Many years of work have finally paid off, and my research project co-authored with Henri Weijo has been officially published in the Journal of Consumer Research. The research was done in the context of cosplay and focuses on themes of ludic experiences, communal experiences, and how individuals negotiate these in the face of various emotional, material, temporal, and competence-related complications.
Find the abstract below. More info here and here.
Play at Any Cost: How Cosplayers Produce and Sustain Their Ludic Communal Consumption Experiences
Communal consumption is often described as inherently playful, with previous research mainly focusing on successful ludic communal experiences, and largely disregarding its potential pitfalls. Moreover, the marketer is usually seen as the primary facilitator of ludic experiences, which has marginalized the role of the consumer. This article explores how consumers produce and sustain ludic consumption community experiences in the face of growing instrumental costs. It assumes a practice theory lens, and is based on an ethnographic inquiry into cosplay, which is a time and resource intensive form of pop culture masquerade and craft consumption. Prolonged engagement in the cosplay community leads to growing emotional, material, temporal, and competence-related costs, which hinder playful experiences. Consumers practice modularization, reinforcement, and collaboration to overcome these costs and maintain the important ludic sensations that motivate communal engagements.
I am once again doing props and set design for the theatre group Thespians Anonymous. Tonight is the opening night of ‘Find Me’!!! More info here.
I am back in the world of theatre! I am in charge of making props and set design for Terry Pratchet’s “Guards! Guards!” performed by Thespians Anonymous. Will also be playing the small role of Death.
If you’re in Helsinki, check out the play here!
Some preview of props in progress:
I am currently displaying some of my work at Puristamo in Kaapelitehdas (Tallberginkatu 1 C) as part of the Helsingin Taideyhdistys Art Exhibition.
The opening was last Tuesday and it was a success! Thanks everyone for attending! We will be open until 2.12. daily (11-19 on weekdays; 12-18 on weekends).
