It’s been great to see the attention given to play recently by museums like MoMA and the Carnegie Museum of Art, and last year Denmark’s Museum of Art in Public Spaces (what a great idea for a museum, btw!) staged Wanna Play!–combining “a retrospective view of a fine and original tradition within Danish art – art playgrounds in the public space – with an experimental approach to exhibition practices, specifically in the form of a giant indoor playground created by six artists in the museum’s top floor.”
“WANNA PLAY! looks at how restrictions and rules makes it difficult to create truly wild, artistic playgrounds. Many of us remember the special thrill of that really good slide, the sensational see-saw, and so on, but times have changed: gone are the days of innocence where children could scamper around junk playgrounds, mount swings without having special safety surfaces underneath, etc. Today we are preoccupied with rules and regulations, with the letter of the law and the potential liabilities associated with any mishaps; all this is an impediment to establishing ”wild” playgrounds.Nevertheless, the issue is highly topical in connection with the City of Copenhagen’s project Plads Til Leg (literally “Grounds for Play”), which encompasses five art playgrounds so far, created by Randi & Katrine, Nina Saunders, Peter Land, Eva Steen Christensen, and Tanja Rau, respectively.
More on Copenhagen’s exciting project next week!
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