CounterPlay

Category: News & Events

  • CounterPlay Leeds #1 – Context

    CounterPlay Leeds #1 – Context

    [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.76″ background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid”]

    As I’m making my way home from my first ever visit to Leeds, I’m in this weird state of excitement and exhaustion that you often experience after a weekend well played. Yeah, I’m tired, but that is far overshadowed by an even stronger sense of hope, belonging, confidence and joy.

    My reason for going to Leeds was a truly joyous, if slightly humbling, one: I was invited over to participate in the first ever CounterPlay “satellite” festival – CounterPlay Leeds.

    HOW COOL IS THAT?

    When I started working on the CounterPlay festival a handful of years ago, I always wanted it to be more than just a play festival in Aarhus, Denmark. I wanted the underlying ideas to spread, to bring play into new contexts and, in turn, to create a more playful society. More than anything, I hoped we could cultivate a community that would thrive and grow, transcending borders and boundaries, inviting an increasing number of people to play along. There’s a certain vulnerability in expecting this much from strangers, because what if it falls flat? Luckily, we’ve had so many incredible contributions coming from the play community, and the enthusiasm and dedication has far surpassed our wildest expectations. It seems like we have set something in motion that is not about to stop moving anytime soon and I’m beyond thrilled.

    Thus, when my long-time Twitter friend Emma Bearman, who’s behind the wonderful “Playful Anywhere” in Leeds, suggested running a CounterPlay event in Leeds, I jumped with joy. YES! While the stars haven’t yet been aligned for bringing Emma over to CounterPlay, we’ve had many, many wonderful conversations on Twitter and just having the opportunity to carry on outside of social media was enough for me to head over to Leeds. Emma had teamed up with an amazing local group (including Robbie Foulston, Sophie Howell, Becky Sumerling, Jessica Penrose and Mel Taylor), and organised a wonderful event that oozed of playfulness. A special thank also goes to Leeds 2023 for supporting my visit and Leeds City Museum for hosting the event – what a lovely place!

    It was supposed to be an informal “open space” for kids and adults alike, where we would be playing, talking and reimagining the playful city along the way. We had some conversations and I described the core values of CounterPlay, but other than that, they just ran with it. When I left for Leeds, I basically didn’t know what was going to happen, which was a new and quite exhilarating. I’m sure I could get used to that!

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.0.76″ src=”http://www.counterplay.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CounterPlayLeeds-1505-Medium.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” border_style=”solid” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” /][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.76″ background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid”]

    I wanted to open the event with a talk about my experiences and reflections on starting and running CounterPlay. I intended to build a bridge back to the festival, framing the current event and hopefully inspiring people to not just play, but also to think and talk about play. While it had too many words in it, at least some of those words seem really, really important to me.

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Prezi” _builder_version=”3.0.76″ background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid”] [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.76″ background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid”]

    I tried to convey the most important thing about CounterPlay, namely the playful atmosphere that makes it a safe space, where adults dare to be silly; where people open up and strangers connect; where the realm of the possible is expanded; where we engage in deep conversations that truly matters; where we are all less afraid; where we see play as a celebration of freedom and where participants perform a playful takeover because they feel real ownership.

    I also hoped to describe how we insist that play is equally important for all of us, no matter our age or place in society, and that play is both an activity, an attitude and a paradigm.

    Play is JOY / FREEDOM / LOVE.

    All my words really boils down to one thing: the mere existence of play in our lives will make our lives better. Happiness are closely tied to the courage and capacity to play. Sever that tie and your odds of living happily ever after are reduced drastically. While I fully acknowledge that play has many, many extremely valuable side-effects, they are always less important than play itself. Furthermore, they are entirely dependant on allowing play the freedom to flourish. I find myself repeating these things, but just like when we’re playing, the repetions are part of the sense-making, part of the fun.

    I paid a little extra attention to one particular side-effect, namely our imagination. When we play, our imagination is running on rocket fuel, and it becomes an essential catalyst of play, exploring as it is all the possible directions, ideas and actions.

    Not only that, when we’re playing, we also develop our capacity to imagine how our cities, our societies, our relationships to other people and our lives could be different. There’s a beautiful quote by philosopher Martha Nussbaum in her book “Not For Profit” that encapsulates the human connection of play:

    “When we meet in society, if we have not learned to see both self and other in that way, imagining in one another [] thought and emotion, democracy is bound to fail, because democracy is built upon respect and concern, and these in turn are built upon the ability to see other people as human beings, not simply as objects”

    This is at the heart of play: seeing each other as human beings. Oh, how the weekend captured and demonstrated these things beautifully, so beautifully.

