“Art celebrates with peculiar intensity the moments in which the past reinforces the present and which the future is a quickening of what now is.” At work, we’re working with a fantastic group of artists to develop a new exhibition. I’m very grateful to be working with such a wonderfully playful group. Simultaneously, I’m re-readingContinue reading ““The Future is a Quickening of What Now Is””
Category Archives: The Playing Field
The Little Things
There’s a liquor store in Providence that I visit sometimes. The owner keeps a small dog in what appears to be a spacious apartment– soft bed, toys, a buffet of food– behind the counter. If you pay for your stuff in cash, the owner might prompt her dog to put your change in his mouth,Continue reading “The Little Things”
The Scared is Scared
Young director Bianca Giaever finished the Scared is Scared a few weeks before she graduated from Middlebury College. The film’s direction and main narrative comes from a conversation Bianca had with a six-year-old named Asa Baker-Rouse, who walked Bianca through a storyline ostensibly “about” a mouse and a bear. Bianca took that conversation, meshed it with her ownContinue reading “The Scared is Scared”
The Happy Museum Project
Try this experiment: Toss a paper towel roll down a long hallway in a museum gallery. Step back. Watch as a school group passes through the hallway. At the Manchester Museum, you would see children walking the unfurled roll as if it were a tightrope. When the perforations began to break, the towels became skates. KidsContinue reading “The Happy Museum Project”
Learning to Code
What I love about this video, from http://www.code.org, is the enthusiasm the interviewees remember feeling for the act of just figuring stuff out. I saw great glimmers of this during Programmable Park, our 2012 summer collaboration with Amon Millner and Modkit. It makes me want to learn more about coding and to create more opportunitiesContinue reading “Learning to Code”
Social Seating
Winter Storm Nemo just blew through Boston, leaving about five feet of snow on yards, driveways, and, well, everywhere. The shared nuisance of digging out cars and sidewalks creates a social environment that’s somewhat unparalleled; neighbors talk to each other, smile at each other, help each other. Snow– a common nemesis– becomes a social medium.Continue reading “Social Seating”
Snakes on a Train
Originally posted on The Power of Play:
Last month, my family– including my brother’s two daughters, ages 4 and 8– got stuck on an Amtrak train. While the tracks ahead of us got fixed, our five hour pleasure journey turned into ten hours of… waiting. “Being a parent is often about heading things off at…
These are the Wings
Originally posted on The Power of Play:
I’m six years old, and my family and I are driving home from an evening advent service. Baby Michael is asleep. Matthew, at a rambunctious four years, is not. For a tired family in the thick of the holiday season, the shortest distance between two points may be…
Snow Playgrounds
Originally posted on PlayGroundology:
NORAD has the market on tracking Santa just about cornered. Kids all over the world follow St. Nick’s Christmas Eve progress online. In just over a week, the jolly old guy will launch his sled and Christmas 2012 will be here. Kids will be dreaming of a white Christmas where climate…