‘Whimsical Worlds’(2024)
Workshop
London
Group project
‘Whimsical Worlds’ is a safe environment to engage in creative idea sharing with the aim of encouraging the participants to use artistic interests in the creation of a fun communal activity.
Community is where world-building happens.
Rationale
We began with group discussions before deciding on exploring worldbuilding in our workshop. Taking inspiration from the writing of Jonathan Briggs and Ursula K. Le Guin, we wanted to create an experience that explores the descriptive rather than predictive potential of science fiction to keep our project in a contemporary context while also exercising imaginative worldbuilding techniques to broaden perspectives, facilitate team cohesion, and make speculative designs.
We knew we were working with The Outside Project, a program that works with LGBTIQ+ unhoused individuals, but did not know anything specific about the participants. While this posed a challenge, we realized we could use this to design an experience that could be replicable with any communal group. We could create a safe environment to share ideas, encourage imagination and use of creative skills in a collaborative space. What better way to address these aims than to create a ‘whimsical world’ with strangers, then plan and throw a party in that ideated reality, together?
Referring to both the learning outcomes and our own experiences with workshops, we ran the experience around the question: Can worldbuilding techniques be used to facilitate the communication of shared perspectives and encourage participants to engage with artistic interests to collaborate in a communal activity centered around enjoyment?
Our first challenge was overcoming issues of organization. Material in both the reading list and from the guest speakers mainly focused on smaller groups that were united by either a common goal or skill set that facilitated the needs of a known community. While this provided us with examples of the many forms a workshop could take, it made it difficult to overcome the immediate concern of organizing a large collaborative group while being mutually unfamiliar.
During the planning stage, we also had little information about the number of participants, their interests, and individual considerations around accessibility. Because of the relatively short time frame, we needed to design most of the workshop prior to receiving the required information, making it difficult to accommodate for a broad spectrum of considerations. Additionally, this raised the challenge of designing the workshop in a way that would allow for equal contribution from all participants regardless of skill level.
Methods
Preparations
Solutions
We approached the issue of lack of information about the participants by refining our design to activities that facilitated collaborative idea generation and could be replicated with any audience. This is when the idea of planning a ‘party’ in an alternate reality was proposed. The experience was structured in two main parts, the first being geared around introductions and communal idea generation. The second consisted of ‘stations’ of activities which incorporated sound and music, crafts, and visual communication, to build elements of the ‘party’ such as posters, environment, and accessories.
Activities, materials, and location were selected to accommodate possible accessibility issues; we even booked a second room (GH11) to stage and hold workshop materials and facilitators so our room was not too crowded and intimidating.
To overcome the issues of fair contribution in a potentially large group, we first decided on the overall theme of worldbuilding, then divided into smaller groups to discuss ideas before coming together to pitch our ideas. This facilitated discussion in a less intimidating way. After we devised a rough outline for the workshop, we created a list of roles according to previous expressions of interest and diverse skill sets. By dividing facilitators up into teams that focused on specific aspects of worldbuilding, facilitators were comfortable in their specializations while participants had more opportunities to explore their artistic interests.
Workshop Invitations& Agenda
World Building
