I’ve been thinking about the different ways ‘play’ is used in artistic practice, and was inspired by Mary Flanagan’s book on ‘Critical Play’. She came up with a number of  possible categories. Trying them out for size here:

.Subversion: turning things upside down, overthrowing a system, undermining an institution, event, object.  A creative rather than a destructive act. Because they exist as rule systems, games are really ideally suited for subversive practices. Example: Fluxus games like George Brecht’s Fluxkits

Intervention: direct actions that engage with places, issues, institutions. Artists seeking to open up a dialogue by transgressing a border in order to bring about a transformation. Example: Yoko Ono’s ‘Cut Piece

Disruption: a purposefull act that changes the way a particular set of rules, logic or paradigm is operating. Example: Gabriel Orozco’s ‘Horses Running Endlessly

Unplaying: enacting ‘forbidden’ or secret scenes. Reversing roles and revising traditional expectations.Example: Claude Cahun’s self portrait

One that I will add myself: interactivity and other forms of  co-creation. Example: Ricardo Basbaum’s ‘Me – You: Choreographies, Games and Exercises’

Of course these are no watertight compartments, but these categories could be useful as a starting point for my taxonomy of the use of ‘play’ in artistic practice.
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