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C5 Quest for Success is curatorial selection as urban game, testing competitors’ analysis, management, and cooperative decision making skills – traits needed for success in Silicon Valley. The grand prize is a six to twelve week residency at the Montalvo Arts Center co-sponsored with C5 and a Silicon Valley corporate partner – a great opportunity for the right player with the right project pitch. Contestants navigate the streets of San Jose exploring GPS controlled narratives in an attempt to locate the C5 Corporate Limo. Once there, you just might have the opportunity to pitch your proposal to a panel of distinguished experts.
The contestants, cast as arty versions of The Apprentice it seems, have to drive around in specially made go-carts with a GPS to activate a narrative segment they then interpret for a possible path through the city. The main site mentions stuff about how they then use this narrative as backstory in their pitches (seems these artists have an awful lot to do). But what I found interesting — besides the convergence of art festival, industry pitch, locative art and marketing (C5 “specializes in cultural production informed by the blurred boundaries of research, art and business practice”) — are the “storytelling cars”.
GoCar is the first-ever GPS-guided storytelling car.
That is such a great idea! It is basically a pre-recorded narrative tour like galleries have had for years, but with GPS. But having the hardware, having a car that you can drive around the city, that has GPS and obviously a screen for narrative segments. It is something that writers can use (hopefully) for their own projects. We need more of these sorts of grown-up ‘toys’ that can be used for narrative games. I for one am starting a business in that area, because I’m not alone in that desire for intellectual play.