Anne Kathrin Greiner, Germany: Theatres of Play II

‘A Touch of Violence’ conjures up multiple narratives, images and scenarios. Theatres of Play II examines both the physical and the psychological aspects of this theme:
The genesis of Theatres of Play II lies within the histories of adventure playgrounds in London, England. Often to be found in less privileged areas of the city, they have a propensity towards rich and frequently intriguing origins. A surplus of large open spaces, in the form of bombsites, existed after the end of the second World War, often continuing in such an undeveloped form through to the 1970s.
I examine how the organic growth and purpose of the playgrounds, as physical spaces or settings for the outward expression of the imagination and creativity of children, is in stark contrast to the destruction which occurred during the war. I am interested in investigating the contradiction of what they once were, what they have become and what lies beneath their apparently benign surface; how the ghosts of the past loom over a place where games and war, creation and destruction intersect; a place where childhood play is paralleled by the brutalities of war (not only in regards to the site’s history but also in the types of actions that children naively mimic or the games they innocently play). Children negotiate their surroundings through imitation and make-believe, building up a repertory of landscapes and interiors that often become the mise-en-scène of many dreams and nightmares.
It is this mix of play, chaos, innocence, fantasy, reality, history, media influence and violence that my work examines. Encompassing the cyclical aspects of existence and nature, rites-of-passage and the patterns of play as well as conflict, the work aims to be a meditation on elements unseen amidst the often opaque layers and façades of our apparently familiar everyday surroundings.