Monthly Archives: May 2012

The cover of the Spring 2012 issue of…

Here’s the cover of the Spring 2012 issue of Cabinet Magazine.  Skee-ball, skee-ball everywhere!  The issue includes “The Games Game Theorists Play” by Order of the Third Bird member and Princeton Professor of History, D. Graham Burnett, who joined visiting artist Sal Randolph for a meeting of the Order at Magill Library on April 4th.

In his essay Burnett explores the game “So Long, Sucker,” arguing that it is

… something more than a liberal pessimist Cold War mini-drama.  It is also a gamified tutorial in the circumscribed utility of traditional game theory itself—a kind of penitential rite for those excessively enamored with calculating reason: call it game-penance for game theorists.

Tomorrow John and I depart for Portland OR…

Tomorrow, John Muse and I depart for Portland, OR to once again attend the Open Engagement conference held at Portland State University, a yearly gathering of social practice artists, theorists, and enthusiasts. Last year we attended the conference to talk through our ideas for what was then And the Winner is… with curators, artists, and other interested individuals. In Portland we received a ton of wonderful feedback and encouragement. We’re looking forward to going back to Portland to share our stories about And the Winner is Nick Kahn and to cook up new ideas for future projects. However, before we take off for Portland once more we should thank those people from last year’s conference who were so kind to give their time, insight, and assistance to our grand idea. Thank you Jennifer Delos Reyes, Harrell Fletcher, Pato Hebert, Catherine Greenblatt, and Jesikah Maria Ross!

On Monday May 7th Nick Kahn collected another…

On Monday, May 7th, Nick Kahn collected another pledge:

This is my room-mate and friend, David Robinson, serving my custom-mixed sauce and drink. He did remember the ice cubes. Some other highlights include him having to peel at least 6 oranges for everyone present. This is funny because he is notorious for asking outrageous favors, one of his favorites being to ask others to peel his oranges so that he can eat them. I also asked him to go to the chicken tenders and ask the server for an entire plate. He returned with a mountainous pile of tenders which we all shared. For dessert I requested a root beer float, which he made very well.

Nick Kahn sent me the following report on…

Yesterday, Nick Kahn sent me the following report on his Friday, May 11th experience with Professor Alex Norquist, who had pledged “to spend 30 minutes blowing stuff up” with the winner:

Hey John, I did a little write-up on the plane. Sorry it’s so long; as Mark Twain said, I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.

I met Professor Norquist in his office, and after having congratulated me (which still makes me feel strange), he took me downstairs into a sort of garage that the INSC has. He had already loaded up a cart full of fun explosives. Continue reading →