In-Print^Ex-Pose
Kent State University CAED
Critic: Katherine Strand, Associate Professor
// the design of the playground began with the design of the object created from our "frottages" for the Bent Tree "Better Blocks Kent" event in downtown Kent, Ohio [see the previous project]. From this abstract object came the abstract idea for the aesthetic of the playscape. Three distinct elements were influenced by the original frottage object, the grid background, the foreground rails, and the vortex-like swipes across the front. In the design of the Bent Tree piece, I created a boxy grid-like series of cubes with portions of negative space cut out from them; the whole piece being attached visually by the grid of rails that raised it off the ground. For the design of the playscape, this was transformed into a series of interchangeable, modular fuzzy cubes, whose displacement mapped edges were created using a mapping of the different frottaged textures. The bars were reinterpreted as contoured planes intersecting the grid structure. In keeping with the aesthetic of the original frottage, these planes and vortex object were then made semi-translucent allowing for light to play through the structures; giving off an ethereal look. Throughout the design of the playscape effort was made to apply the "familiar yet unfamiliar" aspect of frottage to the creation of the playground equipment, taking familiar playground pieces like the "jungle gym", the "see-saw" and the "slide" and reinterpreting them in a way that they are still recognizable but still very different from our normal conception of what they "should" look like.
