Abstract
This paper presents an experimental prototyping approach, termed ‘grafting’, for investigating theoretical crossovers between craft practice and the play of video games. It presents a case study of prototype ‘graft-game’ Hazuki Knit, developed as a probe for exploring an emerging theoretical field of study that acknowledges embodied skill within the play of videogames aligning it with craft labour. In particular, it proposes a method of prototyping in which an existing game is directly grafted onto a craft activity in order to enable the direct observation of its impacts upon embodied and inarticulable actions of participants during grafted gameplay at a series of themed public events. Through discussion, it presents grafting as a method for interrogating the potentialities brought about through joining these two related yet distinct activities. Utilising key findings from a case study of prototype ‘graft-game’ Hazuki Knit conducted by the author between May 2018 and June 2019 this paper reveals that directly joining craft with a digital game can lead to high-risk gameplay that can negatively impact the quality of the craft output.
Keywords
Craft; Gaming; Graft-game; Crossovers; Prototyping
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.149
Citation
Potter, G.(2023) Graft-games: Experiential prototyping for the exploration of crossovers between craft and gaming, in Silvia Ferraris, Valentina Rognoli, Nithikul Nimkulrat (eds.), EKSIG 2023: From Abstractness to Concreteness – experiential knowledge and the role of prototypes in design research, 19–20 June 2023, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.149
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Graft-games: Experiential prototyping for the exploration of crossovers between craft and gaming
This paper presents an experimental prototyping approach, termed ‘grafting’, for investigating theoretical crossovers between craft practice and the play of video games. It presents a case study of prototype ‘graft-game’ Hazuki Knit, developed as a probe for exploring an emerging theoretical field of study that acknowledges embodied skill within the play of videogames aligning it with craft labour. In particular, it proposes a method of prototyping in which an existing game is directly grafted onto a craft activity in order to enable the direct observation of its impacts upon embodied and inarticulable actions of participants during grafted gameplay at a series of themed public events. Through discussion, it presents grafting as a method for interrogating the potentialities brought about through joining these two related yet distinct activities. Utilising key findings from a case study of prototype ‘graft-game’ Hazuki Knit conducted by the author between May 2018 and June 2019 this paper reveals that directly joining craft with a digital game can lead to high-risk gameplay that can negatively impact the quality of the craft output.