An exploration of playfulness in contemporary art

You may have noticed that activity on my blog has been rather sluggish during the month of January.

The reason for this is that I have had to direct my attention away from the studio and focus on writing my Master of Fine Art dissertation which had to be submitted today.



The dissertation has been a huge challenge, but I have found it to be of great value to my practice.

I chose to write about playfulness in contemporary art, and identified three ways in which play can be said to exist within art, namely: the form of the artwork; the process of making the artwork and the way in which the audience experiences the artwork.

These key aspects were the focus of three contemporary practice case studies. Comparisons and contrasts were made between sculptor Phyllida Barlow, collaborative duo Zoë Walker and Neil Bromwich, and Carsten Höller.

I identified how play relates to the artwork they make; the processes they engage in when making work and how the audience interacts with the work.

My experience of going to see their exhibitions, and in the case of Walker and Bromwich, being involved in one of their artworks informed the inquiry which was aided by an examination of secondary research.

I intend to make the dissertation available on my website at some point but, in the meanwhile, if you would like to read my dissertation, please do not hesitate to contact me.

My email address is helen.shaddock(at)yahoo.co.uk

Super slides are the slippery slope into art's babyish new era

Some evidence that my dissertation topic is timely 

From London’s looping Orbit slide to a giant Czech mountain ride, art is becoming a theme park for the selfie generation 

Jonathan Jones, The Guardian

Tuesday 5th January 2016

"I went sliding on a mountain in the holidays. In mud. My family and I set out for a gentle Christmas walk in Wales that became an unplanned mudbath after we climbed a rocky riverbed in search of fossils and ended up stranded and soaking on a steep mountainside. We were trying to pull ourselves up by tree trunks but kept sliding down again and again as the sun started to set.

A new attraction in the Czech Republic offers a similar experience – but one that is planned and safely designed and won’t leave you covered in mud. The Dolní Morava Skywalk on the Králický Sněžník mountain includes a giant slide that’s clearly inspired by the artist Carsten Höller. Not only can you see spectacular vistas of the surrounding peaks while making your way nervously along a glass-bottomed skywalk, but you can slide in the sky. 

It’s a big year for art slides, it seems. Höller himself is wrapping a giant slide around the spiralling Orbit tower in east London. He was invited to do so by its co-creator Anish Kapoor. Doubtless it is hoped that an exciting art slide will help increase visitor numbers at the attraction, where it has been claimed low ticket sales led to losses of £520,000 in 2015.

If in doubt, install an art slide. From the Czech mountains to Stratford, slides are now defined as both fun and cultural. Art is turning into play, and play now seen as a noble cultural goal for adults as well as children.

But the rise of the art slide (last summer also saw Höller’s creations turn the South Bank into a funfair) shows how some of our deepest cultural values are changing. High art has always been an introspective affair, from looking silently at paintings in a museum to sitting quietly to listen to a symphony. It is about contemplation and absorption. Two people can read the same book and talk about it afterwards, but the act of reading will still be a solitary experience.

Today, we seem to fear such solitude. Art slides are typical of the age of oversharing. It’s not enough to look quietly at art. We need to slide on it, climb over it or talk to it, then share selfies of the experience with as many online friends as possible. The privacy or shared tranquility of artistic contemplation is being trashed by an age that can’t stand being alone. 

Going into nature for real, or sitting in the Rothko room at Tate Modern, are the kinds of cultural adventures that take us to new planes and new places. They can be shared, but mustn’t be overshared. When all our most intense experiences are reduced to art slides and skywalk selfies, I’d rather be lost in the woods."

Read the full article here

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2016/jan/05/super-slides-art-babyish-new-era-orbit-holler-dolni-morava-skywalk

Incidental compositions

Yesterday I had a trip to London to visit a couple of specific exhibitions, namely Agnes Martin at Tate Modern, and Carsten Holler: Decision at the Hayward Gallery (more about the exhibitions in later blog posts).

The exit from the Agnes Martin exhibition leads visitors to a cafe and viewing platform. Some maintenance work was being carried out to the cafe, and amongst the chaos I found some beautiful incidental compositions.