1st August 2008
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8th August 2008Volkhardt Müllers's blog
Day 6 - World Politics for the Global player
Written by Volkhardt Müller
Saturday, 09 August 2008 21:54
Finally a good nights sleep! We are off to BBC Radio Devon, the Breakfast Show at 8.15am. Amusingly the presenter seems to realize only about half way through the interview that we are not professional athletes but a bunch of artists. After the interview we are scheduled to play at the opening of the big BBC screen in Plymouth, to coincide with the launch of the Bejing Olympics. It's a bizarre event with all sorts of sporting displays. Live images from the site are mixed with the pompous kitsch of the olympic opening ceremony, Russian tanks in Georgia and free Tibet protesters being bludgeoned, presumably by Chinese riot police.
Quite unlike during the rest of our tour, Tim and Augusto do an awful lot of games against children- good for the stats as Tim points out with a smirk- whilst I do more radio interviewing and lots of talking, being replaced by the wicked DW who turns up as a guest player. The fold out chairs in front of the big screen are almost exclusively populated by Chinese people who do a lot of patriotic squeaks and red flag waving. It's a sunny day, our table is very popular as usual and the BBC are pleased with our presence.
We debrief on a pint of Erdinger Weissbier and a game of boule in Totnes as total relaxation and smiles set in.
Day 5 - Playing Princesshay
Written by Volkhardt Müller
Saturday, 09 August 2008 21:09
We are in for a little performance. Knowing that we are going to be thrown out we decide to play Princesshay- the new shopping precinct at the heart of Exeter.
The whole area is now privately owned. Story goes that when locals were invited to celebrate the opening of "their" new city centre last year, people taking pictures were approached by security and told to pack their cameras away.
Being German I've got good memories of friends visiting relatives in the GDR, ending up being approached in just about the same way. Funny that on a ground level this incarnation of capitalism should have the same politics as the Stasi.
We decide to move in whilst playing - our table can be played on the move- and ping-pong our way in from a side alley. I pull, Augusto and Tim play. We stop on the main square, ready to play the public when heavy rain sets in. So it's back into the crowded mall, to the great amusement of the shoppers and I see people flashing their cameras and mobile phones left right and centre.
Security take a considerable 15 minutes before they realise what's going on and we celebrate our third round back through the mall before they finally close in.
We are, I explain trying to find our way out and despite their eager assistance, "no I am very sorry, but you can't touch this table, you know that", it takes us another 15 minutes to negotiate our way out. I find this very exhilarating and by the time we are out it's pouring it down.
We set up under a roof and play squeezed against a shop window. The Exeter ladies' champion has taken time off work to play us, she is very particular about the table(this is not a real table) and defeats the Global Player. Our play is unconvincing and exhausted, but the Princesshay stunt was enjoyable.
Day 4 - Cardiff
Written by Volkhardt Müller
Wednesday, 06 August 2008 23:59
After compiling materials for the website until after midnight/2am we get up at five and onto the road to Cardiff. A garlic sandwich for everybody is what we have for breakfast at about 7.
There is a grand plan for a tour that connects Cardiff City Centre with the quay, with some very particular locations that I definitely want us to play. However the experience of past gigs has shown that as the situation evolves around the table moving on in order to stick to a premeditated schedule often feels wrong. As a result of this we play less locations for longer (between 1 and 3 hours each).
We have a couple of opening games at chapter and then move out to the Eisteddfod. Again we are brilliantly hosted by the chapter people and with a crew of three stewards and our Welsh guest player Owen we are a party of seven rather than 3.
My table tennis is not as bad as the day before but we all realize that the tour schedule is starting to get at us. At some time in the late afternoon we figure that we haven't had any food since the garlic sandwich. Augusto and Tim look grey and somebody says the same about me. By the time we replenish our stomachs it is unfortunately too late for me. Some table tennis whizzard by the name of Ninja and unbearably high energy levels defeats the global player for the first and last time this day. My canvas goes entirely blank and I play every serve past the table, abandoning my chances to score against his incredibly strong topspin. He is a great player and I am a bit miffed that I meet him at my lowest.
We end up playing three outdoor locations + chapter, generating a decent buzz at the last place.
Cardiff seems to be full of great locations and despite all of us being exhausted it's been a good day.
Day 3 - Jubilee Square, out and back.
Written by Volkhardt Müller
Tuesday, 05 August 2008 22:19
Brighton
Our first spot Jubilee Square is easy as far as crowds are concerned, it is fairly lively and not a really disfunctional space to begin with. Lots of people stop and watch and many join in. I play abysmal table tennis and transform from being the insurance policy of the team into a liability. Not my day from the beginning and unfortunataly it stays just like that.
Generally, the mood around the table is very relaxed and cheerful even though it is such a competitive game.
After lunch we move on to the New England Quarter where Augusto has identified a spot that is entirely different. It’s a newish development, flats and a supermarket arranged around a small square on a hill side. On arrival there are two homeless people, drunk and slumped on a wall, two teenage girls giggling away on a bench, and one Big Issue seller in front of Sainsbury’s.
As we play the square evolves with a pretty constant crowd of people watching, eating & drinking and waiting for their turn to play. Dramatic games motivate people into applause - something that brings the folks together.
