asses.masses

Patrick Blenkarn & Milton Lim

12 - 13 Apr

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Information

Times: 1pm

Tickets: Pay What You Can (Recommended Price £20)*

*all orders subject to a transaction fee of £2

Tickets include an evening meal, dessert, regular snacks and soft drinks.

Vegan and gluten-free options will be available.

Running Time: 7 hours 30 minutes (with intervals)

Age Recommendation: 14+

This event takes place in person in our Council Chamber

Presented as part of London Games Festival‘s side events programme

An inspiring day of video gaming and uprising: asses.masses invites you to play out the epic journey of a herd of donkeys trying to get their jobs back.

asses.masses is a custom video game designed to be played from beginning to end by a live audience, one person at a time. It’s a 7+ hour epic story of a herd of unemployed donkeys trying to get their jobs back, all while navigating the perils of a post-Industrial society in which they’ve been made redundant.

Cheeky, political, and best described as Animal Farm meets Pokemon meets Final Fantasy, asses.masses puts the controller in the audience’s hands. It’s up to you to finish the game and discover the space between the work that defines us and the play that frees us.

‘A special ass show’ Broadway World

‘Amid dark humour, fascinating world-building, and multiple mini-games, asses.masses brings up compelling moral, philosophical, and spiritual questions’ Kingston Theatre Alliance

www.assesmasses.work

Gallery

View 4 images

Blenkarn+Lim, asses.masses_Screenshot_AstralPlane

A person wearing a white blouse looks upwards holding a controller.

Biographies

Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim are conceptual artists exploring urgent questions around the social value of art, digital labour, and the political potential of games. Mixing their backgrounds in performance, philosophy, psychology, and digital media, their collaborations have manifested in video games, participatory installations, digital archives, and card games.

In addition to asses.masses, Patrick and Milton are the co-founders of the Canadian national video archive of performance (videocan) and the co-creators behind a performing arts economy trading card game (culturecapital). Their projects have been presented across Canada, as well as in Germany, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, the United Kingdom and the USA, in English, French, Italian, Catalan, German, and Spanish.

Credits

Presented as part of London Games Festival‘s side events programme

Created with support from Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, The Theatre Centre, VIVO Media Arts, Embassy of Canada to Argentina and Paraguay.

Developed with the funding support from Creative BC and the British Columbia Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts.

Produced in association with the National Arts Centre of Canada’s National Creation Fund.

Co-Direction, Text, Programming, Pixel Art, 2D Animation Patrick Blenkarn
Co-Direction, Text, Sound Design, Video, Shaders, 3D Visual Effects Milton Lim
Dramaturgy, Text, Touring Producer Laurel Green
Original Music and Sound Design David Mesiha
Pixel Art, 2D Animation Clarissa Picolo
Pixel Art, 2D Animation William Roth
3D Environments Ariadne Sage
Additional Programming Samuel Reinhart

Access

PRE EVENT INFORMATION

This event takes place in person in our Council Chamber. This space is on the first floor, with step-free access via a lift.

If you have booked a ticket you will receive an email from us before your performance detailing important information about your visit.

PERSONAL ASSISTANT/COMPANION TICKETS

If you require the assistance of a friend or helper to attend, we can make a free ticket available for your companion. You can book access companion tickets online or contact the Box Office to book by emailing access@bac.org.uk.

To book a free access companion online:

log in to your account here
go to ‘Other preferences’ and tick ‘I require a personal assistant/companion’.
Choose the performance, date and seats you would like and if you add at least 2 tickets to your basket, then one of these will automatically become free.

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Content

Flashing lights
Audience participation
Violence
Crude language
Simulated sex
References to drug use
Suicide
Police brutality

Pre-Show Information

All performances will be Relaxed. We invite you to make yourself comfortable and move around if you need to and if you need to leave the performance at any point you will be allowed to return to the space when you feel ready.

VISIT OUR ACCESS PAGE

We want our shows to be as accessible to as many people as possible.

We offer tickets to most shows on a Pay What You Can basis throughout the year.

Tickets for performances in 2025 start at £9.50, and we have recommended pricing to help you choose a price that works for you.

We know that ticket price is a huge barrier for some. If you can afford to pay the recommended price or more, choosing to do so supports those that can’t. It makes it possible for us to continue to offer Pay What You Can and welcome those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend.