1.) BACKSTORY: “Monopoly”
In 1904, US-American Lizzie Magie developed “The Landlord’s Game” – a board game in which players fight for supremacy in a fictitious real estate market and which would later become a world success as “Monopoly”. In contrast to the Parker Brothers’ simile which capitalized on Magie’s idea, the inventor wanted to point out the dangers of a privatized real estate market. She contrasted the “monopolistic” game mode with an alternative ruleset where players could cooperate to “redeem/buy off” previously privatized property and make it available to the general public. She called this game mode “Prosperity”.

2.) “inscribing oneself into the city. RHIZ* –
a commons (common property) from A to Z”
This series of projects originated in the project “Refugium RHIZ*”, which designed a communal living, working and cohabiting project in an artistic context. The project was submitted to the Cultural Year Graz 2020 – Culture Creates Urban Future, but was rejected by the advisory board and has since been further developed during successive “phases” under the title “Purgatorium RHIZ*”.
In the context of the – so far – last phase, “Getting Down to Business – Practices of Self-determined Living), interviews with practitioners of self-managed, collective living/cohabiting (including, among, others, residents of SchloR and Willy*Fred) were conducted for a publication.

3.) PROJECT PROPOSAL: Noproperty (working title)
As the next incarnation of Purgatorium RHIZ* – “1:10 scale models of dreams and translation modules in real space city” – we are inventing a social game based on “The Landlord’s Game”, in which practices of self-determined living become consultable. In the game, the collected knowledge of the project series will be made accessible as an interactive manual and also negotiable. Along the project’s social, societal, spatial-political and artistic fault lines, imaginative spaces that can be pursued under the guiding principle of “independence through solidarity” emerge. Together, we no longer play Monopoly, but play to buy off from speculative-capitalist logics.
In 2023, a model of the game‘s concept, the cards, rules and playing pieces will be presented at RHIZOM, Annenstraße 52, Graz, and explored together during a game night. Concurrently, we are looking for a non-profit distribution structure for the game.

Ans Eingemachte – Book Dowload