Abstract
When does some paper and a bit of tape become a ball? This paper explores the ontology of play and toys, specifically balls, showing that play is an autotelic phenomenon that reorganizes time, space and material relations. We start from the analysis of play in classical phenomenology, finding that its perspective fails on two counts: First, it takes what we could identify as the Waltonian game of “make-believe” as an archetype of play, and the doll as an archetype of toy. Along with this, it suffers from what Don Idhe calls a “subjectivist style” that does not seem to be able to account for more physical types of play. We will then try to explore games by placing the materiality of playing and the ball as a technical object at the centre of the analysis. This path will open the network of interactions that, following Bruno Latour, we can see actualized in the ludic, revealing its inherent political nature. We will conclude by recovering the Heideggerian and Finkean notions on autotelicity and the space-time articulating character of the game, but now on a material grounds that allow a more comprehensive and nuanced characterization of games, toys, playing and player.
Presenters
Juan Sebastián GoyburuTeacher / Tutor, Escuela Técnica - Lugano, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Capital Federal, Argentina
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Sporting Cultures and Identities
KEYWORDS
Balls, Ballgames, School, Schoolyard, Phenomenology, Postphenomenology, ANT, Play, Heidegger
