Creative/Practice
Illustration, to me, is a narrative. I'm a big fan of storytelling, whether through books or animation, and was the main inspiration for pursuing a career in illustration. I was aiming for a childrens book style, however with the skill shown in these images, I'd say I would really need to experiment much more with gouache and compositions, and to be more delicate with my brushwork, if i want to achieve similar executions as Bove's.
Practice Researchhttp://day-job.org/filter/projects/Reveal-o-print-Workshop http://day-job.org/filter/projects/Summer-Art-Club-at-Peckham-Space What I appreciate from DayJob's practice is that it's interaction with the child participants. When I did the workshop with FLY festival, I really enjoyed the whole process and the execution, including recieving successful responses. I could see myself doing it again in the future as it was something I enjoyed and it was fulfilled my aim to boost creativity amongst children. Creating a workshop within an environment to help encourage creativity may be a possible route for my practice as it's something I've done previously and could develop further.
Practice Research
What I enjoy about these projects by visiting lecturer Alice Moloney, is that they're designed for interaction. The rain-activated project could either wait for the environment to activate it (rain) or forcefully activated by someone pouring water upon. Design to the Table was interesting for me because it was only a design of a possible idea, the idea doesn't actually exist in reality. I found this interesting because I feel like a designer, who comes up with ideas, but I feel like when it comes to executing my ideas, it always lacks the quality I aim for. Perhaps a way to solve this is to come up with designs which then can possibly be passed on to specialists who can use them.
Practice Researchhttp://www.timdavieseducation.com/playground-art What I love about Tim Davies work is that the children are the designers and you can see that the work has that child aesthetic. I adore the idea that Davies runs the workshops and transforms the children's creative designs into perspex screens for their learning environment. The child has creative ownership of with Davies providing resources and guidance. I ran the FLY workshop in a similar motive, I provided resources and guidance and allowed the young people to develop the work how they want.
I would love to have another opportunity to host a workshop but for a younger age group such as KS1 5-7 year olds. I think allowing a child to have ownership and create something permament to see within their learning environment (where the children are for majority of their weekly daytime) gives them a sense of their own space to be proud of and to look forward to seeing and talking about. I'd love to be able to create create that kind of feeling in a child by hosting a workshop. Practice Researchhttps://www.eureka.org.uk http://london.kidzania.com/en-uk/ http://www.roleplayworld.co.uk/bournemouth/ In terms of what kind of space I could create, I looked into these commercial, artificial locations. Eureka is slightly different to the bottom two as it's an interactive musuem for children, and the others are interactive role-playing spaces.
Whilst they are educational spaces for children to freely choose what to do, however once they've chosen, it seems that its rather didactive of what children learn from the space. I'd like to create a space that doesnt patronise children. A space that children can take control of and adapt it to a situation they'd choose it to be for whatever reasons they deem necessary. Practice Research
Wicksteed Playgrounds
http://www.wicksteed.co.uk/rainbow-room-p1061.html http://www.wicksteed.co.uk/activity-box-p868.html http://www.wicksteed.co.uk/playground-projects-christchurch-dorset-pp6.html http://www.wicksteed.co.uk/playground-projects-tamworth-staffordshire-pp29.html Schoolscapes http://www.schoolscapes.co.uk/product-tag/ks1/page/3/?show_products=all http://www.schoolscapes.co.uk/product/water-play-wall/ https://www.playdale.co.uk http://www.caledoniaplay.com/product/bespoke-play-areas/
Interested in school environment for play, I thought I'd research a little into what play equipment is there available for schools. I was also interested in the costs and production of such equipment as well if I was to take the route of a career into playground design.
Whitechapel Gallery Children Commissions
http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/childrens-art-commission-eva-rothschild-boys-and-sculpture/ http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/childrens-art-commission-simon-tom-bloor-loose-parts/
Children’s Commission 2012: Eva Rothschild 'Boys and Sculpture'
http://popupplaytoy.com
This project intrigued me because it incorporates digital technology to allow a child to create their own designs for a cardboard 'house' to colour in and play with at home, however it's very limited with themes and motifs of which children can select from. It's near enough a blank canvas to work on so when they recieve the cardboard cut outs, children can add extra motifs hand-drawn if they wish to. What I do appreciate is that it has the option to allow the child ownership to the placements of designs, doors and windows, as well as colour scheme when they recieve it, but its still very restrictive in its design.
http://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/patrick-doughertys-stickwork-in-salem-and-sausalito
In comparison of creating a personal 'den' space digitally and man-made above, I found the project 'Stickwork' which uses nature to inhibit outdoor space and buildings. If I saw these natural installations, my natural instinct would be to explore them because my curious mind is intrigued, and I think children who are discovering more about the world everyday would most likely be intrigued by them also as they're natural materials yet have been made imitate man-made habitat eg, doors and window space.
Practice Research
http://www.play-scapes.com/play-design/resources/on-becoming-a-playground-designer-tell-your-story/
After becoming inspired by spaces exposed to play in the previous post, I looked into playground designer as a career possibility. It's really insightful to see how someone journey towards a playground designer began and progressed in terms to how I could achieve similar results. The last paragraph resonates with my current work because Cynthia Gentry comments about needing the 'love of play in your heart' and to 'master the complexity of play theory and child development' which is exactly what I'm trying to gather in my research. I feel that I may be in the right direction to progress my practice into this style of career choice.
