How do YOU play?
Gathered inside an old office building in Williamsburg last week, a crowd of college students took turns striking a piñata, before rushing to the floor to collect its lollipop insides. Several grinning heads sprung up above the crowd throughout the night, launched by two mini trampolines. Others waited for their chance to fly through the space on a swing attached to the ceiling. The walls were alive with various artists’ work and the reverberation of live music.
Intending to respond to “a societal neglect of play,” curators Rebecca Lipsitch and Grace Miskovsky debuted their interactive exhibit “How Do We Play?” with an evening of whimsy. Amongst the exhibit’s combination of physical and performance art, live music, and toys, guests were invited to engage in intentional play.
“Imaginative play deepens our connections through trust and co-creation,” curator Rebecca Lipsitch explained in the exhibit’s press release. “From playgrounds to adult intimacies, mutual trust is required in order to unveil something beautiful and imaginative.”
“Play is also political,” co-curator Grace Miskovsky added. “We invite artists to explore how personal liberation from oppressive structures can be a form of healing.”
With the spirit of play in mind, I spent the evening asking attendees how they incorporate play into their increasingly busy, grown up lives.
“I have actually had so much fun playing while curating this,” said Lipsitch, a senior at the New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Studies. “I learned how to drill and how to install a swing. I played by using the vinyl cutter. I learned a whole bunch of new skills and obviously played on the trampolines and the swing.”
“Recently I got into going to poetry readings. I’m really testing myself to … speak in front of people, which has always been tough for me. Every week I go in front of a group of 50 people at a weekly poetry reading and I read my work, and I learn how to listen, and I learn how to share and be vulnerable,” said Grace Miskovsky, curator and art history student at Fordham University.
“I play by figuring out what I enjoy and then setting aside time to do it,” said Lara Tanner, anthropology student at NYU. “Whether that’s sitting in the park alone and drawing or getting drinks with friends or throwing a dinner party.”
“I play by experimenting in my metaphysical landscape. Sometimes when I go for a morning run, I’ll do a cartwheel on the Hudson Highway or I’ll pop a front handspring on the turf of Central Park. I like to experiment by breaking the norms of whatever the environment is. So, sometimes if I’m at a party, I’ll ask someone an overly personal question because, to me, that’s fun. And I’ve recognized I need to not do that sometimes because it makes other people uncomfortable, but that's my way of playing,” said Emma Hinckley, applied psychology student at NYU. “I enjoy when something goes differently in my day than expected. It’s like that meme, ‘When I remember I have free will.’ Like, I’m just going to see what I can do.”
“I think I’m still learning how to play, to be honest. There’s some sort of youthful energy about when you see your friend and they look cute. They have a sweet outfit on and you see them and you run up to them and you’re like, “Oh my god, how are you?” And you embrace each other. I think play is more of a mindset but in terms of how I play? Running around. Go to a park, play some soccer, get into it,” said Elsa McElroy, NYU global liberal studies student.
“I like to play with a lot of joy, a lot of whimsy. I think that’s important. I think the way we play gives us our sense of style. Different people play in different ways and I think that’s like an expression of their soul. If that means skiing, that’s sick. If that means playing the cello, that’s sick. I think it’s the expression of how you want to be,” said Henry Bernstein, NYU biology student.
“There’s this hike that I go on in my home town and at the end of the hike there’s this swing,” said Heather Hill, film student at NYU. “ It makes me feel really liberated honestly because I remember when I was younger, being on a swing was the closest I ever felt to flying. I still put my feet up toward the sky and hold them out straight and I’ll look and see them against the sky and it feels kind of like I’m flying.”
“I put on music when I’m alone in my room and I’ll lay out papers and paints and paint pens and colored pencils. I love to water color and draw and create these worlds and landscapes and these little characters. And whatever I can find around my room like scraps of ribbon or random artifacts or memories, I just love to put things together – that’s my favorite way to create,” said Mia Aston, NYU film student.
“Oh, I go skinny dipping. I think there’s nothing more freeing than feeling the water come onto your body, especially at night, and you just feel like you can let go and release and I think that’s what playing is all about,” said Marisa Sandoval, NYU journalism and politics student. “You’re not thinking about the world and everything around you and you’re just letting yourself be.”
“I like to race kids in the park. When I see little kids playing, I like to, you know, say hello,” said Adelle Drake, NYU marketing student. “Usually they’ll be doing a little trick or they’re running around. I'll clap or give them a little word of encouragement and they look at me and they feel recognized and they feel seen and feel that something they're doing actually is valuable and means something. And then I start chatting them up, and I say, ‘Are you always this fast?’ or ‘How do you do that?’ I think it’s important. It makes an impact on them and it makes an impact on me.”
“I love movies. I love music videos. I love to make them. When I was younger I was really into iMovie and Video Star. I would get my siblings and my cousins all together and play director. I’d tell them what to do, put them in certain positions, tell them what to say and I feel like, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been able to hone in on that skill and that passion and turn it into something that I love to do now, which is film! It feels more big girl but at the end of the day, I’m just making videos like I did when I was 6 years old,” Leila Glen, NYU film student.
“I play by cooking with foods and ingredients and mixing things up and trying different stuff!” said Cynthia Levinson, Lipsitch’s 79-year-old grandmother, while sitting on the swing.
The exhibit features artists Ace Perrone, Adeline Moore Gerety, Aleksander Benecki, Charlotte Giddings, Chiemeka Offor, Chloe Xiang, Elinor Kry, Grace Miskovsky, Jak, Luke Boyer, Maximilian Zschiesche, Nicholas Cordeiro, Paria Ahmadi, Rebecca Lipsitch, Sara Azzaki, Sofia Macdonald, Wesley Ware, Zack Sanyour. It is on display by appointment at Fractal Tech Hub in Williamsburg until October 12, 2024.
Photos by Isabel Ames and Julia Smerling