London MET win the trophy in last minute of riot time!

Can a sport be extracted and designed from rioting?Jamie OxtobyBA Design 2012

IntroductionThere are intrinsic forms of social expression in sport and as such it has undeniable links with crowds and riot behaviour. For sport to exist it is not merely about creating an opposition but a notion of entertainment and engagement of a mass. History has shown how frequently sports have risen from an alternative to war, as well as celebrating the culture from which it was born. However, a competitive pitch is also created and becomes a platform for re-enactment and an outlet for frustration and anxiety towards an opposition.

The first chapter centres around the what, where and why of sports. Reading into the origin and history of several sports, and the form and function of pitches, has led to me to see that sports tend to reflect the dominant values of the society in which they are found. So how can these ideals be reflected in a sport or game?

Controlling emotions is apparent in all forms of sport. Although in order for it to be a fulfilling experience for all involved, aggression must be transmitted in a controlled way. And these sites are evidently becoming more important to people who desire to be heard – one of the reasons rioters smashed up shops and took nothing. I am interested in where these outlets take place in existing sports as well as looking at the strategies and elements during a moment of social disorder and how this might be reconfigured and formulised to help healthy expression within a sport.

Chapter 2 concentrates on city planning. There have been a number of large riots through history across the world, which are drawn towards city squares. So why is this the case? And can the architecture of these sites help me to design a pitch around rioting? To an extent these flash points can be argued to have a predictable formality to them. So how might this be formalised and controlled to create a new game scenario. Historically this act of re-enactment or ritual has been at the core of the initiation of a new board or pitch based game.

There is a popular idea that individuals lose their sense of right and wrong within a crowd, acting in a way that the collective never intends, however there is also an argument that crowds are capable of making the right decisions and that group intelligence can be brought to bear on a variety of complex problems. Chapter 3 focuses on this argument.

The final chapter’s attention is based on the role of the police in these rioting situations. Riot police tactics vary across the world, but have many direct parallels with sports teams regarding roles in the team and formations. Drawing upon my own experiences of riots and marches, I want to dissect key elements such as equipment and uniforms, and see how these would fit in the context of a new riot-themed sport.

Extracting and designing a sport in that we can learn from the act of rioting could enable us to transmit the cultural values of our society, and give people a true outlet for these built up frustrations.

The Origins of Sport: What, Where and Why?

chapter one

I thought that before I was to delve into the nature of sport, I wanted to define what sport means to me, in order to understand why I am using sport as a context to design in. The term sport is derived from the French desporter, meaning to carry away from work, and means different things to different people. ‘Sports are a human universal, appearing in every culture, past and present. But every culture has its own definition of sport.’ (Kyle, 2006. P.23). It is a concept whose definition is abstract and trying to define it would also include other concepts such as play, games, leisure, athletics and work.

After experiencing sport through both a participant and spectator’s viewpoint I believe that sport differs from play in that it has formal rules and structure – and in some way loses an element of spontaneity because of this. The activity itself consumes a greater proportion of the individual’s time, and because of this a greater sense of seriousness is added to being involved. Such time invested warrants something more beneficial to be granted at the end of the act.

Athletics on the other hand, has basically the same attributes except it has intrinsic rewards i.e. money or fame, and is practiced to the extent that it can be considered work.

Like many other institutions in society, sport has intrinsic history that enables it to be followed with such passion, whether it be on a large scale – the countries favourite pastime, or small scale, ‘my father played rugby and his father played rugby’. Therefore I wanted to look into various origins of sport and see if there is a common pattern that links them all together in the reason for their success.

Lacrosse is a sport that I quickly saw had links to rioting, mainly because of the equipment and protection used, but as I delved deeper I found that it as a sport originated as a Native Indian alternative to war. It was played using a small rubber ball and a long handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick and in the traditional Native Canadian version each team consisted from 100 to 1,000 men on a pitch that could stretch a couple of miles long. Already parallels can be drawn between this and the act of rioting. The rules would be decided on the day, and goals would be selected as large rocks or trees. Early lacrosse was characterized by deep spiritual involvement and those who took part did so in the role of warriors, with the goal of bringing glory and honour to themselves and their tribes. An early record describes a variation on the modern coin toss:

One man was detached to stand to the centre and on his throwing into the air a chip upon which he spat, each one would cry “I’ll take dry” or “I’ll take wet”, thus forming opposite factions.

