Our purpose for this intervention** is helping people to deal with Change* in an amusing way.

Development of concepts into an experience

Once we had an overall idea of what will happen, we worked out a way that it would make sense to people. This event is not random, it is a designed process. An experience with a purpose.

1. During the day, things start to be build at the space. People walking through wonder about the strange paintings, the white pallets, and glass walls being built. What is happening? Why are things changing here?
2. At 23:00 people come to the door and confront themselves with the question: Are you ready to loose your face? People have to decide, Do i really want to do this? Is it the place for me? Am i willing to go through this?
   If they are, they get through a check,  and finally get a temporary new identity. They get the face of somebody else who is also in the party. This is thought for two purposes. 1: Confront people with their own self. They might randomly see themselves acting totally different as what they would normally do. this means, my face is not me, there is more to me that my physical appearance. 2: Empathy with the others. By seeing people which have their face, they think of themselves, they understand themselves, and have a relationship to it.
3. They arrive then in a foggy corridor. Can see nothing but disturbing lights and involving music. They ask themselves : Where do i go now? Do i take the safe route or the dark one? What is after this or that door?
4. Take a door. Guest can choose which door they open, and if they want to go in. Or, maybe they are curious, the normality wasn’t enough so they take a new door.
   1. The bar: Is a safe place. We find what we expect to have there. Drinks, Music, Seating / Dancing. But there is something more: Moving walls, The space adapts to the guests. We change our moods, so why not the space?
   2. The challenge: A dark corridor. Strange signs, Strange feelings. Guest ask themselves, Why i am here? This is dangerous!!
5. The next level. Finding peace.  If we overcome the fear, then reach a tipi, with a fire in the middle. We find a space to reflect on our journey, and other people that have go through and can share with us their experience. We find our self in a moment of calm, and can envision the next step. There is little packages which can hold your dreams or wishes, throwing it in the fire means a willing act to make it happens.
6. The next cycle. There is no end to our journey. We decide where we want to take it. Each step inspires us to look for something else.

Conclusion

This process (party, event, celebration,…) replicates in a short time different stages that we go through as we develop in our lives.
There is something that inspires us to do things different. As we separate from normality, or what others consider normal, we find our self challenged by our doubts. There is some people that doesn’t want to try (they don’t go in the party) But for those who decide to try, there is still many stages at which the whole process is questioned. For example, we are curious to find something new. We try out, but as soon as we find something where we feel safe, we have the possibility to stay there, to stop our process. If we decide to continue it might be even more scary. We get into spaces where it seems that there is no body. We find our self alone in darkness, everything is questioned, you might feel again that you want to go back to safeness.
But for those who adventure one step further there is calm and peace. Then you know you have reach something new, something that you were longing for even if you didn’t explicitly know it. And this is not the end, when we are there, we are able to see new things, and we set our self on a new path. Agan feeling alone on our way, again with making the possibility to reach a new level.

This party, was an intent to prototype spaces where we might put our self through to accelerate our inner process. It should be something enjoyable, and give the possibility to each individual to reach as much as they want. But it should challenge us too, and put us into uncomfortable positions, so that inspire us to do the same in our everyday life.
We wanted to create a party where people didn’t come to forget their everyday, but to be inspired, to see possibilities and to celebrate life.

somethingstrangewillhappen is facilitated by Pedro Pineda using the MakerLab Process.

Read more about it here