Art-Based Games

The Art Arena game is an art education approach based on the use of games to develop artistic and design skills, logical thinking, breadth of judgment, imagination, and sensibility in handling materials and media. It promotes group work and cooperative interaction and has been tried out with an unusual variety of groups. The book is practical, giving instructions for inventing and playing games, and descriptions of games played by different groups. It also provides a detailed list of concepts and suggestions for further reading and lists of materials and suppliers.

Format: Hardback
Length: 210 pages
Publication date: 01 December 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The visitor to an Art Arena game is greeted with an enormous piece of paper covering one wall of the room. Groups of players are engaged in painting, some with spontaneity or abandon, others with thoughtful precision. From the wall, knots of players call out seemingly cryptic information to those working on the paper, or transmit it in coded sounds using whistles, pipes, and various homemade instruments. Colours are phased across the wall, sometimes colliding, sometimes mingling, or encircling each other. But what is the connection between the sound flow and the painting?

This book, originally published in 1979, outlines the foundations of a novel approach to art education. The games encompass not only artistic and design skills but also the abilities that teachers in various subjects strive to cultivate in their students, such as logical thinking, a broad range of judgment, imagination, and sensitivity in handling materials and media. Moreover, the games serve as a means to introduce players to a vast array of concepts and data from diverse topics. The primary objective of this approach is to foster group work and cooperative interaction, and it has garnered interest among social workers and educators working with disabled and challenging children. The games have been experimented with a wide range of groups, spanning mixed and low ability levels to groups of gifted children, students, and adults. While the level of play has varied, the games have consistently elicited high levels of participant engagement.

While referencing game theory and research, the book remains primarily practical, providing instructions for inventing and playing games, as well as descriptions of numerous games played by different groups. The conclusion of the book offers a comprehensive list of concepts and suggestions for further reading, and a comprehensive bibliography.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781138487567