Floor Plan
May, 2007
Entering a space makes us subject to its rules; the door divides our attention between a self-conscious appraisal of our conformity to law, and a referencing of the room's markers of convention with our internalized archive of applicable statute. It is rare that habitation includes an invitation to invent a manner of being in the place. Being in a place is being in agreement with the normitivizing force of the social which governs it.
On the floor is a grid dividing the space into parcels. What game is this? What are its rules?
Surely, there is no shortage of rules. And when at a loss for what to do, we are tempted to borrow some rules from somewhere else. This is to say to oneself, "If I were the one in charge of this which is like that of which there really is one in charge, how would I arrange things?" We carry this one in charge around with us for just such occasions so we are never at a loss for what to do. The rules are whispered in our ears–from the inside.
The Rules
- Divide the space into parcels.
- Make rules that assign significance to the parcels.
- Rules governing possession
- Rules governing habitation
- Rules governing movement
- Rules governing use
- Play according to the rules.
- Recruit others for the game.
- Discipline others for violating the rules.
- Reward others for observing the rules.
