”I SEE SOMETHING YOU DO NOT SEE”

Playing to meet people

During summer 2018, in several districts of Berlin, I approached strangers: park wanderers, square readers, metro travelers, and offered them to play ”Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst” (”I see something you do not see”). Especially popular in Germany, Ich sehe was is an observation game in which player A gradually brings a player B to try and guess what element of the panorama he/she has chosen, by revealing progressively its visual properties (color, shape, materials, function …). A second part, which is added to the rules of origin, consists of asking the players to draw a set of visual indications from a previous game.

In most cases, the game provides a «non-conventional» social space. It bypasses socially agreed topics of conversation, attitudes, or reactions. In this neutral space-time, the players initiate all kinds of discussions, revealing personal questioning and confidences but also discovering their relations with others, the city, and its recent history.

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CLAIRE EBENDINGER, ”I SEE SOMETHING YOU DO NOT SEE”
”I See Something You Do Not See”, Step 1: Have the other player guess, Claire (25 Y.O) / Ella (5 Y.O), Orianienplatz, Berlin Kreuzberg, 52°30’09.4”N 13°24’59.9”E 20/07, 5:29 Pm, 15 Minutes
CLAIRE EBENDINGER, ”I SEE SOMETHING YOU DO NOT SEE”
”I See Something You Do Not See”, Step 2: Have the other player draw something made by Rebecca (C.30 Y.O), Following the indications from the game played with Ella, Cafe Kraft, Schivelbeinerstrasse and Malmöerstrasse, Berlin Prenzlauerberg, 52°33’04.4”N13°24’14.5”E20/07 30/07/2018, 1:05 Pm, 13 Minutes
CLAIRE EBENDINGER, ”I SEE SOMETHING YOU DO NOT SEE”
”I See Something You Do Not See”, Drawings made by ten different players, following set of instructions from previous games, Color pencil on paper,
21 x 29,7 cm
Claire Ebendinger
List of indications from played game used to have new players draw