Soft play made 'bling, glam and sinister'. What do you think of this 'absurdist' artist's creation?
HelenMFM
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Hello
We've just seen these pics of The Idol, a new soft play space in London, created for Barking and Dagenham’s Abbey leisure centre by the Turner prize-nominated performance artist Marvin Gaye Chetwynd (formerly known as Spartacus).
Chetwynd, whose recently become a mother, says, “I wanted the soft play to be as much as possible a shape of a creature, or in this case, a giant cyborg encasing an ancient idol like a Sci-Fi Mech suit."
The whole space is, as you can see, themed in black and white, with level changes and drops marked in what the artist calls "glamorous snakeskin".
"I think were a bit uneasy about the monochrome idea,” Chetwynd says. “But high-contrast black-and-white toys are great for young kids, and there’s an exuberant art deco elegance for the parents to enjoy, too.”
Well, maybe she's right. But, to be honest, to us, it just looks like a regular soft-play centre but a bit less colourful – and probably, for the moment at least, much less strewn with bits of half-chewed rice cake.
What do you think? Amazing art creation or just meh?
Replies
I wouldn't rush to this one to be honest. They're right as in the b&w contrast is good for development but that tends to be more for a new baby whose eyesight is still adjusting. The children who would be actually using this equipment would already be beyond that stage..?
Seems to me this has been designed once again by someone without children or any actual knowledge of children, designed to just look good or a feature. ????