Report ResearchPlease click image for larger view. This was my first seminar with my Reader Group and an introduction of my research so far to a new audience. We discovered at the end of the presentations that we had a connection of social engagement throughout our work.
It was clear based on feedback of my presentation that I was interested in Interaction Design and Design for Need, which I agree is a key element for my practice. 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. Creative/PracticeSCI-FI from Gemma Aylward on Vimeo. THE SUN from Gemma Aylward on Vimeo. THE SUN FULL from Gemma Aylward on Vimeo.
Attending the film workshop, run by Pablo, I discovered new editing skills with Adobe Premiere Pro. I struggled with the narrative with these videos because although I had a vision and direction I wanted, the clips I chosen beforehand didn't work well together to build one. I tried to get the most out of understand the software and creating certain effects based on timings of the music with the timing of the video clips.
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? Practice Research
ELEANOR MEREDITH
CHRIS O'SHEA
http://www.chrisoshea.org/woodland-wiggle
CHRIS HAUGHTON
http://www.cowlyowl.com/apps/monster-mingle
http://blog.chrishaughton.com/hat-monkey-the-making-of/
BARE CONDUCTIVE
https://www.bareconductive.com/make/sensor-design-basic-rules-of-thumb/
STUDIO ROOF
https://www.studioroof.com/en/7-products
ANORAK MAGAZINE
http://www.anorakmagazine.com/events/
SOUTHBANK CENTRE - IMAGINE CHILDRENS FESTIVAL
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/imagine-childrens-festival
CAMP BESTIVAL
http://www.bewilderwood.co.uk/explore/photo-and-video-gallery/
BEWILDERWOOD
JUST SO FESTIVAL
http://www.justsofestival.org.uk/about-us/
TATE KIDS
http://kids.tate.org.uk/create/
BRITISH SCIENCE MUSEUM - WONDERLAB
http://beta.sciencemuseum.org.uk/wonderlab#share
I wanted a tutorial with Eleanor because of her work on the loop-the-loop magazine for children. I explained I had recently discovered about the idea of festivals for children the night before and how I'm liking the idea of being part of a team in this kind of environment maybe. She was able to give me alot of things to research in terms of interaction with children, including digital, workshop events, and festivals.
Practice Research
http://nexusproductions.com/interactive-arts
https://processing.org
I managed to get the opportunity to speak with the university's creative coder, Scott Grandison. I explained my idea so far about creating an interactive space that children could alter through digital input and output; such as changing the colour of lights for example. Scott had produced something similar to Chris O'shea's Woodland Wiggle, in Belfast with UFO's by having an interactive screen that was affected by how people moved. He explained to me that processing would be a way to code these using a Kinect. On the idea of altering light through a device, there is Philips Hue which has that concept, although he explained that they are expensive depending on my budget. Scott brought realistic values to my thoughts. If I wanted to create a digitally interactive space, it'll require a lot of time to learn the codings (which I can find online to learn from) and also the costs.
Report ResearchThe Importance of Imagination, Creativity and Play in Child Development I’m investigating the importance of imagination, creativity and play in child development. I believe that I shall write my report as an industry report to learn what is actively being done for child development currently. My reasoning for this subject is because I want to understand what children need to develop within our world as they are my preferred target audience. Imagination Children are still learning and adapting to the world around them using their curious minds, meaning that children are still experimenting with the boundaries of possibilities and impossibilities. The use of their imaginative minds encourages their creativity further and therefore improves creative thinking and problem solving. "In Kirsty Thompson’s classroom at the Iona school, the children don’t even have any ready-made toys in the room. They have to use their imagination to make what they want. Here boys and girls are playing together, rather than self-segregating, to make towers from wooden blocks and to play dressing up with cotton and woollen sheets." Manzoor (2016) Creativity The use of creativity allows children to use their freedom of exploring, experimenting and taking risks into becoming innovative and learn to toggle between possibilities and reality. Creativity allows them to develop their ideas, that they’ve established through their imagination, for external use to share with others, either visually or through play. “Creative people have new ideas, but this doesn’t make them revolutionaries. It means they are using their adaptive human intelligence. Seeing new ways of doing things is part of intelligent behaviour. It is central to creativity. Creativity is a high-level aspect of thinking because it shows depth of:
Play Learning through play is hands-on approach to discover about their surroundings and experiment with its potential. It allows the child to use their creative and imaginative minds in the circumstances that they’re needed. Play also contributes to the social aspect in child development, learning how to socialise and interact, as well as empathy. "In 2012, a review of more than 40 studies highlighted the relationship between play and creative problem-solving, cooperation and logical thinking. Research by Edward Fisher also found that play can enhance early development by anything from 33% to 67% by increasing adjustment, improving language skills and reducing social and emotional problems. This has positive implications for both educational development and everyday intellectual life." Oldfield (2015) I want to conclude with how important imagination and creativity can lead to effective-learning play which then feeds back into ideas about the world as they develop throughout their childhood. Ackerman, D. (2000) Deep play. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Barnard, J. (2006) The nesting instinct. The Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2006/apr/15/familyandrelationships.family3 (Accessed: 28 May 2016). Bruce, T. (2011) Cultivating creativity: For babies, toddlers and young children. 2nd edn. London: Oxford University Press. Hinsliff, G. (2016) Education needs a Lego moment – more fun and fewer pointless targets. The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/06/education-lego-let-our-kids-be-kids-protesters-sats> (Accessed: 21 July 2016). How children learn through play (no date) Available at: <http://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/toddler-preschool/learning-play/how-children-learn-through-play/> (Accessed: 24 June 2016). Huizinga, J. (2016) Homo Ludens: A study of the play-element in culture. United States: Angelico Press. Manzoor, S. (2016) Could Steiner schools have a point on children, tablets and tech? The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jun/14/steiner-schools-children-tablets-tech> (Accessed: 21 July 2016). Meng, T.K. (2016) Everyone is born creative, but it is educated out of us at school. The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2016/may/18/born-creative-educated-out-of-us-school-business> (Accessed: 20 June 2016). Oldfield, E. (2015) Playtime is crucial for a child’s development – cut it at your peril. The Guardian. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/sep/17/playtime-child-development-learning-cut-at-peril> (Accessed: 28 May 2016). Robertson, S. (2013) How thinking like a child can impact innovation. Available at: <http://www.ideastogo.com/the-science-of-imagination> (Accessed: 21 April 2016). Severance, A.D. (1919) ‘Play in education’, The Lotus Magazine, 10(3), pp. 116–117. doi: 20544087. The Secret Life of 4,5,6 Year Old. 1-7 (2015) Channel 4. [Online] Available at: <http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-secret-life-of-4-5-and-6-year-olds> (Accessed: 3 April 2016) Ward, L. (2016) Children should learn mainly through play until age of eight, says Lego. The Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/15/children-learn-play-age-eight-lego (Accessed: 21 April 2016). Creating this presentation gave me a clear view on how I need to structure my report. It's my first attempt at using quotes from my readings of how to use them to structure and write my report. It became clear that I'll need to focus on imagination, creativity and play and how all these three work together to help a child develop.
Feedback from the session crucially highlighted that I was talking about imagination and creativity through the lens of play in child development, and that this is the angle i should take my report further. |
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