At Play 2012,Cally Trench,Dr Outi Remes

AT PLAY 2012
Curated by Cally Trench and Dr Outi Remes
South Hill Park

At Play 2012 at New Ashgate Gallery

At Play 2012 at OVADA

At Play 2012, curated by Cally Trench and Dr Outi Remes, consisted of three exhibitions exploring ideas about play, focussing on the way that play can be free and spontaneous or bound by rules and conventions, and the spirit of the Olympics in the year that the summer Olympics came to Britain. It also supported artists in making interactive and engaging work, and provided opportunities for artists' professional development through curatorial support, critique, research, conversations, talks and discussions, and workshops. At Play 2012 was produced by Dr Outi Remes.

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Leszek Blyszczynski
Personal Puzzles (2011)
Plastic, 244 x 164 cm

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Andi Chapple
Andi Chapple and
Musicians 20 April 2012

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Sousan Luqman
Play (2008)
MDF cubes, enamel paint

The artists in the At Play 2012 at South Hill Park exhibition were Leszek Blyszczynski, Andi Chapple, James R Ford, Flora Gare, Nick Kennedy, Philip Lee, Dan Lovelace, Sousan Luqman, Nyeema Morgan, Martina O'Shea, Katherina Radeva, Guy Tarrant, Cally Trench, Kim Walker,and Mary Yacoob. The curators would particularly like to thank Kate Ratcliffe, Visual Arts Coordinator at South Hill Park. Guy Tarrant gave a talk about his work on 20 April 2012. Chantal Addley led sessions using the Family Interactive Box (created by Gemma Cumming) with children on 11 and 12 June 2012.

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park Arts Centre was an exhibition that invited visitors to participate in the work, to engage physically, emotionally and intellectually, and to touch, play and explore. It included live performances by Andi Chapple, Philip Lee (assisted by Tony Moody), and Katherina Radeva, and a site-specific floor piece by Mary Yacoob, as well as games, puzzles, drawings, videos, sculptures, and collections of objects.

Short film by Jonathan Roe about At Play 2012 on YouTube At Play 2012 or on Vimeo At Play 2012.

Review of At Play 2012 at South Hill Park by Laura James on a-n Reviews Unedited

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Guy Tarrant
Confiscation cabinets (2010-11)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Guy Tarrant
Confiscation Cabinets (2010-11) and
Dead Roof Balls (2010), 20 found balls

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Kim Walker, Do I Come From an Imaginary Place
That's based on the Earth and Do I Wear a Hat?
(2010), double channel video installation.
Photo: Kim Walker

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Sousan Luqman
Hostilities (2008)
A4 photocopies

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Guy Tarrant,Confiscation Cabinets (2010-2011)
and Dead Roof Balls (2010)
Cally Trench, Shopping Spree (2011)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Nyeema Morgan
Equitable Distributions
(a.k.a.:E.D.:W, G & E) (2009)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Sousan Luqman
Family Man; Hostilities; Sensory Deprivation
(all 2008) Photocopies

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Guy Tarrant, Confiscation Cabinets (2010-11);
Flora Gare, Castles in the Air (2010-12)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Flora Gare, Castles in the Air (2010-12);
Sousan Luqman, Hostilities and Article 7 (both 2008);
Nick Kennedy, Dice Drawing No.3 (50 in 3698)
and Spinning Top Drawing (Fail#1) (both 2009)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Cally Trench
Shopping Spree (2011)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Philip Lee
Slip and Sponge
Performance 20 April 2012

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Mary Yacoob
Architectural Pathways (2012)
Colour tape on parquet flooring

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Andi Chapple
Andi Chapple and Musicians
Performance 20 April 2012

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Mary Yacoob, Architectural Pathways (2012)
Katherina Radeva, Kitty has no pity
- the art of not giving up (2009-11),
video and hula hoops

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

James R Ford
Blue scribble filling a white triangle (2009)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Katherina Radeva
Kitty has no pity - the art of not giving up
Performance 20 April 2012

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Kim Walker, Do I Come From an
Imaginary Place That's based on the
Earth and Do I Wear a Hat? (2010),
double channel video installation.
Photo: Kim Walker

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Nick Kennedy, Dice Drawing No.3 (50 in 3698) (2009),
Spinning Top Drawing (Fail#1) (2009)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Leszek Blyszczynski, Personal Puzzles (2011)
Sousan Luqman, Play (2008)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Martina O'Shea
Connect (2012) Video

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Katherina Radeva
Kitty has no pity - the art of not giving up (2009-11)
Video and hula hoops

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Leszek Blyszczynski
Personal Puzzles (2011)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Nyeema Morgan
Gamescape (2007)

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Kate Ratcliffe and Mr Mayor at At Play 2012
Private view 20 April 2012

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Katherina Radeva
Kitty has no pity - the art of not giving up
Performance 20 April 2012

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Katherina Radeva
Kitty has no pity - the art of not giving up
Performance 20 April 2012

At Play 2012 at South Hill Park

Katherina Radeva
Kitty has no pity - the art of not giving up
Performance 20 April 2012

All photographs by Cally Trench unless credited otherwise.

At Play 2012 was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. It was also supported by Farnham Town Council, and the Foundation for Contemporary Art, New York.

Cally Trench and Dr Outi Remes would like to thank all the artists; Kate Ratcliffe, Visual Arts Coordinator at South Hill Park; Lucy Phillips, Arts Coordinator at OVADA; and Laura James, then Intern at the New Ashgate Gallery. The curators would also like to thank Chantal Addley; Gemma Cumming; Jane Glennie; Diana Healey; Ingrid Jensen; Carol McFarlane; Roger Prynn; Jonathan Roe, Robert Harvey at B & H Motors, Dagnall; Donnington Doorstep; University of Westminster; and Sandy Hill Bungalow.

Cally Trench's homepage