Play

Modified tools, markers, oil pastels, colored wax, paper

Installation, Size variable

2022

This interactive artwork stemmed from my research on the effects of play on the brain while reading Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart L. Brown and Christopher C. Vaughan. According to Brown and Vaughan, play is integral to brain development and creating healthy human connections. With this information, I facilitated a performance titled Play (fig.3). This performance incorporated various objects and tools I altered into mark-making implements. These objects included elbow and knee pads saturated with crayon, a metal garden rake with markers attached, and a plastic leaf rake with a zigzag handle that supported multi-colored oil pastels. The tools were organized on the floor and walls, and above the implements were two sheets of QR codes. Above the codes were the labels ‘Round One’ and ‘Round Two.’ The performance was held in two rounds; the first round included personal preference or memory recall prompts on what to render, and the second round included physical prompts on actions to do while drawing. The varying style of prompts activated various parts of the brain while the participants engaged in play-like activities. While creating this work, I was informed by Karina Smigla-Bobinski, a Polish-German artist, and her artwork, ADA. Our work draws similarities through the creation of new mark-making tools that prompt public participation.