Giovanna Spantigati

THE GENERIC GAME

The Generic game was first developed in 1990. It is a set of questions that any viewers of art can ask themselves in the consideration of any work of art. There is no need to have arts background. Experienced arts viewers can play the game as easily as novice. The game is not designed for specific art forms. It can be used as well with works of art or other educational themes. That is why it was originally named "generic".

THE PROJECT MUSE is an example of this generic game. It explores educational approaches that focus on the learner as opposed to the subject being learned.

There are:
1. Questions that do not have right or wrong answers. There are neither winners nor losers.

2. Differences that exist among learners.

3. Students can think about their own thinking. The games was conceived as a structure that would guide viewers of art in their own personal discovery of meaning through arts.

What can be learned from playing the Generic Game:

- It enables player sto learn that: you don't need any prior information to begin to build an understanding work of art (as is true for most things).

- Possono capire che la propria comprensione può aumentare grazie alle riflessioni degli altri che lavorano insieme a noi per scoprire il significato di un'opera d'arte (o qualunque altro testo).

- Even if you play alone, your understanding builds from observation to observation, from noticina small outside details to pondering inner meaning.

- The kind of building of understanding you do through observing and describing qhat you see and discover in a work of art may be of use to you in other settings.

- When you are constructing your own understanding you need to spend time with a work of art (as is true with any subject that is new to you) before you can determine what pieces of information you will need to further your own understanding.

Questions for the Generic Game:

Look at a work of art and then answer these questions:

Do you like this work of art? Why or why not?

Look carefully at the work of art in front of you. What colors you see in it? List the specific colors that you see

What do you see in the work of art in front of you? List the objects that you see

What is going on this work of art) Take turns mentioning whatever you see happening, no matter how small.

Does anything you have noticed in this work of art so far (for example: colors, objects or events) remind you of something in your own life?

Is this work of art true to life? How real the artist made things look? Do you have a sense of how the artist might have felt when he or she made this work of art? Does it make you feel one way or another?

What would you have called this work of art if you had made it yourself? Does the title of the work make sense to you?
Think back on your previous observations. You may want to go back and review your comments. What have you discovered from looking at this work of art? Have you learned anything about yourself or others?

Do you like this work of art? Why or why not? You may notice that this is the same question that you were asked before you played the game. Has your reaction to the work changed? Do you like it more or less than you did in the beginning? Why?