Some games were played to settle inner-tribal disputes, which allowed for a non-violent end and would ensure the tribes longevity. But it was also played to toughen young warriors for combat, for recreation, as part of festivals

What is Sport?

Culin, 1975: Games of the North

American Indians. p. 571.

and for the bets involved. Items such as knives, trinkets, horses and even wives and children would be at stake. These bets would be displayed on a rack near the spectators and awarded proportionately to the winner after the game. Already I am seeing many of these traditions still exist today, albeit in another form such as trophies and prize money. In this instance, sport has been given sacred status, played as part of ceremonial ritual to give thanks to the Creator, but among other things it is clear that the sport:• Transmittedculturalvalues• Iseducational• Providesafeelingofgroupmembership• Generatesasenseofpersonalcompetition• Providesareleaseforphysicalandpsychologicalpressures

The above list is then, areas of opportunity to reconfigure or analyse similarities between riot and game. All of which could be argued most sports endorse as well. But it is the latter that I am going to focus on next. Having witnessed the Riots in August 2011, it was clear that one of the several reasons the looting and aggression occurred was because the youth did not feel like they were being heard, and used this stage as a site to vent their feelings. So the fact that sport allows for such emotions to be released (to a safe extent is has to be added), shows its importance and relevance when dealing with the events of that summer.

Catlin, G., 1796-1872: Ball

Players. Hand coloured lithograph

on paper. Washington.

Sport and AggressionParticularly when it comes to spectating sports, one of the reasons we enjoy it so much is because it allows us to shout and scream, show displeasure to a decision or cheer a goal. It is socially accepted to become this extreme with our emotions in this controlled environment. However this can spill over into aggressive verbal and physical behaviour towards each other, also known as hooliganism. But for the most part we can let out our anxieties in the arena, and when the final whistle blows, we can get on with our lives, and it is all left on the field of play. Ultimately not all behaviour in sport has positive consequences. So is this because it reflects our increasingly violent society or because of other subtler causes? Can these violent episodes become part of the game; and in turn become acceptable and socially beneficial acts on the individual and the collective?

Meynell’s thesis on aggression argues personal bonds of love and friendship arise only among animals aggressive towards other members of their species. ‘The conditions of modern life leave men with no adequate scope for the discharge of their aggressive impulses, and this is a prime cause of violence and neurosis…the redirection of aggression outside one’s community is a possible solution to the problem of discharging aggression’ (Meynell, 1970). So it could be argued that sport, could be of the highest importance not only as a mere outlet for aggression but also as a school for the control of human fighting behaviour.

The value of sport however, is much greater than that of a simple outlet of aggression in its coarser and more individualistic behaviour patterns, like pummelling a punch-ball. It educates man to a conscious and responsible control of his own fighting behaviour. Lorenz, 1966: On Aggression. p. 241

So perhaps, as Konrad Lorenz argues, sport not only becomes beneficial as an outlet for aggression, but also enables us to coherently manage our behaviour – helping us to individually and consciously decide what is deemed acceptable aggression.

Lorenz, 1966. Facial expressions

of a dog during fight or flight

I can see how sport clearly reflects our everyday experiences and transmits cultural values through the rules, pitch and equipment used, as well as how following a certain team shows support for their history and beliefs – which in turn provides us with a feeling of group membership. The study of the origins of lacrosse shows how the Native Indians were able to reflect their culture through a sport, which was also an alternative to war. It became a ritual of life and had positive spiritual meanings. This helps me to see how creating such a sport from our actions and experiences could be beneficial as a celebration and representation of our culture. The theories on aggression in sport also show me how important it is to promote positive, aggressive behaviour within the sport I create, but to also be careful of the parameters that are put in place, so that the act is safe and enjoyable to all those involved.

