Artistic Thinking Week 13

Purposeful play is allowing yourself or your students to experiment and discover, “what will happen if…” Like Hetland speaks about in Capter 11, “Students learned that mistakes are opportunities, they can lead to new directions, and they can be diagnostic sources from which to learn.” (Pg. 74.) Purposeful play creates opportunities for taking risks, stepping into unknown territory and feeling free and fearless to explore. Play is an essential part of the creative process, “The process of art making for individuals of all ages is and inquiry activity of exploring and expressing ideas that reflect experiences. Divergent thinking, spontaneity, risk-taking and experimental manipulation of media are significant art making behaviors. These behaviors can be facilitated by play.” (Pitri, 2001) I am a big fan and advocate for Playtime. At least once a week I try to make time for it and I always recommend and encourage it for my family, friends and students. Just as eating well, brushing and exercise are all important for good physical health; Playtime is just as important and good for mental and emotional health. The best part is that it usually involves feelings of excitement, anticipation and personal satisfaction during and after. However many adults don't allow themselves or their children to make time for playtime. These people believe that to progress and move up in the world you must be serious and work hard, which leaves no time for play-time. Daniel Pink, is helping to change that old, outdated way of thinking, which comes from the left, practical and methodical side of the brain. He is introducing the out-going, fun-loving, daring, humorous and empathetic right brain and showing how the two can interact and come up with some beautiful, functional creations when they both come out to play together. “Play is emerging from the shadow of frivolousness and assuming a place in the spotlight Homo ludens (Man the Player) is proving to be as effective as Homo sapiens (Man the Knower) in getting the job done.” (Pink, pg 188)

Tim Brown, a designer, speaks of how as adults; we don't play as freely as we did as children. We censor ourselves and may not push ourselves beyond our comfort zones. He says we self edit and stop ourselves from, “going for it” I know this is true for me but when I do, "go for it", my best work emerges. Making time to play, adding humor and working in creative problem solving groups are now seen as high on the scale for best business practices. It’s sad that we had to wait for business to catch on to how many benefits there are in practicing and applying playful creativity. If it’s good for business then It’s good for the USofA. Im thrilled to see these businessmen and other professionals preaching the gospel of Play. They are helping to spread the word about how important creative play is in everyday life and as a core subject in schools and a needed practice in general. I feel like I am a born player, and I do mean, I was born to be playful and help others do the same. Being a teacher is a lot like being on stage and having to constantly improvise to keep the attention and keep the information interesting and engaging. Adding humor and a playful attitude usually, creates a non-threatening communication and a safe space for students to respond. These techniques can be used in the studio too. Improvising is another way to describe fearlessly exploring, alone or within a group. Alone, you agree to push yourself into new areas and within a group you agree to stay open to the process, add your ideas and contribution and help the group expand and build onto the original idea. Tim Brown has a good point when he speaks of group play and it's positive impact, "Play is not anarchy, group play has rules, and all must agree to it." We can see it when children do pretend play on the playground or in their rooms, If one assumes the role of a store clerk, the other will agree and assume the role of the customer. They almost instinctually know the rules and agree to go along with the type of play that is being enacted. The same goes with being on any kind of sports team, debate team or any type of group that works together to produce an agreed on outcome. 

For my play-related project I decided to start an Improv acting group. First I invited some friends and acquaintances over for a night of experimental improv. I posted some basic rules of improv, two videos for demonstration and the reminder that the goal was to have fun, stay open and fearlessly go with the flow. Here is the post for the party:

When doing interactive Improv there are some rules to be aware of and Tina Fey speaks of them in her book Bossypants. Great book! This will give you the basic idea of how to interact in improv. Check it out and if you are still stuck, go to YouTube and search for the "Yes, and..." improv game. In Improv you need to be in agreement with whatever your partner or group present. You agree and then add to it......

Rule #1 — Agree

The first rule of improvisation is AGREE. Always agree and SAY YES.

When you’re improvising, this means you are required to agree with whatever your partner has created. So if we’re improvising and I say, “Freeze, I have a gun,” and you say, “That’s not a gun. It’s your finger. You’re pointing your finger at me,” our improvised scene has ground to a halt.
But if I say, “Freeze, I have a gun!” and you say, “The gun I gave you for Christmas! You bastard!” then we have started a scene because we have AGREED that my finger is in fact a Christmas gun.
The Lesson: Respect What Your Partner has Created
Tina Fey obviously doesn’t think you’ll agree with everything you hear, but the real lesson is in “respecting what your partner has created.” The benefit of “agreement” is an open mind, an environment where ideas can thrive and innovation is welcome.
We all know what it’s like working with the guy who breaks rule #1. You’ve heard him, he’s the guy who says, “No, it won’t work,” “That’s impossible,” “Nope, we can’t do that.” Not so much fun working with them, is it?

Rule #2 — Not Only Say Yes… Say Yes And

The second rule of improvisation is not only to say yes, but YES, AND. You are supposed to agree and then add something of your own.
If I start a scene with “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you just say, “Yeah…” we’re kind of at a standstill.
But if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you say, “What did you expect? We’re in hell.” Or if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you say, “Yes, this can’t be good for the wax figures.” Or if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you say, “I told you we shouldn’t have crawled into this dog’s mouth,” now we’re getting somewhere.

Just in case you need an idea of what an Improv game looks like, this is one that is easy and always a crowd pleaser. It's called FREEZE TAG

At the party I was so happy to see that most everyone jumped in and participated  No one in the group had ever done improv besides me. We did some fun warm up games first and those got everyone laughing and relaxed and created a trusting group dynamic. Then we dimmed the lights low when making the video since they knew they would be part of my project and wanted to be somewhat incognito.

Here are three short video clips to give you an idea of our version of the Freeze tag game.

To help students get out of their safe routines I would use this game in the art room by using a prop and letting students come up with different things that the prop could be or different uses for the prop. I think this kind of group play is just as important as individual exploration and play. Creating an atmosphere where everyone feels safe to express themselves without judgement is most important. In group game playing, connections can be made on a playful, humous fun level. This can help to balance any tensions and open students up to initiate creative problem solving together. My friends and I laughed for hours, created new bonds through this improv experience and most have said they are interested in doing this once a month to practice for a possible live performance in down town Columbia. My next step is to find a venue that would host us and be open to a possible Improv night where I give some basic instructions, do a few quick games and then allow those audience members to jump up and participate during the show.