Concept
Who’s Appropriating Who? is a collaborative art game where players remix and reinterpret famous paintings together. Each person starts with a different artwork. A theme is announced, and everyone has four minutes to alter their piece using pens, markers, tape, or collage cut-outs. When the timer ends, players pass their artwork to the person on their right. The next player must build on what’s already there — not cover or erase it. Each round continues until everyone has added to every artwork once. By the end, every piece becomes a mix of different hands, styles, and interpretations.
Rules
- Each player chooses one artwork to start with.
- A theme is announced for the round.
- Players have 4 minutes to modify their artwork.
- When time is up, everyone passes their piece to the right.
- The next player must add onto what’s already there.
- Continue passing until all players have worked on each piece.
- When all artworks return to their original owners, the round ends.
- A new theme is announced, and a new round begins.
Timing
- Each turn: 4 minutes
- Each round: number of players × 4 minutes
End of Game
- After all rounds, lay out the final artworks.
- Share, discuss, or vote for fun categories like:
- Most Creative
- Funniest
- Best Collaboration
Inspiration
This game was inspired by the Dada movement and its focus on collaboration, spontaneity, and questioning the idea of originality. The Dadaists believed that art didn’t have to be serious, perfect, or made by a single artist. They used collage, randomness, and shared experimentation to challenge what art could be. Who’s Appropriating Who? follows that same mindset. Each player adds their own perspective to an existing image, blurring the line between creation and modification. The result is constantly changing — a layered conversation about creativity, ownership, and how meaning shifts when different people reinterpret the same work.
Iterations
The first version of this game started as a simple drawing exercise on a whiteboard. I gave the group a theme, and players took turns adding something to a shared image, building on what the last person had drawn. At first, it seemed like a fun way to explore collaboration, but it didn’t really work the way I intended. Without a visual foundation, the results often felt disconnected, and the activity depended too much on each person’s ability or confidence in drawing. I realized that I wanted something that focused more on ideas and transformation rather than technical skill. Using real, published art as a base would give everyone a shared starting point and a clearer visual language to react to.
The second iteration moved closer to that idea. I printed several famous paintings for players to draw on, which helped anchor their creativity, but I ran into a few practical problems. Since the artworks weren’t laminated, the paper didn’t hold up well, and many of the colors were too dark for the markers to show clearly. The two-minute time limit also ended up being too short — people barely had time to think before the round was over. I also noticed that because players could only draw, their additions often felt flat or limited. Something about the experience still felt like it was missing the playful, experimental energy I wanted the game to have.
After getting feedback from my peers, my professor, and reflecting on my own experiences, I refined the game into its final form. I laminated the paintings so they could be reused and adjusted the time limit to give players room to think and experiment. Most importantly, I introduced collage materials like tape, glue, and printed cut-outs. These new elements completely changed the feel of the game — players could now layer, remix, and reinterpret the art in physical, creative, and unpredictable ways. This final version finally captured the spirit I had been aiming for: a mix of collaboration, humor, and transformation that encourages people to think about what appropriating means.
