Machines Of Bits And Bobs,
And The Exquisite Monsters They Create
2020PLAY MANUAL
The COVID outbreak has left many of us having to spend extended periods of time at home in lockdown, restricting the opportunity to socialise and play in ways that we are used to. How can we design something, using only objects commonly found in the house, that will enable people to play at home during lockdown?
Machines Of Bits And Bobs, And The Exquisite Monsters They Create is an amalgamation of multiple suspended mobiles composed of everyday objects found in the house; a “dangling conversation” (to quote Simon & Garfunkel) of forks, and socks, and locks. Each mobile has, amongst the floating paraphernalia, one (or more) light source which casts the shadows of the objects upon the surrounding surfaces. Depending on the proximity between object and light, the shadow may appear enlarged and distorted, sometimes unrecognised.
In this game of bits and bobs, players each create a mobile fashioned out of any items found at home – cacti, empty wine bottles, an unwanted sock, ping pong balls, toys, clothes hangers. The possibilities are endless, as long as a light source is included. The various mobiles are then suspended together on a common scaffold, creating an interplay between the lights, objects and shadows. This way, the objects that are already made strange in the form of shadows are made even more fickle, more mutable, more whimsical as shadows merge, superimpose, combine and weave together.
CREDITS
In collaboration with Tan Wen Jun
In collaboration with Tan Wen Jun
EXHIBITIONS
DUTCH DESIGN WEEK 2020
VIRTUAL GROUP EXHIBIT (SELECTED)
2020.10.17—2020.10.25
PUBLICATIONS
PLAYHOUSE BOOK, 2020
ORGANISED AND PUBLISHED BY: PLAYGROUND DESIGN STUDIO, BEN CLARK DESIGN, BARNEY IBBOTSON ILLUSTRATION
DUTCH DESIGN WEEK 2020
VIRTUAL GROUP EXHIBIT (SELECTED)
2020.10.17—2020.10.25
PUBLICATIONS
PLAYHOUSE BOOK, 2020
ORGANISED AND PUBLISHED BY: PLAYGROUND DESIGN STUDIO, BEN CLARK DESIGN, BARNEY IBBOTSON ILLUSTRATION