CHILD's PLAY

proposal, 2014

Composed of a scaled-up set of prototypical children’s building blocks, this project aims bring a playful and interactive installation into the urban context. Made out of white polystyrene, the blocks will be highly abstract and vivid in juxtaposition to their surrounding. They will be light enough to handle and move by one person, but large enough to elicit seeking and offering help from others. Through their characteristic shapes the toy-like elements will evoke the childhood memories of many, and immediately trigger connotations of stacking and play.

Stressing the notion of creative participation, the project asks the audience not only to physically experience the piece by occupying it as seating props, but more instrumentally to actively engage in its arrangement and re-arrangement. The effort of individuals and groups will entail not only physical manipulation of the pieces but also collaboration and negotiation, potentially breaking inhibitions between strangers and prompting unexpected yet memorable encounters. The installation will transform over time as the elements get used to set up different spaces and create new situations for occupation, from ordered stacks to amorphous piles.