Limited Edition of 50 @ $20.00 each
For Purchase info contact us at info@independentschoolofart.org
Field of Thoughts: Limited Edition Bingo Cards
Amy Franceschini, Michael Swaine & Corrine Mattesich
FIELD GAMENIGHT RECAP
Date: March 2006
Medium: Recycled legal files, die-cut, silk screen, offset printing and thread
Field of Thoughts emerged as a way for Futurefarmers to make money for carrying out non-profit related activities. The idea itself may be blamed directly on the IRS tax booklet entitled: Instructions for Form 1023 for readily identifying both the route to 501(c)3 non-profit incorporation and procedures for legal bingo gaming in the same document. The latter became an increasingly humorous side note while researching the former. Making game boards as an edition through the Independent School of Arts call for grant proposals made sense as a viable way to produce and design a set of game boards to be used for more than one evening of play.
The materials used to make the game boards included: recycled legal files, die-cut, silk screen, offset printing and thread. The legal files were die-cut with 25 penny-sized holes arranged in a circular pattern while maintaining the 5x5 grid of traditional bingo. Seventy-five inserts were printed with random configurations of the 75 lowest GNP countries. These inserts were silk-screened and laser printed to be included in each reusable board. The backs of the boards are composed of heavy tag board with one color offset printing. The fronts and backs are sewn together to hold the inserts in place. The die-cutting and printing were done by Logos Printing
Thirty seven players were invited to a March 26, 2006 test game. Each player was asked to represent one of the 75 featured countries. They were asked to bring obscure or interesting information and to bring an item of food or drink from their assigned country. The night was a combination of collaborative learning, potluck and gambling. The evening unfolded into a collaborative geography class, multi-cultural potluck and gambling. The range of food included East Timorian wraps, Somalian milk tea, and Gaza Strip Sweet Potato cookies. The evening was also a testing ground to see whether the bingo platform would work to raise money needed to bring artists to speak in San Francisco, offer workshops, and hold discussions.
In the final round, THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, the winner won the pot of money and a custom bingo card. The neighbor of the winner was considered a co-winner in this good-neighbor game, and received a hand-made, cloth ham.
How to play FIELD OF THOUGHTS:
FIELD is a game of chance born out of the bingo tradition. Players purchase game boards for a dollar a piece. (Money is either legal US tender, or a fake banana currency provided.) The boards hold a sheet printed with a 5x5 matrix of icons featuring 25 of the 75 icons possible. Pennies are distributed for use as chips to cover the icons in the order called out by the games facilitators. The first player to have a card where the drawn icons form a specified pattern is the winner. Winning patterns range from making a straight line (5-in-a-row), filling the outside circle (Around-the-World) or filling the entire card (Whole-Wide-World). When a player has won they shout Field! to stop play and collect the prize.
Number of players: 4+ or play in teams
Playing Pieces:
-75 boards
-75 inserts
-Field of Thoughts World Map
-150 map markers (75 orange, 75 dark orange)
-3 bags of pennies
-75 wooden pegs
-Glass shaker
-money pot
Set-Up:
-Pick a player to be the caller. This person draws pegs from the glass shaker and calls out the countries for the players to locate and cover on their game boards.
-One or Two other players should be designated for each round to mark the world map as countries are called.
-Players purchase game boards for a dollar a piece. (Money is either legal US tender, or a fake banana currency provided.) This money goes into the pot to be distributed to winners.
-Distribute a couple handfuls of pennies to each player to cover spots on the game board
Play:
- The caller starts the game by drawing the first peg from the shaker.
- Players who locate the country on their board place cover it with a penny.
- The dark orange markers can switch out the orange one marking that country on the map to keep track of which countries have been called for the round.
Keep drawing pegs until a player gets a winning pattern: Amy, can we just put in little diagrams of our game boards and their possible 5-in-a-row configurations for the rounded F-I-E-L-D? It seemed like that was the hard part of our instructions, and toooo long for words. Or is that a super annoying idea/ do you have a computer with those illustrator files in aspen?
- Shout Field! to announce your win.
Prizes:
- Prizes vary depending on the thematic content of each game.
*Good Neighbor Prize: Inspired by Hooked on Bingo, pg. 17
"Unbelieving that she could ever get a BINGO because she did not chip. I remember her vividly because not only did she win but I, sitting next to her, received a ham. It was a GOOD NEIGHBOR GAME and hams were prizes given to the person sitting next to the winners that night."
Die-cutting and printing by Logos Printing
