Prologue

Getting to know the cards and the artist

Before beginning, lay all the cards face up on the table.

Take time to look freely at the images and words, without immediately trying to interpret them. This first stage is an invitation to become familiar with the artist’s visual and poetic language.

Once everyone has had time to explore the deck, gather the cards and shuffle them.

The Game

Building a collective four or five-card sentence

For 2 to 6 players

The aim of the game is to build a four-card sentence together and, at the end of each round, assign it to one of the players.

The game consists of as many rounds as there are players, so that everyone receives a sentence. Players who have already received theirs continue to take part in the game, but are excluded from subsequent assignments.

There is no single correct interpretation. The sentence should create a possible relationship between the images and words on the four cards.

Basic format

Players: 2 to 6
Cards per player: 3
Collective sentence: 4/5 visible cards
Rounds: one for each player

01. Preparation

• Shuffle the deck.

• Sit together around the table.

• Choose the dealer at random.

• The dealer gives three face-down cards to each player.

• Each player looks at their cards without showing them to the others.

02. Playing a round

Taking turns, each player chooses one card from their hand and places it face up on the table.

The first four cards played form the first complete sentence.

As the sentence is being built, each new card may be placed anywhere in the sequence.

Once four or five cards are already visible on the table, the player must:

• place their card on top of one of the existing cards, replacing it;

• rearrange the order of the entire sequence, if they wish;

• propose a possible reading of the new sentence.

There must always be exactly four or five visible cards on the table.

After each move, the group listens to the proposed reading. The meaning may remain open and allow for different interpretations.

The round ends when all players have used the three cards they were dealt.

Discard option

Once during each round, every player may discard one card from their hand and draw a replacement from the deck.

03. The final sentence

At the end of the round, the final card sequence remains on the table.

Its final reading is proposed by the player who made the last move and may be enriched by observations from the other participants.

04. Reveal and assignment

The dealer gives one additional face-down card to each player who has not yet received a sentence.

All the cards are revealed at the same time.

The player holding the highest-numbered card becomes the recipient of the sentence.

The word on this card becomes the guiding word: the key through which the final sentence is reread and interpreted.

The recipient:

• reads the sentence aloud;

• looks at their guiding card;

• offers a personal interpretation of the sentence in light of the word and image they have received.

Once the sentence has been assigned, all the cards are gathered and shuffled before the next round begins.

The game continues until every player has received a sentence.

The principle of the game

The cards do not impose a fixed meaning.

The sentence may be constructed freely by adding articles, prepositions, conjunctions and any other words needed to connect the terms on the cards. The words may also be adapted grammatically and, when necessary, used as nouns, verbs or adjectives.

Meaning emerges through the relationships between images and words, the choices made by the players and the continuous transformation of the sentence.

Play with meaning