    More about that in the next post!

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.0.76″ src=”http://www.counterplay.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CounterPlayLeeds-1525-Medium.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” border_style=”solid” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

  • #playchallenge17 1: The floor is made of lava

    #playchallenge17 1: The floor is made of lava

    [et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]

    JOIN OUR PLAY CHALLENGE!!

    The CounterPlay Festival 2017 is only five weeks away! To celebrate this, we have a created a number of small challenges to honour ‘The Power of Play.’

    Each week we will post a new challenge for you to participate in. All challenges will invite you to incorporate playfulness in your everyday life. All you need is a camera, your creativity and playfulness. Feel free to elaborate on the idea behind the picture you post.

    Use the hashtags #playchallenge17 and #cplay17 when you post your photos or videos to your chosen social media platform (Instagram, Facebook or Twitter).

    THIS WEEK’S PLAY CHALLENGE! (1)

    This week we would like to see your interpretation of the popular game “The Floor Is Made of Lava”. Play with your colleagues at work, your family at home, your friends in the park, your study mates at a lecture or create something fun with the theme yourself – anything will do, the sky (or floor) is the limit!

    We hope that you will join us and start the fun before the festival kicks off! Let the fun begin!!

    [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

  • Article: Floating castles, Legos, Candy, and Play: Counterplay 2016

    Article: Floating castles, Legos, Candy, and Play: Counterplay 2016

    [et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]

    Megan Lotts, who is an art librarian at Rutgers University Libraries, has written a wonderful article, describing and reflecting upon how she experienced CounterPlay ’16. You should definitely read the whole thing, but here are a few excerpts:

    From Stine Liv Johansen and Helle Skovbjerg’s workshop “Developing a Language of Play“, which started with what I think is a bit of healthy anxiety:

    When we started this task, I was feeling a bit anxious. I was meeting the people in my group for the first time, I didn’t know there skill sets, and I was worried how would we work together to complete this task. Also at this point, I had not taken the opportunity to fully wander around DOKK1 to see the space, to know what our options were, so I felt unprepared. I think what I was feeling is natural and probably emotions many people have when initially working in groups. But within minutes ofworking as a team, I was feeling a decrease ofstress, and I was beginning to play and have fun. By the end of 30 mins, I had been laughing, drawing, moving, and having fun with my fellow group members, we had completed our task, an exquisite corpse like drawing game, and I was feeling no stress. After completing the task all the groups came back to the workshop room, and began discussing what had happened. I found myself amazed, impressed, and inspired by what all the groups had done […] When groups explained their games, I could feel and hear the excitement in the voices. How much fun they had creating their games, and how much all ofus learned along the way. We discovered more about ourselves, other group members, and how easy and productive play can be. To me it was obvious that working and playing in groups encouraged individuals to be adaptable, creative, innovative, and fearless which can be beneficial for any organization.

    And some more general reflections on what Megan learned and took home from the festival:

    But what did I really learn from this conference? First, play can be all inclusive and you don’t need a lot ofmoney. Play and creativity is a way of seeing and even if you are play insecure, find playful activities or games that work for you. Be present, passionate, and adaptable, and don’t be afraid to act silly, or look like a fool. Remember life is about learning, and failing can be the best life lesson of all. One must never give up, keep trying. If you find yourselfin an environment in which play is frowned upon and failure is not accepted, find a way to educate the naysayers. Play embraces active learning, fosters creative thinking skills, and can make one happy. 

    I left this conference being reminded that as an academic and human being, I need to let go and not take myself so seriously. I need to allow myselfto play more and remember that amusing activities and engaging learning can lead to innovation, cross disciplinary collaboration, and foster-lifelong learning. Ideas, work, and life are meant to be fluid, and play can be that change agent that helps foster creativity and innovation within oneself and organization.

     

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_button admin_label=”Button” button_url=”https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/50085/” url_new_window=”off” button_text=”Go to the full article” button_alignment=”left” background_layout=”light” custom_button=”off” button_letter_spacing=”0″ button_use_icon=”default” button_icon_placement=”right” button_on_hover=”on” button_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ /][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]

    Details:

    Lotts, Megan. (2016). Floating castles, Legos, Candy, and Play: Counterplay 2016. Library Hi Tech
    News 33(5), 18-20.

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_button admin_label=”Button” button_url=”https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/50085/” url_new_window=”off” button_text=”Go to source” button_alignment=”left” background_layout=”light” custom_button=”off” button_letter_spacing=”0″ button_use_icon=”default” button_icon_placement=”right” button_on_hover=”on” button_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]