The art of play

The theme of the inaugural issue of Pivot is Play.

Contributions range from playful approaches to art, to investigations of how people play to theory on video game design. A CD included in a limited number of copies holds one student’s experiment having different musicians each create a track from a handful of local sounds.

The journal brings together students from Media Studies, Art History and Studio Arts. It also combines artwork with theory and criticism with creation.

“The idea came out of a desire to link together three separate grad programs that seemed to have a lot in common,” explained Andria Hickey. She got together with Susannah Wesley, Mél Hogan and Adad Hannah (who has since gone on to pursue his own art work internationally) in early 2006. They articulated a common philosophy “that art practices and academic investigations are equal forms of knowledge productions.”

The journal’s form reflects its content. “We wanted to treat the journal as an art project in itself – taking interdisciplinarity to a new level, not just in content, but also in form,” Hickey wrote in an email.

“There is just something very special about seeing an image in print (rather than virtually) and turning the pages.” Little secrets, like an envelope full of drawings, or a foldout image help keep both the theme of play and the specificity of the medium alive.

Along with some internal funding available to grad students, the team credits a number of professors, including Johanne Sloan, Matt Soar and Charles Acland with helping them see the project through. They hope that the next issue will incorporate work from students across the country.

Copies of Pivot are available at the FOFA Gallery for $12.