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djw  ·  4274 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ball pit encourages strangers to talk to each other

This is great. I don't know what the context of it is, but it's a good jumping off point to talk about public art, which is what I'd call it, though many would voice craft-based objections, saying things to the effect of "I could do that." But that's a boring response.

What makes public art interesting is how it affects the space it's put in and the ways it changes how people experience that space. That was true of *The Gates* in Central Park, to use a popular example, which didn't really "do" anything or look very pretty, but it did manage to make a familiar landmark feel alien, altered, and new. Central Park was a different place while it was installed.

This ball pit makes that purpose of public art obvious to the point of being impossible to notice. It comes with instructions. It makes it so you don't have to be thinking on the "meta" level about art to be aware of what it's doing there to begin with.