On Election Day, the streets are reclaimed—and the history of political protest embedded therein. Structured as a team-based urban street game using mobile technology, PETLab: Activism NYC currently offers a tour of Lower Manhattan through an exploration of its history of activists, protests, and riots. Essentially an open and expandable platform, however, Re:Activism includes tutorials and open source tools for creating the game and investigating histories in any city.

As participants carry out a clue-based scavenger hunt and site-specific challenges, they are informed of the ongoing resonance of historic issues fought for in the battleground of the city. Winning the game necessitates collective action and proactive problem-solving, thus teaching players how to be effective activists while challenging the definition of “playing by the rules.”

Gather in the lobby outside the gallery at 12:30 p.m. for the official take-off; bring your cell phone along.

This program has been made possible, in part, by a generous grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This event is presented as part of the Vera List Center’s program cycle on “Branding Democracy.” It is also presented in conjunction with the exhibition, OURS: Democracy in the Age of Branding, on view from October 15, 2008 to February 1, 2009.