As we leave I am told that somebody from the council was there, taking pictures. Apparently the man is concerned with the mechanics of public spaces. Wonder wether he contemplates talking to us.
We finish off in Jubilee square for a couple of hot games with a cheering crowd, plenty of onlookers and some loyal followers who have come with us from the New England Quarter. Even this rather sleek space with its glass facades, outdoor chairing and styled espresso bars is transformed by the Global Player. The game, now placed right in the centre of the square turns people from espresso sipping observers into actors in a piece of community live. It’s the difference between being there and being right in it I suppose. I smile as I write this.
Day 2 - Exeter
Written by Volkhardt Müller
Tuesday, 05 August 2008 21:56
In the morning we set up in front of Exeter library, immediately attracting a small crowd. An older challenger tells us about how "table tennis used to be more popular in this country". Generally there is lots of shoulder clapping and smiley faces. A chinese man is delighted about seeing a table in a public space, reminding him of China where “they are everywhere”. He then moves on to give us our first defeat. A South African Guy suggests to “bring this table to Soveto and bomb America with footballs” which I like.
People either think that they have to pay for a game, or that it’s a charitable event or some promotion exercise. I suppose we could easily transcribe the piece into some commercial street performance, keeping the high street punters all happy and shopping. Exeter’s Express & Echo ultimately hits the nail on the head, announcing that Global Player are “promoting the Bejing Olympics”.
Setting up the table always feels like a big statement, putting the four legs down is like staking out a territory however mobile we look. A new and unknown spot often feels like in an ill-fitted suit, a bit exposed and maybe even dangerous, but with the space evolving over time it becomes all ours and that of the people who play us. Once we are rolling people have to queue for their game, and often they stay around for ages even after they have played. The concept of colonising a space is taking a form in this performance.
After a lunchtime radio interview with Vibraphonic FM we play Castle Street Square, generating an enourmous buzz. An active table tennis player in his sixties plays us. His bat action and spin are devastating and even though he is hardly moving his trunk, the Global Player gets beaten for the second and last time this day:
"Table tennis is all about deception. "
On Sunday morning, this Jedi of table tennis gives us a good free tutorial in the Phoenix Gallery and we learn lots. Thanks Michael.
Day 1 - A good start
Written by Volkhardt Müller
Monday, 04 August 2008 17:23
11am –7pm
The launch at the Phoenix Gallery: Coffee, chat and a couple of games before we move out into the streets of Exeter - that’s the plan. Too much coffee and no breakfast prove very detrimental to my game. I shake like a poplar leave and play very insecure games without initiative. The Global Player gets beaten once by the wicked DW and his crafty spin. (David I shall play you again!)
We move out late.
Spot 1 - Exeter Central Station
Right next to a main road, it’s a transitional space with people rushing head down. After half an hour a lady in a headscarf stops for a game, from then on a wave is rolling and even in this unlikely space and time there is always somebody to play. After 3 hours and playing a group of very shouty teenagers in the rain we move on.
The Guild Hall and the Harlequin Centre take a sizeable chunk of central Exeter. Purpose-built shopping temples they are also privately owned, thus particularly qualifying for the Global Player.
Spot 2
We play on the pedestrian bridge that connects the Harlequin Centre with the Guildhall. Young women with full shopping bags do not stop. Security steps in: the guy with the eyepatch doesn’t want to play us because “he doesn’t like to see people getting beaten and then cry”. Hmmh.
Spot 3 - “Everything this place needs”
The Central square in the Guild Hall, we instantly generate a lot of public interest. Before we can engage anybody its security again.
Spot 4 - just around the corner.
A shopkeeper likes us. Young men want to play us but as we get ready its security again, this time with grim faces and reinforcement.
Spot 5 - The hotspot
Right at the doorstep of the Guildhall precinct, where the pedestrian zone hits North Street, wedged between concrete bollards, busy traffic and on a slope. The place is visually effective in all directions and brimming with contenders of all ages & nationalities, male and female, eager to beat us. Some of them are strong players and a 17 year old chap beats the global player again. I can’t have it and demand revenge, beating him in a couple of vicious exchanges, securing a good nights sleep for myself. I haven’t felt so openly competitive since I was a teenager.
A woman with children plays us. She is angry that we got thrown out of the Guild Hall: “They sometimes have things in there for you or the children but never ever without having to pay for it.”
As we pack up and roll the table back through the now empty precinct we do not meet a soul: All shutters down, it’ reminds me of a post apocalyptic scenario out of a cold war movie, and that’s right in the heart of Exeter on a Friday night – you get what you pay for.
Preview
Written by Volkhardt Müller
Saturday, 26 July 2008 01:00
The Torquay preview and test run last Monday was successful beyond expectation with people literally queueing for a match at every spot we pitched. But also being on transit procession style with John Drevers soundtrack drew plenty of attention. One person in passing nods with a sort of thumbs up:
F****** good promotion!
I like that - promotion for promotions sake! Seems like we got the looks right. The spots we were given by space invaders were a bit like high street busking- pedestrian zones in Torquay on a sunny day at the beginning of the holiday.
I am now looking forward to play some more obscure locations.