Play
house refers not just to a toy structure which children play inside but also
to the idea of playing at being adult, pretending,
mimicking
and
making believe that you are someone
or something else. A play house is also another word for a theatre, so this
section also refers to the drama of life and particularly of childhood, which
informs our 'grown-up' selves.
Play
as pretence or make believe, begins very early in childhood, as children begin
to learn through copying the behavior they see around them. Sometimes this involves
simulation, practicing modes of adult
activity - playing 'Mummies and Daddies' for instance. Sometimes it involves
trying out different characters or acting out imaginary
scenarios,
influenced as much by the myths and
icons
of popular culture as by 'real life' experience.
Playing to learn and playing for pleasure are interrelated processes of discovery,
vital to human social and personal development. Playing can also be about power.
Whether we play with toys or people there is often a struggle for control which
results in a player exercising power over a playmate or plaything. In some cases
this can lead to cruelty, at which point play (for the
disempowered
one) ceases to be fun.
Artist
Paula Rego's work illustrates the games people play with each other in life.
Whether her models are adults, children or animals her pictures explore both
the joy and exhuberance of playfulness, and its darker, more manipulative side.
Play
applies as much to thought and the imagination as it does to physical activities.
As children many of us have an imaginary friend - a person, animal or creature
who we play with and talk to, even though no-one else can see them. As we get
older we usually grow out of this, but sometimes we talk to ourselves instead
(in private of course!). These inner conversations may be in response to doubt,
fear or anger, or they might be related to something pleasurable - a day-dream
or
fantasy.
Through
both physical and mental absorption we can become 'lost' in play. In
psychological terms our
unconscious
selves are the thoughts, feelings and impulses which we supress, perhaps because
they are socially unacceptable, or because they are personally painful. In moments
of anxiety, pleasure or mischief the unconcious can break out - with surprising
or embarrassing results!
These other hidden sides of ourselves have been referred to in many ways
throughout different cultures. The masked figures of Carnival,
the Doppelgänger of German folklore,
the literary creations of Dr Jeckel and Mr Hyde and the film 'Gremlins' are
all manifestations of this.
Wendy McMurdo uses digital photography to play with some of these ideas about
fantasy and reality, disguise and self-discovery and the hidden self, psychoanalytically.
speaking . Earlier this century the Surrealist
and Dadaist art movements were very interested
in these ideas. Other artists who have more recently explored this area are:
