The Lovers’ Matchmaking Agency
Oslo 4.-9.7. ♥ Copenhagen 25.-29.7. ♥ Helsinki 15.-19.8.
The Lovers’ Matchmaking Agency is a participatory art event made up of dates. We do the matchmaking, you go on the dates, and together we are The Lovers.
Where and when:
Oslo, Norway 4.-8.7. (Matchmakers’ workshop 2.-3.7.)
Copenhagen, Denmark 25.-29.7. (Matchmakers’ workshop 23.-24.7.)
Helsinki, Finland 15.-19.8. (Matchmakers’ workshop 13.-14.8.)
Cost: 30€ / 300 NOK / 250 DKK
The Lovers’ Matchmaking Agency is a Walkabout project, each of which a participatory art project based on a tarot card. This covers, naturally, card VI: The Lovers.
Getting to the point with people where it feels like there is a genuine connection can be difficult and take a long time. We don’t easily let our guards down. Or maybe we just don’t understand each other. Getting from the first sight to the moment when we feel we share the same world is usually a long and gradual process, it can take years and in most cases it never happens. This is all for good reasons. To co-habit as a society we need to have our rules and play our games and have our limits. But wouldn’t it be nice to just for a moment skip all this and go right to the point where we can give people access to our worlds and see what’s inside theirs? Have you ever looked at windows and wished you could just knock on the doors and get to know the people inside? This is what The Lovers’ Matchmaking Agency attempts to do.
It’s all very simple, really. For five days in the Agency will match up people who our matchmakers feel might have something to give each other. The daters will choose a theme for the date from our date menu, framing the encounter in an unusual way. To get to that place of intimacy, trust and safety we will teach you a tool, or a point of view, called the Lovers’ lens. Or you can ‘work’ at the Agency and become a matchmaker yourself.
For more information:
Sign-up (will open later)
Produced by Teatteri Naamio ja Höyhen
We’ve had a visit from the hack fairy…
That’s right, our site has been down for a while, and we’re still working with our host to get all the bugs out of the system, so if you don’t find all the information you’re looking for just yet, please be patient – we’re getting the most important and up-to-date info up first.
In the meantime, we’ll also start keeping you up to date on Facebook. Like us!
Lovers’ FAQ
What is this?
Is this for real, or is it some kind of a performance or joke or something?
It’s all real, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an art to consciously playing around.
This is made by a theatre – is this theatre?
We are a theatre company, but we aren’t the ones doing the performing. It could be considered what some people have coined “experimance” if that’s how you like to see it.
Should I have some experience in ______ to participate?
No. more »
The Lovers’ Matchmaking Agency: How to participate?
1. Read everything on this page and the FAQ and Sign up. If you are arriving from out of town and need a place to stay, tell us, and we will try to help you. more »
The Lovers’ Matchmaking Agency: How to become a matchmaker?
In addition to going on dates and attending events, you can participate as a matchmaker. We’ll need ten friendly people per country who want to try their luck at setting people up. The participation cost is the same; however, you spend a bit more time at the Agency and you get a much deeper experience. more »
Lovers’ Matchmaking Agency back in Helsinki in August
We’re back by popular demand! Riding high on last year’s great success, the Agency will once more open its doors on August 15-19, 2012. There will be a workshop for matchmakers on August 13 & 14.
Sign-ups and more info will be open soon. In the meantime, join us on Facebook.
The Lovers’ Matchmaking Agency Tours Oslo and Copenhagen
Captain Utter Sweetness Loveboat and First Officer Pumpkin, along with some of our most trusted and proven matchmakers, will be coming to a city near you this summer. Get ready for the Lovers’ Matchmaking Agency in:
Oslo: July 2-8. (Matchmaker workshop July 2 & 3, Agency open July 4-8)
Copenhagen: July 23-29. (Matchmaker workshop July 23 & 24, Agency open July 25-29)
Keep up to date with the Lovers on Facebook.
Nordic Larp Talks
As part of the run-up to this year’s Solmukohta Nordic larp conference, Johanna MacDonald gave a talk on the challenges of creating interactivity from the point of view of a performing artist: From performing arts to larp. Watch the video below, and check out all the other Nordic Larp talks - the entire Helsinki 2012 set includes Lizzie Stark, Mike Pohjola, JP Kaljonen, Jesper Bruun, Juhana Pettersson and Claus Raasted, as well as Johanna Koljonen interviewing Mikko Rautalahti (Remedy) & Andie Nordgren (CCP Games).
Published in States of Play
“Our first goal was to create art pieces where the participants could use the full capacity of their physical presence to interact with the piece, lived-in art. What we set out to design could best be described as temporary worlds or societies. Unlike in larp, while the worlds may be fictional, their inhabitants are not. Our goal is that the changes in behavior and identity, sometimes creating something like a character, are caused by adapting to the situation and simply cause the participants’ identities to include their new behavior and point of view.”
This year’s Solmukohta book, edited by Juhana Pettersson, is called States of Play. In our pieces, entitled “We Created A Monster” (parts I and II) we attempted to give a more-or-less concise account of the goals, tools, methods, and madness behind Walkabout. There are also some very pretty pictures.
The entire book is available online as a pdf.
