“Play” was a two-part exhibition:
— “Play (Design for Martians)” at Château Borely, dedicated to object and textile design.
— “Play (The Rules of the Game)” at the Studio Fotokino, focused on graphic design.
Each exhibition showcased pieces by well-known or emerging designers, revolving around the theme of games. Or rather, around the questions raised by the topic of games, so numerous are the different approaches to this notion.
Posters, printed documents, books, objects… A variety of graphic expressions could be discovered at the Studio Fotokino. Because playing is also experimenting: by transforming the production process, transgressing the simplicity rule imposed by modernism, or even by having fun, you create a joyous and expressive design, which interacts with the onlooker’s gaze and mood.
Playing with graphic design also means introducing a rule (using only one tool, inventing a combinatory system of shapes and colors), stick to it, and then let the result emerge from these restrictions. This is another principle inherent to games : even if the rules have been fixed, the script can never be known beforehand, and the outcome even less.
Finally, the visitors could take part in the games: participatory design, drawing under constraints, riddles through coded messages… Everyone was invited to join in!
With: Pierre Di Sciullo, Helmo, Annik Troxler, Paper Tiger, Raw Color, Julia, Paul Cox, Studio Moniker, Formes Vives, Benoît Bonnemaison-Fitte and Fred Fivaz, Fanette Mellier, Ed Fella, Patrick Lindsay, Nicolas Aubert, Fanette Mellier, Olivier Bersin, Atelier Bingo, Badesaison, Antonio Ladrillo, Pierre Tandille and Samuel Rivers-Moore…
