My degree project consists of several parts: a theorethical essay, sketches, modells, photos, experiments and an installation showed at Konstfack Spring Exhibition 2014. Departing from the infamous Fredric Jameson quote ”It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism” I have investigated the relationship between play, daydreaming and economical system. Political scientist Wendy Brown has argued that we exist at a time in history where we have an urgent need for alternative spaces, both in the physical room and in the mind, where an alternative longing can grow. In my degree project I have taken a closer look at this space – what could it be, how does it work, what would it look like if it was made real? By exploring play theory I try to understand how and if play can be triggered and how this can be translated into a space. By deepening my knowledge about imagination and the relation between imagination and social development, I try to seek answers to how play can be used as a starting point for change. By treating play as a space in a double sense – both as a physical room and a special place inside us, I explore the possibilities this space has for creating new dreams. This is also a project where I try to restore my own belief in storytelling as something beyond escapism. Aiming to create an in-between, a fusion between scenography, illustration and installation, I seek to create a platform where my work can be the basis for new discussions and meetings. By exploring the performative elements of a room I want to invite the visitor to enter the image and merge with the content. I want to create a work that embraces the visitor and that can be experienced on many different levels depending on the visitor’s interest, age and prerequisites. The essay consists of three parts. My project started with an analysis of the current economical situation. In the first part of this essay I make a summary of this research, and give a brief background to my experiences working in the gap of storytelling and economics. In the second part I will investigate the basic functions of imagination and play, and see how our longing is linked to the development of society. In the third part I will talk about the physical outcome of my project - my process, choices, difficulties and conclusions. For practical reasons I have choose to put all images in a separate appendix at the end. These images shows extracts from my artistic process as well as a documentation of the installation showed at the Spring Exhibition.

Många av Sveriges kommuner har idag svårt att få deltagare till medborgardialoger som angår nya planprojekt. Det är av stor vikt att dialogerna mellan kommuner och medborgare fungerar på ett bra sätt eftersom en bristfällig dialog kan leda till svårigheter i demokratin. För att kunna stärka demokratin och locka fler medborgare till dialogerna, framförallt yngre, finns olika verktyg som kommuner kan använda för att att illustrera de olika planförslagen. I denna studie undersöks frågor om virtuell verklighetsteknik (VR) är ett verktyg som skulle kunna locka fler till medborgardialoger samt om VR ökar förståelsen för kommunens olika illustrationer. VR är en tredimensionell visualisering med speciella skärmar och rörelse utrustning. Virtuella verklighetsillustrationer presenteras med en huvudmonterad display där du blir placerad i en miljö och kan röra dig fritt. För att studera dessa frågor utfördes ett experiment där deltagarna fick titta på två områden från en illustrationsplan, 3D-visualisering, samt använda VR. Deltagarna fick på en enkät ringa in upp till två svar för hur de upplevde området. För att enkelt tolka resultatet i denna studie användes värderosor. Med hjälp av dessa framkom resultatet att VR förbättrar förståelsen för illustrationsplaner och 3D-visualiseringar. Experimentet gav även svar på att VR kan locka personer till att medverka i medborgardialoger. Studien visade att VR bör användas som ett komplement till kommunens illustrationer för att fler medborgare ska lockas till medborgardialoger. Genom att jämföra resultatet går det tydligt att se stora skillnader på hur personer uppfattar de olika illustrationsverktygen. Den ökade förståelsen ger möjlighet för fler att lämna synpunkter till planprojekt. / Many of Sweden's municipalities have a hard time attracting participants to public consultation events about new planning projects. Good communication between municipalities and citizens is vital because to the planning process and a well functioning democracy. In order to strengthen democracy and attract more citizens to planning consultations, especially younger people, municipalities can use a variety of different illustrations and presentation tools. This study examined whether virtual reality (VR) is a useful tool for attracting the public and if VR increases the publics understanding of planning proposals. In order to examine these questions an experiment was conducted where participants looked at two different areas on an illustration map using 3D-visualizations and VR. The participants then answered two questions about how they experienced the environment. A radar chart was used to to interpret the results. The results indicate that VR enhanced the understanding of Illustration maps and 3D-visualizations. The experiment also suggests that VR can attract more people to public consultations. The study also showed that VR could be used as a complement to conventional illustrations and to enhance the public´s understanding of and opportunities to contribute opinions about planning projects.