LOOPHOLES

playsculpture, Cassadaga, NY, 2019

Recipient of a grant from the KaBOOM! ‘Play Everywhere Challenge’ sponsored by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation’s ‘Built to Play’ initiative, and further supported by the Citizens for a Better Cassadaga and the Village of Cassadaga

LOOPHOLES offers a place for play and a gathering place at Cassadaga Beach. Constructed as an arrangement of five perforated and polyurea-coated blue concrete pipes (risers), the playsculpture aims to draw the community to the beach and provide a space for people of all ages to meet and interact.

There is no right or wrong way to use the installation and this open-ended nature encourages creativity and appropriation. Since it doesn't look like a traditional playground, LOOPHOLES is more likely to be embraced by the entire neighborhood, with its round shapes reinforcing a sense of togetherness and community and defining a zone for play.

Bringing infrastructural elements typically used as drainage pipes to the world of play allows these robust forms to be appropriated and enjoyed in countless ways including climbing, sitting and lounging by groups and individuals. As such the playspace is inclusive of different modes of play - from the more kinesthetic to the more social and the more sensory. It further encourages creative and imaginative play with children having to interpret and invent rather than using more prescriptive play equipment.

LOOPHOLES emphasizes the role of playspaces as an amenity, as a right, and as essential infrastructure, and is therefore a ‘social infrastructure.’