Theme: Objects and Play
Method: I used objects that has certain connection to each other, in an unconventional way, to assemble an entity that somewhat has some consistency. The process of constructing this image is very playful, almost assembling the process of lego building, while the connection between things, instead of the number of bolts and nuts, are connection between each individual item according to their shapes and meaning.
Context: In a sense, the process of finishing the object is like doing crosswords: every other item putting onto the canvas (in photoshop) creates something new, and at the same time, a empty slot for another object to come in because of the connection/ spatial relationship they create with each other.
According to Franklin, Sue, Mary Peat, and Alison Lewis, such practices (Lego or crosswords) are valuable in education, since they help participants construct a structure for knowledge(Franklin, Sue, Mary Peat, and Alison Lewis, 2003). And they also shows positive effect on the problem solving ability, by letting the player to process the information, and in this case, questions for further conceptual development(BUBATU, ROXANA, and MARIA POP).
From there, this project provides a different approach from there on. Crosswords have set questions and answers, while the structure is a part of the puzzle, but for this game, it’s more Legoish, since it’s kind of getting each component by thinking or feeling about connection between each other, while formulating the spatial relationship between each other as the result.
In that case, it is more Legoish. It is interesting that there studies pointing out that LEGO’s playability and marketing strategy are in two directions: it is a open-ended system, while being marketed and sold as constructions that follows specific instructions (Wolf, M. J. (Ed.). ,2014). I believe this image also reflected on this by bringing connections to specific objects in daily life, while mocking the structure by bringing conceptually contradict items together.
Responses: I used photoshop and made a picture, by combining things gradually, forming little sections with things of relevant themes, then further putting them together and placing them in a spatial relationship.
References:
Franklin, Sue, Mary Peat, and Alison Lewis. "Non-traditional interventions to stimulate discussion: the use of games and puzzles." Journal of Biological Education 37.2 (2003): 79-84.
BUBATU, ROXANA, and MARIA POP. "Development of Enterprising Competencies Using Problem-Solving Methods."
Giddings, S. (2014). Bright bricks, dark play: On the impossibility of studying LEGO.
Wolf, M. J. (Ed.). (2014). Lego studies: Examining the building blocks of a transmedial phenomenon. Routledge.