The Curious Case of the Constant Pothole: Discussing Social Change Through Performance-Games (Maria Maltezou) (part of doing together 25)

The Curious Case of the Constant Pothole: Discussing Social Change Through Performance-Games8th April 2025The Curious Case of the Constant Pothole was a workshop for those who get frustrated by potholes and inadequate city maintenance –so frustrated that they may create some art about it.The workshop explored social change and activism through art, play, and dialogue. Its primary goal was to further develop a performance-game, which focuses on pothole activism. The game is designed to spark spontaneous conversations on public streets. Participants explored its existing framework, and refined and adapted it to Bath’s urban context, and outline strategies for public testing. The workshop also aimed to establish a collective of artists interested in creating outputs inspired by the game, such as a sound walk, or interactive map.The workshop was open to participants who are living, working, or studying in Bath, as well as those who are regular visitors to the city. It invited students, researchers, and practitioners primarily from fields such as performance/theatre, sound, and arts activism, but also creative writing, filmmaking, and social sciences.doing together 25doing together is a yearly two-day making and sharing practice symposium at Locksbrook Campus, hosted by the Art Research Centre (Bath School of Art, Film and Media) in collaboration with Bath School of Design and the Centre of Cultural and Creative Industries.doing together is a platform to connect staff, students, and the community through making, collaboration and experimentation.Workshops, delivered by staff and PGR students from across the University, share practice-based research methods and a broad range of approaches to practice. doing together is proposed as a generous space to make/do/share and discuss practice with colleagues from a range of different Schools.Throughout the symposium, facilitators – alongside participants – test out ways of doing together in an effort to make their practice-based research explicit, rather than simply describe it.