La Vie Bohème: Yes, dumb dumb, you’re an artist

From the Satanic Panic of the 90’s, to the modern workplace’s assumption that anything containing the words “role play” must be a sex thing, RPGs have fought an uphill battle in gaining acceptance in mainstream culture. While D&D (especially the D&D movie) has provided a gateway to normalize tabletop RPGs, LARP is still an incredibly fringe artform.

Now, while lying to my co-workers about if I have any weekend plans, or covering with “a camping trip” or “improv theater group” or “event management company” is a bit annoying, what really saddens me is that because what we do has yet to gain recognition many of my incredibly talented friends do not regard what they do as art, or themselves as artists. This blog is for them.

So, putting my otherwise useless theater degree to work, lemme tell you a thing or two dumb dumbs:

Art has never been mainstream. Because good art is inherently subversive, it has been rabidly oppressed by the establishment anywhere and everywhere it dares to rear its head. And yet, like a dandelion going “fuck yea, CONCRETE” it continues to crop up EVERYWHERE because when humans have a feeling, they gotta get it out.

You think Shakespeare is pretty classy right? Well, in his time, theaters weren’t even allowed in London because all actors were considered scoundrels. The Globe Theater had to be across the river, and theatergoers had to brave the piss-stained, pickpocket laden, crowded-as-fuck, London Bridge to get over and see a show. And still they came.

Wikipedia says Vinvent Van Gogh was “among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.” But during his lifetime? Considered a failure.

Artists are so often marginalized, misunderstood, and oppressed that it has become a trope. The title of this very blog references Rent, which is a whole damn multi-award-winning musical about starving artists of various sorts.

From Banksy to Hamilton art has only ever become mainstream when it so embodies the zeitgeist that the powerful are FORCED to recognize it, and, sadly, can profit from it. Mainstream art lags YEARS behind the collective consciousness - just look at Disney. It wasn’t until 2013 when Frozen came out that they finally said “you can’t marry a man you just met”. Honestly, Hamilton is so widely acclaimed because of when it hit theaters not because it is an unquestionably fantastic show. It re-imagines and re-contextualizes the Revolutionary War in beautiful tribute to people of color in a time in which America is being forced to grapple with its complicated past. But I digress.

LARP is art. It is acting. It is directing, it is writing, and costume design, and imagination. The best part to me, is that it is not only the designers who are the artists, it is the participants too. We ALL create these experiences together, and no two are the same. Like theater, it is transient. Fleeting. But it stays with you forever.

To my designer friends: yes, dumb dumb, you are an artist. Look at what you have created and know that you follow in the footsteps of giants. If those who created the western canon were ridiculed in their lifetimes, then hold your head high and know that mainstream rejection is a badge of honor among your peers. The greats are cheering for you.

To my player friends: yeah, you too dumb dumb. LARP has no audience, it only has participants. It would be empty without you. While you may never be as famous as Lawrence Olivier, you are every bit as deserving of the title of artist. And quite honestly probably a better actor but that's just my opinion (throws shade).

Quite frankly, I would not be surprised to see LARP gain more mainstream acceptance in the next 10 years. It is past its infancy in the US, and stands somewhat on a tipping point. The Washington Post published an article on 4th of July, the rather infamous Polish LARP. Americans are finally getting spoiled for choice in the amount of freeform games being offered (looking at you May 2027), and LARP companies are surviving for long enough to gain name recognition and fans! As this community expands we are going to be faced with new interesting challenges, and I am sure we will have a huge debate about commercialization which I am personally excited about, but what is SO INCREDIBLY COOL is that we ARE HERE AT THE BEGGINING!!!

Y’all. In 10 years when this is the new hot thing for all the kids we will get to say “back in my day…”

For real, don’t short change yourself friends. You are part of a developing artform, and the practices, philosophies, and terms that we coin now are going to live WAAAAY beyond us. Crown yourself tzarina of Nordic LARP (Iva Vávrová), invent new terms like “House of Bravery” (Katrine Wind), write blogs (Ericka Skirpan, me, you, anyone!) and embrace the fact that you get to be the Mozart of our times! 

Go forth, make art, have opinions and spread them until everyone gets tired of listening to you!

At least that’s what I will be doing!

With love,

Aj Mooney