Reflection

Catlin, G., circa 1846: Ball Play

of the Choctaws - Ball Up. Oil on

Canvas. Washington.

City Planning:

Sportchapter two

A Pitch for

City PlanningJane Jacobs was a writer and activist with primary interest in communities and urban planning. In her most famous works, ‘The Death and Life of the GreatAmericanCities’,shewrote:

Look what we have built with the first several billion [dollars]. Low-income projects that become worse centres for delinquency, vandalism and general social hopelessness…middle income housing projects which are truly marvels of dullness and regimentation…Promenades that go from no place to nowhere and have no promenaders. Expressways that eviscerate great cities. This is not the rebuiliding of cities. This is the sacking of the cities.Jacobs’ work strongly promotes principles of planning and what practices in rebuilding can promote social and economic vitality to cities. Because it was only cities that the riots took place, I felt that elements of her theories still ring true in our own society in England. Has the geographical make up of our cities encouraged these riots to take place? And how can these sites me mapped to create a pitch for healthy rioting to take place?

A long history of riots and city planning has shown us how in particular city squares and long straight roads have become an epicentre to the activity. And I wish to dissect these sites in order for me to gain an understanding of the architecture of such a riot.

Jacobs, 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. p. 4

Bezecourt, T., 2005: Boulevard

Haussmann, Paris.

Between 1853 and 1870, Napoleon III commissioned Baron Haussmann with the modernization of Paris. Wide boulevards with their cafés and shops determined a new type of urban scenario and have had a profound influence on the everyday lives of Parisians. However Haussmann also had another agenda. The open boulevards came as much from military planning as they did from city planning, and the wide avenues gave soldiers full access to stop rioting. Soldiers could perch from their barracks on the east side of the city, and have a clear line of site to the previous riot and revolution hotspots.

Here we can see how the city has in fact been designed to give the soldiers a ‘home advantage’ when it comes to rioting. An extraordinary decision was made to create an implicit site that these battles could take place and be controlled. A project that geared towards more effective military policing of the capital. Lewis Mumford, a 20th century American philosopher also argues that the structure of modern cities is partially responsible for many social problems seen in western society, that urban planning should emphasize an organic relationship between people and their living spaces.

Jarowski, M., 2004: Paris City

Centre.

City SquaresAs I have looked further into city planning, I am beginning to see how frequently city squares are now becoming a popular arena for riots and protest. As it seems that this concern for social stability has been, in a way, discouraged by producing these sites to allow mass protest.

Trafalgar Square, London, is the epicentre of our capital. In recent times it has been the venue of the Olympic announcement, the holder of big screen sporting events and the home of Christmas and New Year celebrations. But it has also leant itself to becoming a popular site for political demonstration. It is linked to long streets such as The Strand – a linking road to the ULU main buildings, and Whitehall, which also has its political implications. So it seems that this square is set up for mass demonstration. Cue the scenes of kettling that we saw in November 2010. But this is not a rare thing and I have found several squares across the world that have been sites of riot and protest.

The 1923 Krakow uprising in the main market square, as part of a national workers strike; 2010 Red Square riots in Moscow, relating to the death of a football fan a week before; 2008 protests in Mexico’s Zocalo Square, where 100,000 took to the streets to demand government action to tackle a wave of murders and abductions; 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square, Beijing; and more recently the riots in El-Tahrir Square, Cairo. All of which had very different agendas, but all saw the central squares as a perfect site to gather in large numbers and make their voices heard. Differing from long boulevards, such large squares make it harder for the police to concentrate on areas of trouble, and containing the mass is extremely difficult.

However there is another square, the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires that has indirectly been claimed by a collective as their own, despite being a public area. The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo is a unique organization that have become human rights activists in the square in order to fight to be re-united with their abducted children. In protest, they wear white head scarves with their children’s names stitched in, to symbolize the blankets of the lost children. The white headscarf has become a symbol of the group and can be seen painted onto the squares pavement, where they have continued to convene every Thursday afternoon for decades. The mothers use the square as their own arena or stage – free to be heard and as a result the square has become synonymous with the organization. Here I see that through repetitive use and also using graphics to mark the area, this public site has become more than the city’s centre, but in fact a historical and cultural stadium of what the mothers represent.

