Chin Up Chin Down is a participatory game challenging the power structures hidden in our everyday communication. The idea is inspired by the practice of photography. We commonly take for granted the amount of power we give to a photographer over the position of our body in space, the way we move, and even feel when we are being photographed. 

Chin Up Chin Down breaks this pattern and offers both the so-called “photographer” and the “model” to have equal agency. During the game, participants are invited to give each other multiple instructions turn by turn  — where to move, where to look, how to feel. Their communication is based on controlling each other in front of a camera and for the camera for 15 minutes. Each game becomes an absurdist dialogue, a short story of relationships formed through the language of instructions.

This project consists of:

— A series of participatory games which any member of the audience can play
— A video documentation of each game, projected on the wall at the exhibition venue when nobody is playing
— A documentation of these games into a format of zines