The story of your art

The business of your art.

The game of your art.

Three ways for being imaginative and craftful with your art: develop an open story, see your whole life as a business, or play an endless game.

I think they’ll all help us contribute more.

The last of these comes from James Carse’s (almost thirty year old) book Finite and Infinite Games, which has been on my wishlist for a while.

It’s not about playing any game, but participating in infinite games, which means it isn’t about winning the game, it’s about keeping everyone in the game and keeping the game going: ‘the purpose of continuing to play.’

It increasingly feels as though infinite games are the future – a future which invites everyone, is connected, and is graceful.

There are many who will struggle with this.  From whichever side of the finite game line, they believe only some get to play, and fewer still win – a world of scarcity.

An infinite game,an open story, and a sustainable business are about a world of abundance.

We begin with the value that everyone matters, not because of what they produce, but because of their intrinsic worth – when a person realises they matter, then they are moved to produce.  By playing this game, we get to involve as many as possible.*

A beautiful and genius element to infinite games is the inclusion of finite games.  The infinite-games player values and maximises the possibilities for bringing certain people together, for a particular amount of time, towards an agreed purpose – Chris Anderson identifies these as makerspaces.**

This new language is awakening me to the reality that I’m already playing infinite and finite games in a number of ways – I can think of at least five – and they are helping me and others to take our art further.

Time to play?

(*Intrinsicness is an important feature of the finite game, offering enjoyment and engagement throughout; the finite game makes little sense unless you win – something which only happens at the end.)
(**It is unlikely a finite games player will see the value in infinite games.)