Playscape

Pen and robotically-assisted drawing on paper.

Dimensions variable

Collaboration work with Peter AC Nelson

2021

This work began in 2021 when Amber Ng and Peter Nelson discussed how public playground elements could be studied as sculptural forms. Play can take infinite forms, each encouraging children to move, play and improvise. To better visualize the ephemeral moment of improvised play in public spaces, the artists used motion capture technology. The video footage was then transformed into 3D motion data with machine learning, where movements in time were converted and plotted into positions in space. The result of these computational processes is Ng’s spatial play sculptures, allowing her to formulate an art practice that “takes play seriously”. In this new series of images, Ng’s play sculptures are placed within Nelson’s long playscapes that draw on his love of Chinese scroll painting and computer games. For Ng and Nelson, playscapes are places of fun, risk, and exploration.

Print version showcased on YePYeP Issue 2 Magazine, exhibited at Kiang Malingue Gallery.