STATES OF PLAY, HUMBER STREET GALLERY
7th July - 24th Sept
I was wandering around Humber Street gallery yesterday when I bumped into Helena and Richard from Lincolnshire. Like me they were taking the opportunity to experience States of Play which had been running from 7th July until today, so we got here just in time. The idea behind it is to consider how play shapes our lives through exhibits and instillations of international makers and designers. Robots that move around using your speech implanted via a keyboard and appropriate software for instance. I put the words into the mouth of a robot which the creator designed to move and talk in this way so that I am part of the robot’s world now by installing my voice which is relayed as it moves around the gallery space. This made me feel part of the whole experience rather than just being an spectator looking at things as only I moved through the gallery. On the ground floor I walked alongside some shapes which lit up as I walked by and blew on them Here is a picture of Richard wearing a pink wool hat. He couldn’t be at the rally in Washing DC where thousands of wearers wore woolie hats to show solidarity to freedom to live as they saw fit for women everywhere. But he could stand under a hat made to go with a loaned photograph of this event knitted for the Humber Street Gallery in Yorkshire.What I liked about this exhibition is the way it invites interaction and further creativity.The Crafts Council and Hull 2017 had laid out cardboard cut outs for kids and adults to make shapes out of. Helena and Richard were happy to play with them. I also noticed a mum and her under 10 child lifting some cut outs to take home and experiment with. This is what City of Culture is all about. Encouraging us all to play with own creativity.You can read more about Helena and Richard’s visit to Hull City of Culture and the artists behind States of Play in my book 2017 Hull’s Special Year. Launch details pending.
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