The materials I use for my works are usually culled from the excesses of another—from thrift shops, previous projects, or works in progress. For Untitled (Playing Set), the pieces of repurposed wood were originally part of a Shogi set I found in a surplus store. The playing board from the Japanese chess set was used for an assemblage for my last solo exhibition, leaving me with small wooden pentagons, which I thought would be fun to redesign as new objects to play with.

 

During the first run of Parcel Exhibitions, most of the people who joined the mailing list gathered relatives or a few friends into their own spaces for an intimate viewing. The experience of the works then became domestic recreation shared in small groups. For this work, I wanted to expand on this form of recreation and explore the use of play in order to construct meaning in collaboration with the viewers. I wished to create something that can be accessible no matter how old the audience is. It is a portable work meant for play, but it can also shift in its purpose—Untitled (Playing Set) is all at once a learning activity for small children, a game, a set of collectibles that can be temporarily arranged or displayed to one’s liking, or anything that can be imagined.

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- Jel Suarez

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Untitled (Playing Set)

24 pieces repurposed wood

from Shogi/Japanese chess,

stone, acrylic slide case

4.5 x 14.4 cm

2021