{"id":295,"date":"2009-10-28T20:58:53","date_gmt":"2009-10-29T03:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matthewmosher.us\/blog\/?p=295"},"modified":"2017-02-18T04:05:41","modified_gmt":"2017-02-18T04:05:41","slug":"play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/","title":{"rendered":"PLAY: a hands on exhibit by Ellie Richards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Sadly this show has already closed, but it was a blast while it was up. \u00c2\u00a0There was a great irony between this show at Step Gallery and the Architecture woodshop next door. \u00c2\u00a0In her own words:<\/p>\n

I have put together this exhibit as a way to explore relationships between work and play. This space is filled with many Unit Block sets modeled after the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Standard Unit Block\u00e2\u20ac\u009d principle developed by educator Caroline Pratt in the early 1900\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. Caroline Pratt expressed the ideas of Friedrich Froebel who believed that open-ended materials provided children with endless opportunities to represent their world.<\/p>\n

As a way to identify the different ways children and adults construct spaces and experience material I am inviting you to play with the work no matter what your age is. Play is commonly defined as a frivolous and non-serious activity but I have found that play does not always come easy and it never comes without work. Please use your time in the space to observe, touch, and construct as a way to reconnect with imaginative play.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"8729_577058493210_21904742_35019984_7830857_n\"<\/p>\n

This shows is unique in how it allows viewer involvement in the physical presentation of the work without being performative. \u00c2\u00a0Another nice\u00c2\u00a0aspect of the show is how it presents wood and play without being whimsical. \u00c2\u00a0There’s real saw dust, and blocks, and plywood tool shapes, and sure it’s funny, but it’s obvious, too. \u00c2\u00a0Everything is rough around the edges; nothing is hidden with fancy joinery or expensive materials. \u00c2\u00a0The show asks the question: what if this were true? \u00c2\u00a0I don’t know what happened in the 80’s with the studio furniture movement that resulted in whimsy, maybe something about breaking traditions, but I’m glad it’s passing. \u00c2\u00a0There’s just something contradictory about whimsical fine furniture…<\/p>\n

But I digress. \u00c2\u00a0So, besides writing “Get some” on the top of Richards’ show cards, what else is there?<\/p>\n

In addition to the big block display, Richards made little blocks that resemble contemporary building materials like brick, concrete, and fiberglass insulation. \u00c2\u00a0Each set has it’s own plinth built from the actual hardware material. \u00c2\u00a0To me, this is the most interesting part of the project because it directly links the adult building mentality with the child’s play mentality. \u00c2\u00a0The show is immediately comprehensible to everyone, young and old, which I believe was the goal, so good job Richards.<\/p>\n

\"8729_577058508180_21904742_35019987_8146292_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Ellie Richards<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sadly this show has already closed, but it was a blast while it was up. \u00c2\u00a0There was a great irony between this show at Step Gallery and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nPLAY: a hands on exhibit by Ellie Richards - Matthew Mosher<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PLAY: a hands on exhibit by Ellie Richards - Matthew Mosher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sadly this show has already closed, but it was a blast while it was up. \u00c2\u00a0There was a great irony between this show at Step Gallery and the...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Matthew Mosher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/matthew.b.mosher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-10-29T03:58:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-18T04:05:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/8729_577058493210_21904742_35019984_7830857_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"604\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"401\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/\",\"name\":\"PLAY: a hands on exhibit by Ellie Richards - Matthew Mosher\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/8729_577058493210_21904742_35019984_7830857_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-10-29T03:58:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-18T04:05:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4e5144dcbc2af59bf63d9f3b6b862fbd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/8729_577058493210_21904742_35019984_7830857_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/8729_577058493210_21904742_35019984_7830857_n.jpg\",\"width\":604,\"height\":401},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PLAY: a hands on exhibit by Ellie Richards\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Matthew Mosher\",\"description\":\"Intermedia Artist\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4e5144dcbc2af59bf63d9f3b6b862fbd\",\"name\":\"admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PLAY: a hands on exhibit by Ellie Richards - Matthew Mosher","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PLAY: a hands on exhibit by Ellie Richards - Matthew Mosher","og_description":"Sadly this show has already closed, but it was a blast while it was up. \u00c2\u00a0There was a great irony between this show at Step Gallery and the...","og_url":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/","og_site_name":"Matthew Mosher","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/matthew.b.mosher","article_published_time":"2009-10-29T03:58:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-18T04:05:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":604,"height":401,"url":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/8729_577058493210_21904742_35019984_7830857_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/","url":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/","name":"PLAY: a hands on exhibit by Ellie Richards - Matthew Mosher","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/8729_577058493210_21904742_35019984_7830857_n.jpg","datePublished":"2009-10-29T03:58:53+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-18T04:05:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4e5144dcbc2af59bf63d9f3b6b862fbd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/8729_577058493210_21904742_35019984_7830857_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/8729_577058493210_21904742_35019984_7830857_n.jpg","width":604,"height":401},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/art\/play-a-hands-on-exhibit-by-ellie-richards\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PLAY: a hands on exhibit by Ellie Richards"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/","name":"Matthew Mosher","description":"Intermedia Artist","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4e5144dcbc2af59bf63d9f3b6b862fbd","name":"admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1264,"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions\/1264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mosher.art\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}