(Left) Playa de Mayo square,

Buenos Aires; (Right) Mothers

of Plaza de Mayo.

So is it possible to re-model these squares that have become synonymous with rioting, with a pitch that can initiate a large-scale sport? Does the architecture within them already suggest a pitch that can be created and then transmit their cultural values through such an act?

The following pitch ideas are very much in their early stages but with each I have tried to demonstrate how these pitches already exist or could be easily manipulated on various world sites and have the potential to represent the riots that took place their. But also have the dexterity to be duplicated to another audience in a local park or play area.

Lestido, A., 1982: Mother &

daughter, Plaza de Mayo.

Trafalgar Square, LondonThis site has been known in the last year as where the marches can turn nasty, as the crowds are now able to cover a larger area after coming out of the long boulevard-like Strand and dispersing across the roundabout area. Trafalgar Square itself is usually blocked off however some find their way onto Nelsons Column, and are able to scale the monument for a raised platform to be seen and heard. So here I have tried to incorporate the roundabout area as the pitch and the square as more of an overspill area where fans or teams could observe. The statue on the roundabout lends itself to be part of the centre circle, where the referee could toss from a ball. This game involves 2 sides, police and rioters, who each aim to put the ball in each other’s net at either ends in a lacrosse style. The triangles act as kettling areas where the police can win the game outright by securing a certain amount of players into that zone. The teams swap ends at half time and the game can last an hour each way, with the winner with the most goals recorded, unless the police perform a successful kettle.

Oxtoby, 2011: Trafalgar Square

pitch, artist impression.

El Tahrir Square, CairoEl-Tahrir Square is in fact a large roundabout where several of the cities main roads meet, and the circle of land is so large in the middle that it lends itself to be an area where large crowds can meet and protest in large numbers. This area differs in that it used as the base for a large demonstration, but such is the numbers that they have taken over the roads of this area as well. In that vain I have produced a pitch that represents the roundabout shape, where police can approach the rioters in the central zone from 3 directions. Here they are guarding 3 goals that are filled with balls, and they must protect these from the police, whom can retrieve the balls and kick and throw them off of the pitch. In this game the time is split into five 10-minute sections, with the balls being reset each time. Protestors score points by counting the balls left in each section against how many the police have got rid of.

(Clockwise from left) El - Tahrir Square pitch

design: El -Tahrir Square, Cairo:

El - Tahrir Square, Google Maps.

Red Square, MoscowRed Square in Moscow is synonymous with the military parades that took place there and the markings that the vehicles followed are still there today. And the square remains as an area of mass demonstration because if it expanse and emptiness of obstacles such as monuments and statues, and there are several points of entry to the square itself. Its design of long lanes and marked off sections reminds me of the gauntlet game that was on the GladiatorTVshow,inwhichcontestantshadtogetrun through several sections that had an opponent in each trying to stop them getting across the finish

line with various batons and shields. Here I have added red lines onto the white (here indicated in black) and yellow lines that already exist on the square.

In this game the aim is to reach the respective end zone of your team with a ball in hand. The pitch is split up into 3 sections - defensive, midfield and offensive, and you can not leave your appointed section, but must through the ball to team mates in the next section. However the yellow lane is used by a star player who can come on for a certain period and can pass through all the sections in the yellow area. The pitch can be made wider for a larger game where 2 star players can be entered at once in their lanes. When a goal is scored the team pick up the ball from that zone and starts to make their way up the other end. Matches are four quarters of 20 minutes, as the scale of the pitch is so large.

(Top to Bottom) Red

Square, Moscow; Red

Square Moscow, Google

Maps; Red Square Pitch.

It is evident that city planning has a great influence over the social relationships that can take place in a city. And neglecting this will only have adverse affects. The example of Paris has also shown how city planning can also benefit the government and enable a certain amount of control over protestors and riots. But I can also see how city squares have naturally developed into a site that can be used by the masses to voice an opinion on a large collective scale, given them an arena to vent their frustrations and anxieties. And in the case of the Mothers of Playa de Mayo, the publicity of such squares can benefit a cause greatly, and if used appropriately can become synonymous with a group and the responses they aim for.

