Foam Magazine #54: PLAY! The Game Changing Issue

Play is one of the founding pillars that allows us to discover the world. To play is to learn how things work, how we behave, interact, and how we can solve problems. It fuels our scientific thirst for experimenting, the enchantment towards the magic of discovery, and the frustration of failure. It is also crucial in informing how we perceive and experience reality, and how we create a new, alternative reality that we might be able to control. Foam Magazine #54: PLAY! investigates the powers at play in our society and its subversive, irreverent potential. It looks at its healing powers, the relief that comes from unlocking energy, creativity, and unexpected ghosts.

Through these 18 portfolios, we offer a range of approaches to the theme of play. This includes playing with the artform itself – from using collage, paint, or other surface interventions to convey ideas – to using humour, failure, and the unlikely as ways of understanding how and why we play. The feature interview with artist William Kentridge further ties into these ideas through his thoughts on politics and performance while Hans Gremmen gives us a look at his bookshelf selection, covering just over a century of photobooks and inspiration. The theme also gave us a chance to be even more playful with the format of the magazine. Make sure to look out for the hidden portfolio!

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS & ARTISTS
Franco Ariaudo & Luca Pucci, Pelle Cass, Jimmy DeSana, Laura El-Tantawy, Charlie Engman & Hillary Taymour, Kalev Erickson, Camila Falquez, David Fathi, Rolph Gobits, Jos Houweling, Kay Kasparhauser, William Kentridge, Dana Lixenberg, Mariam Medvedeva, Ivan Mikhailov, Rosana Paulino, Alice Quaresma, Sheida Soleimani, Leonard Suryajaya, Martine Syms, Mickalene Thomas, Lorenzo Vitturi

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Franco Ariaudo & Luca Pucci, Mariama Attah, Bryan Barcena, Chiara Bardelli Nonino, Sacha Bronwasser, Ben Burbridge, Gabriela Burkhalter, Lewis Bush, Anastasiia Fedorova, Marcel Feil, Hans Gremmen, Hinde Haest, Louis Kaplan, Kim Knoppers, Cat Lachowskyj, Glenn Ligon, Dana Linssen, Maitreyi Maheshwari, Carly Mark, Alecsandra Matias de Oliveira, Elisa Medde, Pim Milo, Timothy Prus, Maisie Skidmore, Mavis Staples, Fiona Tan, Salamishah Tillet, Deborah Willis, Efrem Zelony-Mindell