Virtually Manchester

Blast Theory I'd Hide You

Having written about Blast Theory's 2011 retrospective at Spacex, I was keen to actually experience one of their edgier, hi-tech games. I'd tried the contemplative phone-based work Ghostwriter at Exeter's RAM Museum and found it a little tame, but the high-energy I'd Hide You didn't disappoint.

Blast Theory are a multidisciplinary group of practitioners who present interactive art and immersive theatre, often in the form of games which explore ethical and technological boundaries. I'd Hide You ran over three nights in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Runners roamed the city, interacting with its citizens and trying to snap each other, all the time streaming video to a watching online audience, who were also armed with snap buttons. As an audience member you could also type messages (such as the whereabouts of rival runners) to your chosen runner.  Snap a runner onscreen and you scored a point. Get snapped by someone else and you lost a life.

I dipped in briefly early on Thursday and Friday nights and found the game a little frustrating. Time delays meant successful snapping was virtually impossible and the video stream was often broken up.  Plus my runner seemed to be running around a bit aimlessly. I was fascinated by the process and the general feel of the thing, but as a game it seemed a poor substitute for the purely digital.

By Saturday night some of the problems seemed to have been ironed out (or maybe I was just lucky). I joined in after dark and a couple of drinks, onboard with the wily and chatty Matt. The game seemed to be getting into its stride, though its faster pace revealed some of its flaws (both logistical and technological). 

There were moments (only moments mind) where the adrenalin pumped, where I laughed out loud and where I felt genuinely transported to another place, watching the the world through my runner's eyes. Most interesting of all was the emergence of strategic playing: audience and runners colluding in subterfuge, trickery, distraction and deceit. 

Even though I'd Hide You was slickly styled and presented, I feel I've witnessed a bold experiment rather than a finished game. But that's what makes it interactive art and not just entertainment. Where Blast Theory lead, mainstream culture will follow.

I'd Hide You was presented at Future Everything and as part of the new Arts Council online project The Space.

http://www.idhideyou.com/
http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/bt/index.php