Pixelsumo is the blog of
Chris O'Shea, an artist and designer based in London.
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Alternative Ping Pong
Posted September 30th 2007 under Games
A visit to Dr.Pong in Berlin back in March reminded me to post these projects that I saw a while ago…taking a game of ping pong and giving it new rules, context and interpretation.
At the Common Wealth exhibition at the Tate Modern in 2003 I saw 3 playful sculptures. Frisbee House by Carsten Holler (although I was kicked out of the tent), Oval Billiard Table by Gabriel Orozco who also created Ping Pond Table (shown above).
Instead of a net, the table has been pulled apart and a raised pond (complete with lilly pads) put in its place, along with two more table sections making it a game for up to 4 players.
There is an interesting interview with Orozco and a video here.
“The Ping Pond Table is connected to this idea of a new space, a new possible space. When you have a normal ping pong game you have a net which is enough space between two spaces. But when you multiply that space by four, instead of two people playing you have four people playing in four tables. You open that space so the net is also open. And what you have there is a new space because it didn’t exist before…..That is the space that I’m interested in, the in-between space”
“I like to make new games. I like to improvise games in situations and then I like the rule just because the rule makes the game grow. I like to make a game grow by trying to understand the geometry of the situation. And then you have to make some rules and times and scores and points and bounces, how many bounces and things like that. So I like to do that. It’s quite silly, but normal.”
Laurent Perbos has created this series of ping pong tables…
In Un autre état d’esprit (Another state of mind) is a concrete table made with anti theft protection devices and the paddles are attached. When I first saw this I had invented a different use for the attached cord, one which I thought would have been more playful. Imagine if the paddles were connected to each other via a long cord. This would change the competitive dynamic, enabling you to pull the opponents hand out of position as they are about to return the ball.
Ping-pong pipe turns a flat playing surface into a tube, enabling a you to hit the ball in any direction.
There are many more examples here, as well as a book of concept drawings here (shown below)
Comments
(February 19th 2009)
Incredible idea…we used to play ping pong on a 16′ long by 6′ wide sewing table…with a nerf ping pong net. Sweetness and all this goes one step further.