Films like Death Race 2000, Running Man and some of the other virtual gamingthatisbasedwithinurbancontextssuchasGrandTheftAuto,showus how cities can become sites of entertainment, where the pitch already exists and it is up to the user to take advantage. Rather than a site been created to restrict the playing area.

City squares can also be manipulated into pitches for sports to be derived from, which illustrate the culture from which they are born, whether it be by the monuments that exist or the markings that appear in them, giving the potential sport a historic site from which it can be developed.

Reflection

The Role of the Crowd

chapter three

Psychology of the CrowdAs we continue to debate the ultimate causes for the riots, it was initially evident to me that some people simply just joined in because others were doing it. Some people were already out in the area and felt the need to become a member of the masses and increase the violence. This, I felt was a meaningless act, however as I dug deeper into the psychology of the crowd, it seems that we can lose our sense of individual thinking and take on the ‘collective mind’ (Le Bon, 1952) of the mass, which takes over rational, individual thought. But is the crowd able to make positive decisions, as well astheseirrationalthoughtsthatGustavLeBonargues?

There have been many attempts to explain crowd behaviour and violence, and probably the best-known theories are that of Le Bon. He believes that, ‘when a person is submerged into the group, they act according to the mood of the crowd’. In that sense then, individuals become vulnerable and susceptibletosuggestion.Inasportingsense,ConradC.Voglersays‘Inthisstate of excitement, inhibitions become relaxed and spectators lose their identity and feel anonymous within a large group of people surrounding them’(Vogler,1993).

I put this theory to test when I visited a Millwall F.C football match. This is a team known for its aggressive fans both during and after a match, but I had never seen them play before and never felt the need to follow them. Yet as the nearest team to my university I felt some sort of geographical relationship to them. I was not sat with the ‘hardcore’ fans behind the goal but instead in the stand adjacent. As the game went on I honestly did start to feel more emotion towards the team and wanted them to do well, equally when a chance was wasted I felt aggrieved and had some sense of disappointment. Thus when they did score, I cheered and shouted as much as the next fan. But retrospectively I feel that this was not for the team as such but a general want to express myself in this way, as I rarely get this chance to shout as loud as I want on a daily basis.

So in that sense I did lose some of my individuality, as I seemed to start supporting a team that I previously had little connection to. But I also found that this arena became a site to express myself to the extreme without being criticised. And I would happily go again, not necessarily to support that specific team but to experience the atmosphere of the crowd exercising their

Oxtoby, 2011. Millwall Football

Ground, London.

emotions as one. And perhaps this is why the riots amplified as they did, the rioters did not all have the same reasons to vandalise and steal, but it became a site to express their feelings without being immediately condemned by those around them. So this begs the question to me as to how I can introduce and design such sites that could become safe and healthy places to express ourselves without being damaging to others? The interactionist perspective theory is similar to Le Bon’s, except it does not assume collective mind. Hubert Blumer talks about ‘circular reactions’ happening in times of social unrest,

...wherein the response of one individual reproduces the stimulation that has come from another individual and in being reflected back to this individual reinforces the stimulation. Thus the interstimulation assumes a circular form in which individuals reflect one another’s state of feeling and in doing so intensify this feeling.In other words ones anger at a bad call or policing decision, may lead others to vent their same feelings, and that each person stimulates the others for greater and greater feelings of anger, in a cycle. This is an interesting idea, in that an action of emotion could be replicated by another and then intensified again and again. So how could this be controlled in a rioting/sport context?

The convergence theory does not agree with the idea that people can be swept up in the emotion of the moment, but rather the individual’s normally suppressed feelings are revealed when the situation allows the person to become synonymous. As Howard (1912, P. 34) pointed out,

...a game of football…however stirring, would hardly carry the solitary spectator off his feet.

