The Playing Frame, 2006

200cm x 150cm x 300cm approx
wood, fixings, tent poles, polyester fabric, thread, rope, digital print, cotton

The Playing Frame is an interactive installation. It is a wooden framework of criss-crossing lines where participants can add or remove elements of the installation. The wood is continuous, like a drawn line that moves over the floor, around the corner and over two walls. The different parts encourage participants to create different 3D aesthetic compositions: what they make is up to them. This is encouraged through bags containing fabric shapes, ropes, bendy poles and instructions which hang in a row on large pegs. A small notice board and camera is available for participants to record what has been made.

The Playing Frame was initially inspired by the lines of thread on the loom, and if we take these linear elements off the loom and into space – where they can bend, criss-cross and form something new. There elements of tent’s structure to offer a changeable spatial and visual exploration. The bright colours reference an ‘Early Learning’ aesthetic as the Frame’s emphasis is on working things out through hands on investigation: learning through play.

There is no winning. The installation highlights a process that is never finished, where it is the process that is important. it is about taking part and exploring what you can create together. The photographs on the pin board emphasize the Frame’s continual development through different people interacting at different times of the exhibition. This enables people some level of involvement, even if they choose not to participate.

This work was included in an essay written by the artist: What is Drawing for? Drawing is for exploring.