In the Comments post of Playscapes questioning, many of the comments mentioned 'Playground Ideas'. Playground Ideas is a charity to build space for children to play in deprived communities, however they have opensource designs available on their website so that anyone can do a bit of DIY and create a play space. What I did like about this organisation was that they provide opportunities for students or recent graduates for collaboration. If I were to become serious about developing a career in this profession, this seems like a real good opportunity to gather some hands-on experience in the field.
Practice Research
"Lenses by Hush Studios, an interactive light and sound installation that transforms as prisms bend and refract light in different ways… just move and twist them on the wall surface. The composition is “then read by custom software and translated into sounds in real-time, resulting in a warm, ambient soundscape to accompany the powerful visual composition.”"
Rion Nakaya 2016. http://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/lenses-an-interactive-light-sound-installation-by-hush-studios
" Artist Craig Winslow
“Embracing the natural way we would expect people to interact with the device, we made slow soothing movements augment lighting, while aggressive swipes brought in black recursive animations,” Winslow says. “Leap Motion amplified the story we were trying to tell, as the viewer’s human interaction contributed to impact dynamically on the installation.” Light and color are the core mechanics at play in the piece. Winslow and his collaborators programmed color variance to be reactive to palm positioning – transforming the Leap Motion Controller into a powerful tool for color depth exploration. Dipping into blues and reds, “it was fascinating to disrupt the world until you reach a dystopian darkness, until your hand becomes the only light within a strong silhouette.” "The design concept behind Growth is one that Winslow and his collaborators would like to iterate and expand upon in the near future. They believe the Leap Motion interface carries huge potential for enabling human interaction to dance the line between the physical and the digital realms – to illuminate a world and modify its perceived reality." " Katie Mitchell 2013 http://blog.leapmotion.com/growth-art-installation-powered-by-leap-motion/
Interested in the idea of incorporating digital technologies with an interactive space, I did a bit of research as to what's already attempting at combining these. I discovered these two installations pieces that use human interaction to change the design of the spaces. They offer the users the chance to play and experiment through movement (in Growth) and placement of objects (in Lenses). Light plays an important element in both of these installations because it is the response to the human interaction. The users have control of how the light is displayed and can convert it as many times they'd like.
The idea of having a variable in a space that children can interact with to alter the "atmosphere" of the space appeals to me for my practice. I believe it's important to allow children to experiment with the world, to discover mysteries themselves, and creating a space that allows the user to experiment with the design strongly represents that motive I believe.
https://www.microbit.co.uk
https://www.kitronik.co.uk/5618-bbc-microbit-with-inventors-kit-and-accessories.html
https://www.raspberrypi.org
If I want to work with digital technology, I feel that I need to understand programming a bit more. I remember Scott Grandison's talk, the creative coder, in second year and that he had worked with other students on the course in the Human Library when they needed to use coding. I think I need to contact and speak with Scott in hope that he might be able to explain some possibilities and problems with my ideas of creating an interactive space that children can alter.
Practice Researchhttp://www.dezeen.com/tag/playgrounds/ Assemble's brutalist playground inspires my thoughts upon playground design because of its simplicity. It evokes no real theme despite the colours representing "ice-cream" colours. The playground's full concentration is to allow the child to choose as it pleases with it, to explore and make findings themselves (or as a group) of how to use the space for their play. An important design is one that can also invite the children to know it's available to be explored. The soft colours and foam material feeds a bright welcoming to it's presence and any safety issues that may cause concern for parents.
What intrigued me about Höweler + Yoon Architecture's swing set was that it incorporated digital technology, that I had been mentioning before, in an outdoor setting. Swings and slides are instinctly remember when I think about playing in playgrounds as a child myself, so creating these motion-responsive swings harbours that nostalgia feeling. The swings also require human interaction to switch intensity of colours ranging from white to purple. The only thing I can see about these swings is that they work best at night, which can be good for children's sensory values, however in a residential or school environment, many children must stay at home when it's dark for safety reasons, which would mean a light up playground won't recieve it's full advantage during the day when it most likely would be used. Practice ResearchBecoming more interested in playground design, I wanted gather visual research how current playgrounds are compromised in Norwich's Public Residential Areas. One aesthetic they all followed was the equipment was colourful and engaging, however the one I loved the most out of them all was "The Jenny Lind Playground for Children" (The last of the series of images above).
This playground probably had the most space compared to the other playgrounds but it worked really well within it's location. The playground backed onto a field one side and the other by basketball court, and these were encased into a rectangle shape by roads either side. I think what works about this playground is that it uses a various of materials compared to the others I visited. For the ground it combines chippings, soft tarmac?, grass, mud and sand. Then for equipment it uses the landscape as well as man-made play equipment. It incorporates the mound for the sliding equipment and a tree-covered area with rocks centered in the middle, then there is a just a lone log to be climbed upon. The playground uses both man-made and the natural landscape/materials to create a real sense of outdoor play. The only thing this playground doesn't offer is the idea of "loose parts" which I can understand as to why. All these playgrounds don't offer loose objects (except for maybe tree's surrounding the playgrounds) because the public element of the playground can't offer "loose parts" due to possibilities of theft or perhaps vandalism. Or could there be a way a public playground can offer "loose parts" for play? |
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