Parallel Play Applied

11/8/2021

A friend recently introduced me to the concept of “parallel play,” which is very succinctly described by a nameless wikipedia editor as:

“…a form of play in which children play adjacent to each other, but do not try to influence one another's behavior.”

What a nice means of thinking about the work I love doing - group shows, participating in the collective conscious of furniture designers on social media, applying my own vision to a client’s initial brief, et al. All these ways of sharing space with people, sharing their energy, without having to invest/involve in what they’re working on - I can just happily work away, enjoying the feeling of collaboration while only really thinking about my personal vision. This makes me sound kind of parasitic, but the other folks are doing the same thing - so maybe we’re symbiotic? Or mutually parasitic? I’m in too deep here, really shooting from the hip, sorry; all that to say I’ve been introduced to a play theory that I really identify with!

Pattern Repeat Room Divider among friends at Mill Collective

NYCxDesign

That said, I’ll be showing work at JONALDDUDD from the 12th-16th Nov.! Please go see the show if you’re planning on being in NYC, it will have some truly radical work displayed. There will even be another NC designer, the rising star that is Matt Byrd.

Work in granite by Matt Byrd

Podcasts!

Seth Godin x Debbie Millman

I just listened to an episode of Design Matters featuring my beloved Seth Godin, wherein Debbie Millman questions him about his 2020 book “The Practice.” Wowza - it’s a good one! They are both so incredibly smart, and introduce concepts about living and working with a creative practice that, without hyperbole, could be life changing!

Nice Try! Interior

Avery Trufelman and Curbed’s Nice Try is back, and it completely lives up to Utopian, the first season. Which is wild, because the first season contains some of the best dang podcasting out there. This season explores individual home good with a joyful rigor; object design nerds rejoice. (If you hit the back catalogue, please listen to the episode about Onieda so we can talk about it.)Parallel Play Applied