Cat's Cradle

In what way does cat's cradle create "a little place" as Sandback describes? Consider notions of space and place defined by de Certeau in "Spatial Stories."

When playing with cat's cradle, one is creating different geometries that allows the next person to reconfigure new ones. These geometries set a place in space. According to de Certeau, space is conceptual, whereas place is set and of stability. From playing cat's cradle, the string that creates these geometries sets a place for the player to ponder on and decide the next move. Each new configuration of the string is set for the other player to think over, and it does not change unless the other player touches it. By referring cat's cradle as "a little place", one can think of it as a place for our hands and minds to handle.

Experiment: Learn how to play cat's cradle if you don't already know. Practice playing cat's cradle in different environments and document the events in photographs or video. Post to your blog and explain--in a single sentence--the way that this small action involving string produces space (or in Sandback's terms, "a little place"). In what way does the site become part of the game? How does the game interact with a particular site, and a particular moment?

The string produces "a little place" by constantly creating new geometries that insists another player to reconfigure into a new site of geometries.

Experiment: In Sandback's "Remarks on my sculpture" he says that "Having these seven huge rooms to work in was a small revelation, in that I was able for the first time to see how these pieces acted together and to work with them simultaneously."  Experiment with using yarn to explore and analyze the circulation of space and the relationship in and between rooms--Run a continuous loop of yarn through the space of the room and notice how it must behave to link the spaces together. Run yarn between rooms to see how they relate--their flow, interruptions, shapes of movement.

How does "play" function in Sandback's approach to his work and materials? Was play an element of your Sandback assignment? How does play function in your own design practices?

In Sandback’s approach to his work and materials, “play” was an  important factor. He commonly uses string, one of the most manipulative materials out there. String is extremely flexible and takes little to no space, but at the same time, it can create a large amount of space by creating works that looks like it takes up space. Sometimes to do that, one needs to play with it to see how it can take up all that space, and to see what they can do with all the materials. Like my design practices, I had to play with the string to see how much space it can take up and see what it can form. I played with the string to see how people can experience the work.