Fair Trade

Overview

Is Trust given freely, or earned over time? Is Fairness judged on a geological timescale or in the span of a second? How much can you get in exchange that birthday present you got from your least favorite aunt?

Fair Trade is the first in a series of experiments from critically acclaimed Interactive Experience Makers Jessica Creane (Know Thyself, Chaos Theory, Schrödinger’s Cat) and Yannick Trapman-O’Brien (The Telelibrary, Undersigned), designed to invite participants to lean into these questions and discover what exactly we give and take when things change hands.

In this thought experiment turned philosophical swap-meet, you’ll bring 3 possible offerings to negotiate a trade with a stranger.

It may be a deeply personal exploration of how you do (or don’t) come to Trust the people you meet. It may be a perspective-smashing upheaval of how you decide the Value of things. It may short circuit your notions of how to find meaning and fulfillment. It may even be the Fairest trade you’ve ever made. It will definitely be a chance to discover your own definitions.

What might you bring — and what might you get in return?

Come find out.

All participants are asked to book no more than 1 ticket per showtime, as this experience is designed for two strangers.

You should set aside 70 minutes for this piece, but your time experience will vary based on participant input – a power which you will share with that other stranger.

Jessica Creane & Yannick Trapman-O'Brien

Jessica Creane is a game and immersive experience designer focused on personal and communal transformation through play. She is the founder of IKantKoan Play/s, Professor of Game Design at Drexel University and CUNY City Tech, a 2022 Arctic Circle Artist-in-Residence, a 2022 Buckminster Fuller Institute Design Science Fellow, an environmentally-focused game designer with The National Parks Service, and a founding member of The Rachael Carson Center Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators. Jessica recently gave a TEDx talk on embracing uncertainty through play and her work has been presented at The World Economic Forum, Fastaval, SXSW, ArsNova, Caveat NYC, HERE Arts, Tanween Creativity Festival, BostonFIG, The New York Times, and KQED San Fransisco. Her work ranges from single-player games to epic events. She often reads by candlelight. https://ikantkoan.com/

Yannick Trapman-O’Brien is a Performer, Theatermaker, and Creative Hand for Hire. His practice centers on exploring the exchanges and spaces we are willing to make with strangers, and seeking unorthodox applications for performance. People pay him to act, which he has done in Shakespeare, devised work, performance actions and immersive works, as well as amphitheaters, basements, historical mansions, forests, and one time on a bike. Past credits include The Walnut Street Theater, Theater Mitu, Witness Relocation, the Interactive Playlab, The American Czech Theater, New Light Theater, and performances at the Franklin Institute, Morris Jumel and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museums. He is an alumnus of NYU Abu Dhabi (Theater, BA) and an ongoing collaborator with Monument Lab, Guerilla Science, and Alterra Productions. He is also the creator of The Telelibrary, a critically acclaimed telephone performance for audiences of one. Occasionally, he sleeps. yannickto.com&l