Learning Through Play – Get More Creative
Learning through play for your creative projects…
“play becomes joy, joy becomes work, work becomes play.” (Johannes Itten)
When I was 19 years old a while compiling a portfolio for art college, I picked up a big heavy design book about the Bauhaus and found this quote above by the Swiss expressionist artist, Johannes Itten . The quote always stuck in my mind and is one of those things that comes mind from time to time from somewhere deep inside the brain…
In the 21st century, many people are often made to feel that we must divide our work time and then “play” time and there is a belief that work is no place for play, let alone joy! Things could be changing, there are gamification type elements brought into the corporate environments to help solve problems and create strategies. I think this is a really good positive move forwards to expand workplace creativity but I don’t think this is really learning through play in its purest form.
Farbkreis Itten 1961
I believe that real play is something that cannot be ordered or forced. Remember back when you were a child in the playground, the park etc. Think back when you were like this. Rules were not inflicted onto you during these moments, you created your own things, rules and systems. Remembering my upbringing as a child growing up in the countryside, I believe school and college was just a kind of a framework that helped me to learn conventional subjects. While obviously important, a more “real” learning took place in the playground, the park, the countryside, the beach, the sea, computer games, radio, books and yes television! I was never really an ace student at school I got adequate grades and didn’t try too hard. That didn’t mean I didn’t learn, in fact I had such a huge thirst for knowledge and learned from all the aforementioned sources. I was constantly learning new things and I still do this now. If you have read my other blog posts or know about me, I am an advocate of creativity in Makerspaces/Fablabs, this is where we can really “play”. I recommend you to go and check ones in your locality you as soon as you can. At any age, you can work and play here and create things we only ever dreamed about a few years back.
“I have only come here seeking knowledge, things they didn’t teach me back in college”
Wrapped Around Your Finger By The Police
Learn By Playing
Learn by doing is a phrase that is getting a bit overused these days and I am guilty of that myself! I have a new one for you, I found on Google, I like ‘Learn Through Playing’. For me, when I make either traditional, digital or tradigital works, I like to experiment/push things in other words I give myself time to play. I often allow myself to play using 3d graphics drawing etc. Even when I have a commercial deadline or art commission, I still make the time to play during the creation process as it helps to bring forth fresh new ideas.
bouldering Salisbury Crags Edinburgh
For example, I was bouldering at Salisbury crags in Edinburgh earlier “playing”. As I did this, the dynamics, forces, angles etc, fired up thoughts of the artwork I am working on and how I can develop its forms and ideas. My work is a passion and it takes an utmost importance in my life. So now it is 6p.m. on a dark rainy Wednesday night and after I write this, I will work for a few hours and push some forms around for my latest artwork, trying to evolve it into something that “looks right”. For me it is totally engrossing but at the same time can be difficult.
I play when I draw, I play when I make 3d prints I play when I come up with new ideas for artwork. I also play when I go rock climbing, body-surfing, exploring cities and hiking but at the same time I am working, I observe rock forms, clouds, waves, buildings people etc. So for me there is no real work/life balance. My passion is my passion whether work or play. It is fluid and this seems more natural to me. So the next time you are “working” or in your spare time doing nothing much, think of how much time you might giving to play as this is a great thing, learn through playing. Give it a try!
Playing Through Drawing
Here I want to show you my work process but at the same time I am playing.I am filming myself drawing here doing very loose. To you , it may appear as if I am drawing a lot of “scribbles”. However, I am trying to develop a line composition that I will eventually put onto perspex as an etch using a laser-cutter in a FabLab.
So as you watch me drawing, I am playing. There is no performance, or concern about the results. I am not worried about what people will think, it may be a “good drawing” or not. Remember the freshness and ideas children have with their drawings? It is because they are not so worried about trying to make things look “real” but express an idea or emotion that they have. Of course this video is speeded up x4. I would seriously worry about myself if I could draw this fast, that would be a manic outburst! When I draw like this, I am pushing and playing with shapes, icons, lines, negative space and things I cannot really describe in words. I play with an energy that I feel when I make quick work like this. This is why I like to integrate these sketches into a lot of my work “tradigital” works. 3d graphics, 3d printing and other maker technologies add to this raw drawing state when I combine the two. When I do fast sketched like this, I enjoy listening to music at the same time. This is a very important thing for me, the music combines with my energies while drawing. In this case I was listening to some “old school” trance music. When drawing, I listen to a range of different styles, from Beethoven, Miles Davis to Boards Of Canada. Whatever I feel in the mood for at the time. I encourage you to try this, put on your favourite track and draw away and I would love it if you send me the results of your drawing “play” journey!
Make, Learn, Share And Play!
Make, Learn and Share is fundamental ethos of the FabLab movement, I will be making a detailed blog post about this in the future. However, perhaps we can add “play” somewhere in the phrase too! What an exciting time, these places bring all the technological tools together to make almost anything, and along with playing, think of the possibilities we can take our creations.
fablab logo
Ideas For You To Play To Expand Your Creativity
Here are just a few ideas and tips where you can try to free up your creativity by learning through play…
- I would suggest whatever creative projects you work on, don’t get consumed by seriousness. Allow yourself to kick back and play with the ideas you have. Even if you are not happy with results from your playtime you will have still learned new things.
- Get some paper/3d graphics etc and play, scribble, make a mess, don’t worry about the final result just make something and do it at a fast pace so you don’t start to analyse what you are doing.
- Do what I did! Get a cheap pad, a sharpie, even pen and ink well and make a mess. Only afterwards, reflect collect and pick out shapes/ideas/lines you may want to use in a project. You can also scan in any lines/compositions that you particularly like and include them in your maker projects. For example, a black and white scribble can be etched onto perspex using a laser cutter and then edge lit with LED lights like in this artwork I made.
- Just doodle with your mind using pen and paper or even clay, listen to some music, just shift things around.
- Use your favourite 3d application such as Blender or 3dsMax, rather than trying to learn new things or work on something, just start to make things without thinking. Freestyle in a virtual sandbox!
By playing you will learn new things. If you are not convinced, give it a try and see what happens. If you would like to learn more about playing for work or any other things, feel free to contact me for a free 10 minute Skype trial lesson. Also check out some of my videos on youtube to get to know more about what I do. I hope you have enjoyed this blog post and accompanying screen-cast. If you have any comments or questions feel free to get in touch.
Useful Resource Links
Learning Through Play Wikipedia
Check out this bonus video, Learning Through Play Using 3D Graphics…
James, great post, good read, I like your approach.
Thanks Ande, I’m concentrating on one main blog post a week. At the moment they are all related to FabLabs/Makerspaces and Maker technologies for creative projects. Like this one I will give examples of what I do and how others can use these spaces and tools. I’m also interested looking at the maker movement and seeing if might be such a big thing that future design historians might compare it on the same level as major art and design movements from the past such as the Bauhaus. Interesting times!