Week 2 Reading: Theory Jamming

The Theory Jamming concept is a reflection upon how musicians collaborate and share almost instantly their new developments in their chosen form of communication, this being a musical example. Upon reading this article I couldn't help but reflect upon my own interest of video games and how this theory applies to their role in new communication technology. While not a widely known concept, 'Game Jams' are a type of collaborative event growing in popularity, one such example is The Global Game Jam (GGJ). As stated on the Global Game Jam website their goal is to invite programmers and other contributors to try new technology to design a video game fitted to a given theme in the span of 48 hours to create an 'intellectual challenge'. These events can be closely compared to what Stockwell described as a need to collaborate and focus on the present rather than a final goal, the time limit given to the attendees serves to enforce that.

Stockwell comments that the theory-jammer is “still reliant on traditional melody, harmony and syncopation but now bent, twisted and reorganised into an entirely new story”. These events could be considered an environment of technological innovation, stepping outside the boundaries of pre-existing theory to spawn originality amongst peers.

Global Game Jam, 2013, About Global Game Jam, viewed 2 August 2013, <http://globalgamejam.org/about >

Stockwell, S 2006, Theory-Jamming: Uses of Eclectic Method in an Ontological Spiral, vol. 9, no. 6, viewed 2 August 2013, via M/C Journal database http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0612/09-stockwell.php.