Random thoughts on most things from A. M. Craig.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Serious Play

This may be a bit fragmented. Forgive me.

Play is important. Also, "failure" is important.
Students should be allowed, even prompted, to try things that probably won't work. If you're so afraid to fail, you'll never try anything except what's easy and/or has been done before.

Don't think I'm suggesting this at the expense of work. I understand work, I know it's value. I think most people do. Value becomes apparent when environments aren't artificially constructed. Work shouldn't be so severely divided from play. In an ideal situation, they aren't always that different.

And, as mentioned above, kids (and adults) should be encouraged to play constructively, in an open-ended fashion. They should be given toys without an absolute clear procedure. They'll figure out what to do with their toys, don't worry. You could give them toys like some of the ones these guys have.

These two aren't the most amazing orators, but they've got some good stuff to show.

You should check out the Art Center Design Conference "Serious Play". Worth a bit of your time.

And now, something completely different.

I was excited yesterday to constructively use one of the applications on my phone. I was at D.I., and they played a song I really like, had heard before, but didn't know the artist or song. The lyrics were indecipherable, except for "la la la". That's not really going to help in a Google search. So I pulled out the G1, and fired up Shazam.

Shazam listens to a song for about ten or fifteen seconds, analyzes it, compares it against a database, and tells you the song, album, artist, and gives you the option to watch the video on or download from Amazon. It was fantastic, technology making my life better. Couple that with Compare Everywhere and mobile access to things like eBay, craigslist, or KSL Classifieds, and I'm a smarter, better informed consumer.

P.S. The song was "La la la" by The Bird and the Bee. To listen, click here.


Brittany said...

i totally agree with you about playing. i read this really good book called "free play" --i don't remember who it's by-- but it's all about how to get in tune with your creative process and talks a lot about playing and failing and maximizing your productivity and staying motivated and blah blah blah. it's geared toward artists of all mediums, like dance and music and the fine arts and such, but I really think that everyone should read it, whether they're an artist or not. because everyone creates things and is productive at times.

and that is my shpeal. good post.

Angela said...

so maybe a google search of "la la la" would have worked? But that's a pretty kick-a feature.

pam said...

No wonder the only words you could understand were "la la la" !

anna. said...

fact: messing up makes you better.

plus you learn more. i'd rather mess things up myself than learn from the mistakes of others. it's more memorable that way. and it builds character.