There is generally a feeling that the decision making of the crowd only has adverse affects and that it one of the reasons that the riots continued for so long. However I am of the feeling that these masses are also capable of making beneficial decisions. Surowiecki (2004) agrees in that if you want to make a correct decision or solve a problem, large groups of people are smarter than a few experts.

Blumer, 1951: Principles of Sociology. p. 170

There are film and literature references the role of the crowd. Paul Michael Glaser’sRunningMancreatedadystopiansocietywherehighstakeswereplaced on putting criminals into a game where failing to escape a disused city could lead to death. This was expressed in a game show format where audiences would hold power over the decisions made in the game, and thisformatbecameanewtypeofTVentertainment.InDerronBrown’srecent experiment, he turns himself into the host of a game show and investigates whether we all have the capacity for evil, and if being part of a group affects our sense of right or wrong. In this case, a member of the public was followed by cameras and actors, and the audience would vote for something bad or good to happen to him. Eventually resulting in him being kidnapped and interrogated, but it showed how the people became less and less individual and more part of a mob mentality. From their seats they were happy to see him suffer if they were all in it together – similar to the de-individuation theories of Le Bon.

This analysis of crowd psychology is important in my work as it shows me how if I were to design a sport based around rioting, then the people taking part will have diverse and complicated relationships with each other and considering all these dynamics will have an affect on the rules and game play of such a sport. So I must consider how players influence or are influenced by each other, how rules are put in place and is there room to manoeuvre and allow the sport to naturally produce its own rules through the players perception of right and wrong. The players that take part, and also those that are spectating, will have influence over how the game is played, and what the latter get out of the experience should be as important as well.

Reflection

Derron Brown, 2011: The

Experiments: The Gameshow.

Channel 4.

The Police and its relation

to Sport

chapter four

Police TacticsWhen the rioting occurred across England in August 2011, questions also arose about the policing of the events. Undoubtedly the police became a natural opposition to the rioters, as they were trying to stop the act itself, so this led me to think about the police’s role in a sporting context. And in fact they draw many parallels with the make up of sports. They have uniforms, formations, tactics and equipment, and yet the act of policing is never really talked of as a sport. So what I want to do is to play with this idea and find out just how interesting it would be to add the police into the sport of rioting. What would their role be? What positives can be taken in this role? And how would this direct opposition affect the chemistry between the 2 sides. In the last year, riots and marches were quite frequent around Central London, and so it has given me a lot of material in which to analyse the role of the police, beginning with formations and tactics. But I must also consider the differences between marches, which are in a sense friendly matches, where the objective is to contain the crowd but allow them to be heard in a peaceful manner. And riots, which hold a more aggressive direction from the mass, in which the police must diffuse and develop into a safe environment for the public not involved. Yet both have the sanction to arrest any individual that is seen to be breaking the law.

Kettling is a police tactic that has very much been in the public eye in recent years, and has ignited much political debate. This is a tactic in which the police surround a mass of people and slowly move in on them, reducing the size of the space the crowd can manoeuvre, and preventing the group breaking into smaller splinters, with the long-term aim to leave protestors too tired to do anything. Putting aside the humanitarian debate, this tactic itself I feel would be greatly used in riot sport, as a match-winning move. But I feel it would also represent an issue of cultural debate, and would become a tool of communication. Something that I would ultimately want the sport to encourage.

police line protestor police movement

G20 Toronto protests, 2010: ‘G20 TORONTO QUEEN & SPADINA

PROTESTS & DETENTION’. Youtube screenshots. Canada.

The student march on London Wall St. in November 2011 was a peaceful protest but it clearly showed another formation to the police’s disposal. In which the crowd was led by a wall of policemen, in front of which were 5 or 6 higher ranking officers that could communicate and lead the march, and then in front of them was another echelon or wall of police. This reminded me of the many sport formations we see and it would be very interesting to see how these formations could be manipulated to produce different results on the march. Another line of police officers also blocked off roads to the side of the marchers as to not let them break from the main body. This obviously being well drilled into them and practiced on the job, but again it shows a parallel with how sports teams prepare for matches.

rear echelon

front echelon

middle section - 5 or 6 higher ranking officers

officers move down the side of the march group

police then stand and provide further blockage to road not on assigned route

Student Cuts protest march, 2011: ‘Student Protesters March Along

London Wall 9 November 2011’. Youtube screenshots. London.

