Play
has many values: it helps us learn skills and aquire knowledge; it helps us
socialise; it helps us solve problems ; it helps us relax; it helps us see things
differently. Play is also valuable because it can stop us being too serious...
and laughter is very good for our health.
Play
as a process of experimenting, pushing boundaries and trying new things is an
area of common ground for artists, scientists and children. In fact it is one
of the few areas where children seen as experts with something to teach adults.
Play
is recognised as a way of achieving
innovation
and creativity because it helps us see things differently or achieve unexpected
results. A playful approach can be applied to even the most serious or difficult
subjects because playfulness is a state of mind rather than an action.
Yoko Ono
is an artist who through her
performance
pieces and
conceptual work, has blurred
the boundaries between different artforms and bent the rules concerning the
relationship between artist and audience, questioning the whole nature of creativity
and composition.
Playing
with ideas, ways of working, media and materials is central to any creative
process within art and design. An artist may be working towards an exhibition
just as you may be working towards exams, but for many artists the opportunity
to
improvise, to try things out and
make discoveries is more valuable than the finished product or show. Which is
more important to you?
Design
and invention would be nothing without play. Look at everything around you -
your clothes, the contents of your bag, the things in the this room, the building
you're in, the computer you are looking at. People somewhere designed all of
it. Do you think they were playful enough in their design process?
Maria
Amidu is artist who uses glass and other materials to create largely abstract
sculptural pieces. The process of testing ideas and playing with materials is
vital to her work. Recently she has been collaborating with Australian digital
artist, Rea, for a residency at 198 gallery in Brixton.
Other
artists whose work you could look at here are:
