As adults, how often do we have the opportunity to play? When was the last time you really let go, and did something creatively risky without a care about what came next?
That’s part of what Play Passages is about. In case you missed it, Play Passages is my new community art project that transforms people’s memories of childhood free play into art, and invites people to reconnect with playing a little in the process.
The first step in my research is to ask people to think back and remember a vivid outdoor play memory from childhood. It could be a specific story or just general memories of where and how you played, and with whom. And I’m also very curious about how it feels to look back on those memories. People write their stories down, and then comes the part where you get to play yourselves.
I tell people to draw a map of where they played with their eyes closed.
Yes, you read that right. Most people do a double take. I must be kidding, right? It sounds harder, at first glance.
But here’s the amazing part—it’s actually easier for many people.
Up to a certain point as children, we all drew. And then many of us got the message that we were terrible at it, and stopped.
Drawing with our eyes closed is a great way to short-circuit that inner critic. And what’s interesting is that even with our eyes closed, when we’re asked to draw a memory, our hands move smoothly over the page—we remember where everything was quite clearly and don’t need to look. And most importantly, it’s fun to let go, to see what comes out, to have that element of surprise when we open our eyes.
After making the drawing, then people are allowed to go nuts using watercolors (with their eyes open) to color in and flesh out their map however they want.
Ras Tanura Beach, Raymond Shih, 2017
This watercolor above was made by participant Raymond Shih; it’s his memory map of Ras Tanura, a beach in Saudi Arabia that helped ease his loneliness after moving from Toronto when he was 12.
Raymond is one of many people who contributed stories to Play Passages during EarthDay Canada’s pop-up adventure playground at the Toronto Archives, where I set up shop in late May.
You’ll be able to hear Raymond’s whole story, how he felt about the experience, and see how I used it as inspiration for a photograph very soon.
And start thinking back to your own childhoods! I can’t wait to hear your stories.