UniformsUniforms in sport, have strong relations to traditions and the colours of the local area, and were formed at first to distinguish between teams but now render massive income for the professional clubs. Designs becoming more and more extreme and innovative. Police uniforms are similar in that certain colours and trims help them decipher who does what in a large crowd. However I can also see many similarities between the designs of both and how they seem to take inspiration from each other.

Hi-vis football shirts have become very popular in recent years, particularly in goalkeeper tops, as the bright colours attract the oppositions peripherals to thinking more about the opponent than the ball at their feet. And the police wear fluorescents for a similar idea, but rather to be seen in darker conditions as well as in crowds.

I have noticed that police have different coloured shoulder flaps on their jackets, used mainly for rank and recognition. Whereas sportsmen usually wear a captain’s armband, the only real position that needs defining. These shoulder flaps are black, red for higher ranks and green for a medic. Thinking about amalgamating police uniforms with sport, has allowed me produce possibilities for uniforms for a rioting sport, and changing the context of use of the police uniforms enables me to think about the type of roles that would be needed in a sport and how they could be deciphered. Making such uniforms would also bring in advertisement and retail into the picture. People would want to buy them and become the players that wear them and so the quality would have to be higher, so they could be worn outside of the game environment.

(Clockwise from top left) Chelsea F.C. goalkeeper shirt 2010;

Croatia national shirt 2010; Riot police; Newcastle F.C. shirt 2011;

Policeman with red shoulder straps; Police medic; Besiktas F.C.

football shirts.

Oxtoby, 2011: Police shirt designs; Police/ Lacrosse

helmet design.

EquipmentThe equipment used in some existing sports is also very similar to that used in the police, in particular lacrosse, as the protection needs to be strong but flexible for movement. And I decided to look at the tools that are used in each, i.e. the police baton and the lacrosse stick. And during a modelling session I was able to merge the two into a piece of equipment that could be used in a rioting sport. This changed the context in which the baton would be used, and enabled me to think about possible game play. So could the baton be gripped in such a way to beat the ball from someone’s hand? And then the net would serve as a carrying device for a ball, and flung at a goal. Which then led me to think about other roles on the pitch i.e. the goalkeeper would need more protection as the ball is thrown at him – a riot shield. This process has unleashed possibilities for a full game to be produced.

(Clockwise from left) Riot helmet

with white iterations, Gaffa

Tape and Cardboard; Initial Riot

helmet; Baton iteration with

lacrosse stick head. (Opposite

page) Helmet and Baton in Urban

playing field. Oxtoby, 2011.

A Study of 3-Sided FootballAlain De Botton expresses that to be denied status by another has often led to duelling. From its origins in the Renaissance to the end of World War I, it symbolized, “a radical incapacity to believe that our status might be our business”, and this in a sense is a reason for the rivalry between rioters and police.

Like the most hot-headed of duellers, our self esteem is likely to be determined by the value we are accorded to by others. Duelling is only a helpfully far-fetched example of a more universal, thin-skinned emotional disposition towards matters of status.

When visiting the London pensions cuts march, November 30th 2011, it started to occur to me that perhaps the riots were not two sided (a duel) and in fact the media has a vital role to play in this debate as well. The streets werelinedwithcamerasofseveralprofessionallevels,somenationalTVandsome just to document on their blogs. Helicopters hovered above; filming images that usually ended up on news channels. And it seems that these portrayals and reports of the events can have such conflicting motives, and implicitly have real effects on the dimension of the relationship between the police and, in this case, marchers, and in others, rioters.

Bringing this 3rd party into the equation reminded me of an earlier piece I watched on the sport of 3-sided football. Played on a hexagonal pitch with 3 teams and 3 goals, it gives the chance to exchange between teammates, and requires non-stop thinking and questioning about the role of the individual and the other players involved. Initially thought up by Danish situationist Asger Jorn, in a way to show triolectic thinking, it uses football to ‘tackle’ the emblematic thinking of bipolar confrontation.

