About the Stone Game

by Leslie Schwing

The principle behind the game is that by intentionally moving objects and making marks that are in themselves meaningless within a defined space a field of potential information is formed. This field, when activated, can be used by the players as an energy source or an information source. The Stone Game is not generally a competitive game in which there are winners or losers, however, due to the fact that the players create the rules within the framework given, the players can choose to make it competitive.

Idea can be embodied in many forms. The most universal of these forms is gesture. From gesture we derive “mark”. From “mark” we derive “glyph”. Further progressions would arrive at “word”. Alternatively, gesture implies that movement and marks can be made through the use of objects. Placement and arrangement of objects is one of the earliest forms of information gathering we engage in as children. It is also one of the oldest contemplative art forms known in history.

By eliminating sound, or formal words, and intentionally using only mark and movement of objects we can access a quite subtle arena of information. When word or sound is reintroduced they take on a different emphasis and often a different meaning or more intrinsic meaning.

With the aim of reaching this finer level of meaning it is important that the objects and marks themselves have no pre-assigned or associative meaning. For example, if using found objects, the objects must not be identifiable as a particular thing. A “watch face”, for example, has too much identity as a “watch face” to be included in allowable findings. A bent rusty nail, if no longer identifiable as “nail”, could be appropriate. The use of Metaphor, or combining of two known objects to imply a third meaning, is also an impediment to be avoided.

The identifying and naming of objects is almost impossible to curtail. In this compulsive “naming” we create a smoke screen through which we see a reality that we are continually recreating, thus the field of pure information we are seeking in the Game is impossible to attain. The discipline of defining appropriate findings is tedious, thus to keep the game at its most essential level we suggest that players limit their findings to stones.

Similarly, marks made must never impart a specific symbolic meaning. For example, a star, a heart or an eye are inappropriate. A line or circle suggesting a barrier is within game rules. It is easiest to maintain this rule if each player is only permitted one mark at a time rather than a series of marks.