Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This paper is based on an experiment in which people were given the task of building visual reinterpretations, in a natural environment, of artworks they were given. The premise was to get participants to build play inspired by the works specifically on the terms of, and in interaction with, the location. Through this experiment we wanted to find out of whether adult’s play could be stimulated using art-based exercises. The premise for the experiment was a curious idea: if we could use forest-themed art to get adults to play in the forest, these places – and the works being interpreted – would acquire an experiential emotional. Because the content and location of play are rigidly the same in visual interpretation play, we studied the pictures through content analysis and creative methods. We conducted the most important parts of our study, the analysis and the conclusion, while walking and talking in the forest. The results show that playing took place in the forest. The pictures show clear signs of adults surrendering to play, and proof of use of playthings. Adults’ play may be stimulated using art-based exercises, and that they make astonishingly multi-dimensional and deeply meaningful picture interpretations, as long as they are given, a good reason to do so and, thanks to that, the freedom to throw themselves into action. Giving permission to act differently, the permission to free oneself from familiar operating models was enough, and forest acquired new experiential, functional, multi-sensory purposes which crossed the boundary of normality.