In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the profound impacts of social distancing, self-isolation, school and gallery closures, the Mobil Art School team has decided to advance the beta launch of their new app EQ, an interactive mobile experience inspired by the surrealist pen-and-paper drawing game “exquisite corpse” in the hope that the app will help people create and connect during difficult and lonely times.
The EQ app enables a crowd-sourced creative experience through drawing, images and writing, allowing users around the world to collaboratively create a patchwork digital art together. Through drawing, images and writing, players can create and share their creations with anyone they choose — an intimate group of friends or a random player.
The digital format for the game means players are not bound by proximity or even communication modality, providing endless opportunities for innovative and thoughtful ideation. The creations are intended to evolve and crystallize with each collaborator, often for surprising results. Here’s a short video describing how the app works: https://vimeo.com/401226033
Emily Carr community is encouraged to join the beta version of the app. The beta is free to play and only requires a username and email address to signup. To sign-up for the EQ beta, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/2Crw67X3764YLxQcA
This version is only available to iOS operating systems at this time, however the team is working hard to expand access to the app and to add groups of players in phases over the coming weeks.
The front-end of the app was designed throughout a research project led by Living Labs and funded by The National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program. Between November 2019 to March 2020, Masters of Design students April Nguyen and Thejus Kayanadath worked on the project under the guidance of Faculty Lead Julia Conejero.
To provide feedback on your experience to the Mobil Art School team or for any other queries, you can e-mail info@eqthegame.com
