V&A DUNDEE has unveiled a colourful new installation inspired by the principles of learning through play and a back-to-basics approach to design.
Designed by Gabriella Marcella, founder of Glasgow print studio RISOTTO, the installation asks visitors to consider whether limitations on form and shape help or hinder creativity.
Made up of 200 enlarged toy planks in five bright colours, Rules of Play celebrates the work of educational pioneer and inventor of the kindergarten system, Friedrich Froebel.
German-born Froebel, who founded the first kindergarten in 1837, believed that play could help children build a better understanding of the world.
Dismissing the then prevalent view that it was a form of idleness, he created a series of play materials know as “gifts” which included different forms of wooden building blocks. Marcella said: “In an increasingly digital world, this installation aims to question what it really means to get back-to-basics.
“It seems obvious to us now, but Friedrich Froebel was one of the first people to recognise the true value of play and how it can help explain the world around us.
“I became intrigued by the idea that simple tools and forms can help us understand complex ideas. Rules of Play uses oversized building blocks to explore pattern and geometry in a three-dimensional space, much in the same way as I’ve used print to experiment with colourful forms in the past.”
During her research Marcella started experimenting with KAPLA planks, a toy that follows the principles of learning through play by encouraging children to build complex designs with identical planks of wood.
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