

- His/her experience and dreams within the day of his travel which is recorded in the passport will determine the character of the Strange•R.

2.     The Strangers whom the traveller has met
- The Strangers are the people whom the traveller has met during his/her day of travel in [Journey to Strange•R World]

- S/he will decide on the object to be transformed which is recorded in the passport.

3.     An Abandon Object
- An old object of a similar nature chosen by the stranger, will be given a second life with a new purpose in our everyday.

4.     The Object Translator
- The Object Translator will take part in another process [Certificate to a Second Life] in which s/he will look for the abandon object and insert the character found in the passport of the traveller through a devised methodology, to give a new life to it.

5.     A Birth Certificate
- this will record the history of the transformed object, thought process  of the Object Translator and acknowledgment of the different strangers who constituted to the birth of the Strange•R.  With the birth certificate, the Strange•R is no longer identified merely as an object of consumption but something that possesses a history, a character and a new life of its own waiting to be cherished by a new owner.

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What do you want to be, Strange•R? was first developed as part of Creator-in-Residence in Tokyo Wonder Site. It was first featured at the Singapore Arts Festival installation at Raffles City, Singapore, from 8 May to 14 June 2009.

It is an on-going process which seeks to engage with the intricate relationships and wonders inherent in our everyday life; between people, objects and the city, through the process of creating. At the same encourage co-creation and provide an alternative perspective of the city through everyday objects that have gone beyond themselves as products of consumption.

For more on the concept of this project read here.