Authors

Macey Cohen '23

Hagen Krebs '23

Paul Pelham '23

Kate Salle ' 25

Devyn Wesolowski '25

Under the direction of Professor Yan Sun, Art & Art History Department

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Document Type

Art Catalog

Description

Regardless of differences across individual lives, cultures, and traditions, one of humanity’s most enduring and joyful acts is that of play. This commonality, however, does not mean that play should be seen as simply a trivial matter. Play is also not merely a matter of winning or losing, but a reflection of the moral and cultural values of society. The exhibition Let’s Play: Sports and Games in Art and Culture features eleven works of art, collected from disparate cultures, time periods, and countries, to demonstrate the productive forces of play in its many iterations. What is central to every work is the dynamism and creativity inspired by and achieved through the unfolding of play. Like art, play focuses on processes of moving or making, is open to chance, and offers a sense of pleasure to its viewers. Art and play can be understood as a kind of universal language which invariably communicates and makes possible the collective participation in cultural meaning and aesthetic expression. Despite the many socio-cultural differences between the works in this catalogue, each one shares that transcendent quality of play appealing to the most basic human desire: to find value in friendship, competition, art, and performance. Sports and games are easily accessible acts to realize joy and kinship.

Publication Date

Fall 2022

Publisher

Schmucker Art Gallery, Gettysburg College

City

Gettysburg, PA

Keywords

fine arts, games, sports, Gettysburg College

Comments

Let's Play!: Sports and Games in Art and Culture was on exhibition at the Schmucker Art Gallery at Gettysburg College December 6th. 2022 - March 3rd, 2023.

Let's Play!: Sports and Games in Art and Culture

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