Children’s games

Children’s games

Children’s games revolves around the ideas of growing-up and losing the blissful ignorance of childhood innocence. Taking initial research reading child development in art by: Anna M.Kindler which highlighted the ways younger children behave ignorant to the reality of physics aiming to make the impossible happen. This inspired me to work with clay for the chains and then a used swing seat to ensure focus on the chains and the contradiction of the strength of chains with ceramics. I took further inspiration from the works of Mike Kelley as seen in the use of children’s toys which represent the ways a child would be able to sit on the swing as they are light enough and could play, whereas an adult would destroy it. This is further highlighted in the ways Chris Burden inspired this work through the performative aspect of sitting on the swing and destroying the work i myself constructed.

Year
04/11/2024 - 03/02/2025

Process of shaping and assembling large metal chains on workbenches in a workshop, with tools, paint cans, and materials around.
Photographs and a sketch of a wooden swing with a chain. The swing is suspended from a wooden frame. The sketch shows detailed measurements of the swing and frame structure, including dimensions and height specifications.
A wooden swing with yellow chains hanging in front of a large window, photographed from inside a building during cloudy weather.
Art installation with beige chains arranged on white walls and floor, forming abstract shapes and figures.
Close-up of a worn black wooden swing seat hanging by rusty chains in a stark, white room with a scuffed concrete floor.
Empty room with white painted brick walls, a metal step ladder, and a hanging playground swing with a black seat and pink chains.
A step ladder with a chain hanging from its top, a black bag attached to the chain, and a yellow measuring tape. The ladder is in an empty, unfinished room with white walls and concrete floor.
Three photographs of a black rubber swing with beige chains hanging in a white-walled, concrete-floored room. The images show the swing at different angles, with one photo capturing motion blur.

These images are the final moments of the swing before the performative aspect of this project. Bellow also depicts the inspiration from Mike Kelley’s work in which children’s toys hold significant value.

A collage of four photos of stuffed animals and swings against a white wall background: top left features a teddy bear on a swing chain, top right shows an empty swing, bottom left has a smaller teddy bear on a swing, and bottom right depicts two stuffed animals (a dog and a panda) sitting on the floor.
Back