Editorial

Martine Rouleau and Vlad Strukov

During the month of July 2005, the London Consortium organised a conference on the theme of “Playtime”. This event, which took place at the ICA, was an opportunity for a team of international scholars and artists to discuss the theme of playtime in relation to sports, video games, films, art, and other forms that play can take. One of these strands of reflection seemed to generate more debate than others and required further exploration; it was the articulation of play and violence.

Although play might appear innocent, childlike and spontaneous, it is also often rigidly organised and ritualised as well as incorporates some measure of violence, be it physical or psychological. From war games to actual warfare, from happy slapping to the humiliating performance art of Leigh Bowery, from installation art that defies the habitual uses of public places to video art that redefines our relation to nature, the first issue of Static explores the paradoxical nature of play and violence of the contemporary culture in its various forms and manifestations.

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