#PlaySign – Photoplay with Traffic Signs

Join us on a playful adventure to the edge, playing with traffic signs, re-imagining the rules and expanding the possibilities of public space!

Can we change our collective attitudes towards a space by giving new meaning to the traffic signs, transforming them from signs of constraint and restriction to beacons of liberation – a license to play?

Typically, when we see a traffic sign, we see limitations, things we can’t do, rules we have to follow and a more or less narrow set of behaviors that are permitted. Do this, do that, turn right here, STOP!

It might be well and good for safety reasons, but it’s not exactly inspiring joy, hope and dreams, is it? When was the last time a traffic sign made you laugh or think about public space as our shared playground? Maybe these signs, put in place to regulate behaviour, can instead become portals to a parallel universe of opportunity and adventure for the courageous player?

Using our phones or cameras (if you remember those) for “photoplay” might be the alibi we need, providing a safer arena for playing in public.

The interpretations can take any form imaginable: it might be a direct enactment of the sign, perhaps you feel like doing the opposite of what it tells you, or it could be you want to play with the more subtle differences between obedience and disobedience? Maybe it’s fun to just visually mimic the sign, to play with the scales or the angles?

Can playing like this change your relationship to the place where it occurred? Did you experience something unique, perhaps adding a more surreal dimension to the space while playing?