De Botton, 2004: Status Anxieties. p. 115

Oxtoby, 2011: 3 Sided Football

Pitch, Artists Impression,

Brimmington Park, Southwark.

Spectator in ‘Triolectics’ by ‘Pied La Biche’. Oct 2009. Lyon, France

In that sense I arranged to play a game of it myself, both observing and taking part. At first it took the teams some time to grasp, and they mainly played with their own colours and did not pass to other teams, however as one team took a lead, the others naturally started to team up against them.

When we were leading, we did not know if we should pass the ball…we didn’t know who to play with.

Soon all the teams were able to work together, and often turn on each other in order to concede the least amount of goals. Personally, in one experience playing for the red team, I looked to play towards the black goal, and then found space towards the white and scored against the team I was working with until then. Here I can see how quickly you have to think, in order to do the best for your own side, and it was a strange feeling turning on one team to benefit my own. Towards the end, each team were becoming more aware of previous turns on their own team and sought revenge on the previous culprits. But overall they found it to be a positive experience and said it would be useful in terms of training for traditional 2 sided football in that it, ‘decreases your thinking time, use of space, and awareness of opposition.’ Perhaps the element of 3-sided opposition allows us to question our opinions of the same opponent in a 2-sided battle, in that at times they were capable of working together for gains for both teams, and would this be the case with all 3 sides. Perhaps a 3-sided football match between police, rioters and the media would be such a beneficial act?

This team does not play alone, and

considers the opposing teams as

potential mates.

Oxtoby, 2011: 3 sided football

match, Southwark.

Final ScoreMy work up until this point has backed up my opinion that sport can be a great context in which to deliver my thoughts about the lasting impressions that rioting has left on our society. As a site for physical activity, a transmitter of our cultural values and a cause for debate around the riots. The cities, in which we have seen become sites and arenas for rioting, have shown to have existing architecture to almost encourage these events to take place. But we can also learn from these designs and use them to employ a site for a safe and positive rioting sport. These sites can represent the cultural and social make up of our generation, and through sport can be conserved and then experienced as evidence for future times. In that sense designing one or several sports, which can then be expressed graphically by the form of pitch graphics, kits, equipment and formulated rules may be the way to express this project. As well as playing these sports out and documenting their impact on players and spectators.

The role of the crowd must be greatly considered when creating a reflection of how the rioters reacted, and I must not be judgmental but understanding of how they behaved, in order to re-create that in a sport. But understanding the psychology of crowds is also key to making rules and sanctions within the game, and there must be opportunity for it to bring out its own parameters and etiquettes through the action of playing itself. As in fact a large crowd or group is able to make quite sophisticated decisions itself and it is these that will bring life into the sport.

Aesthetically it is simple to see how policing can be considered a sport in its own right, and by changing the situation or context in which a piece of clothing or equipment is used can enable me to create elements of a sport that can reflect policing in riots. Formations and tactics must also be considered as these will not only drive the game played, but also conserve the theories of policing from our time, and can then be a factor for discussion in the future. After experiencing marches and riots myself I can see how the media has brought in another side to the ‘battle’ and their influence can determine how rioters and police are perceived. And by using 3-sided football, it has shown how adding another side into the equation can in the end develop and make us think about the initial opposition that comes with 2-sided game play.

I feel that we need new sports that are able to transmit the values that we possess in our current society, to preserve and celebrate them to later generations. And perhaps my feeling is that because there has been little in the form of new sports in the last 50 years or so that portray notions of our behaviour, values and etiquette, is the reason why I feel a new sport based upon rioting would be a platform to express these ideals. I initially looked at rioting because of the feeling of shame that it gave me when I observed the summer’s events. However through this research I can see that it can instead be used as a tool to the opposite kind of emotion through the medium of a sport.

Ultimately this research has helped me to find the finer details in which to design a sport that I hope will both reflect our cultural values. As well as represent rioting in a way that can reflect the events and behaviours that unfolded, which can then be argued and debated for a long time to come.

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