Human Machine

Instructions: 

• People are split into teams and are expected to create original or existing machines and show how they function using only their bodies.

• The rules are simple:

• Everyone has to have a working part

• When you demonstrate the machine, no one can speak unless its a critical piece of the machine

• The machine has to be real. You can invent a machine.

Praxis (why + theory):

I read somewhere that we should stop asking children what they want to be when they grow up; instead, we should ask what they want to change. I extend this question even further by asking children and youth what systems they want to abolish. Maybe even ask what will be their contribution to the new world? 

When positioned intentionally, within this discussion, the human machine moves participants into the space to brainstorm, innovate, create, and respond with their bodies. What needs will your machine address? Who is your target audience? Why?

Building this machine together becomes a tactic for fostering inclusion and cohesion, as well as strategy and execution skills amongst the group. The game teaches us the “ability to come up with lots of possible ways of interpreting and answering questions” (Benjamin 5).