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Play in the City 2013
Welcome to the on-line conversation for Play in the City, an Emily Balch Seminar offered in Fall 2013 @ Bryn Mawr College, in which we are addressing the question of how we construct, experience, and learn in the act of play. How is play both structured by the environment in which it occurs, and how might it re-structure that space, unsettling and re-drawing the frame in which it is performed? This is an interestingly different kind of place for writing, and may take some getting used to. The first thing to keep in mind is that it's not a site for "formal writing" or "finished thoughts." It's a place for thoughts-in-progress, for what you're thinking (whether you know it or not) on your way to what you think next. Imagine that you're just talking to some people you've met. This is a "conversation" place, a place to find out what you're thinking yourself, and what other people are thinking. The idea here is that your "thoughts in progress" can help others with their thinking, and theirs can help you with yours. |
Who are you writing for? Primarily for yourself, and for others in our course. But also for the world. This is a "public" forum, so people anywhere on the web might look in. You're writing for yourself, for others in the class, AND for others you might or might not know. So, your thoughts in progress can contribute to the thoughts in progress of LOTS of people. The web is giving increasing reality to the idea that there can actually evolve a world community, and you're part of helping to bring that about. We're glad to have you along, and hope you come to both enjoy and value our shared explorations. Feel free to comment on any post below, or to POST YOUR THOUGHTS HERE.
My Mosaic
Aight. I confess, I did not do this whole thing in one day. I actually started it when I moved in and didn't finish it until this morning. My mosaic is composed of several hundred old photographs, relics of trip past, cards, movie stubs, and everything that I think has a memory of an easier life attached to it. When visiting the mosiacs with Hanna on friday, I was struck again by how different my adult life is now compared to this time last year. It was both thrilling and saddening. When I got home, I added several photos and postcards of the trip to remind me of that feeling. I also added some unconventional things like feathers and business cards, just like Zagar used on bikes and dishes.
I hope you like it.
A MOSAIC IS...reaffirmation.
I developed this definition by looking at all of my classmates' work, in particular the people who made new words out of Williams' letters or new sentences out of Williams' words. It seemed as if every person's mosaic (and the message they put into it) was a reflection of themselves. The sentences they wrote appeared to be reaffirmations of things they have always thought, but hadn't spelled out until Williams provided them with the right words. Grace wrote, "Time Unerving," Muni pieced together, "Find your freedom," and pialikesowls formed, "Create order out of randomness." Although I cannot attest to whether these people find these phrases to be true, I do not think they would create them unless they thought they were beautiful or interesting. In this way, the mosaic is a reaffirmation: either of what a person believes or what she values.
Mosaic
The original sentence is: " Mosaic is a conversation that takes place on surfaces", and I added two" A"s and two "m"s, I lost an "s" when putting them together....