Things to Play With

Overview

Ever been to an exhibition where you just really really wanted to play with the art? Maybe that fluorescent blob-like sculpture looked just like Play-Doh. Did it feel like Play-Doh too? Why would they deny you of knowing? Perhaps a particularly burly hipster gave you the death stare for simply interacting with the piece. This new exhibition by Anna Varendorff might be just the therapy you need.

Varendorff is mainly known as a jeweller. If you've ever gushed over a pair of geometric metal earrings at Alice Euphemia, chances are they were hers. But for this interactive installation she has channelled her skills into 50 hand-made brass structures for an audience to play with. Between 20cm and 1m squared, the objects are like an enormous high-stakes game of lego that ushers in the start of an artistic process. Once you are done playing, Varendorff states she "will then draw onto the white painted walls and covered floor the shadows created by the 'room jewels''. With this, Things to Play With will in fact be a statement on the nature of ephemerality, space and time.

Accompanied by sound elements from local producer Haima Marriott, the work may well be as much performance as playtime.

Photograph: Isobel Knowles