From here to There: Site and Situation

By Matilda Mclellan

 

I have always been incredibly fascinated by public parks and playgrounds. The

random ensemble of colourful towers, swings, slides and monkey bars. They really

are so beautiful, and their existence tells so many stories. Monkey bars that would

have seen countless children come and go. People and children laughing, crying,

playing, learning lessons, evolving, and just being.

 

 

I think what intruiges me the most about play grounds is the way they are viewed so

contrarily between age groups, and how their meaning or purpose changes for an

individual so drastically over a lifespan.

 

 

I remember that when I was young, seeing a playground would fill me with so much

joy and excitement. I would have stayed on the swing all day if my parents had let

me. Just swinging through the air, staring at the sky, seeing my feet fly up and down.

Even just the thought of going to the park made me burst with delight.

 

 

It’s funny how in primary school lunch time would be spent on playgrounds, all the

way up until the final years. Then as soon as high school starts, there is not a

colourful swing or slide to be seen, it’s like your subtly being told to start growing

up and stop playing around.

 

 

The Playground I have chosen to focus on sits very dormant and quietly for majority

of the year. It’s a pretty basic playground and rather rundown too. The paint is all

chipping off, and the edges of the equipment are becoming rustier each summer. But

I smile when I look at it, because it’s simple and it’s beautiful.

 

 

Over camping seasons or long weekends the park becomes alive with bodies,

laughter, screams, and tears. It looks out and over the bay. You can see all the way to

Phillip Island from it’s towers.

 

 

The more I think about it the harder it is for me to grasp when the exact age or day

or moment it was that I didn’t look at a playground with an overwhelming sense of

delight and excitement. I can’t remember when it was that I deemed myself too old

to enjoy the feeling of flying through the air or creating fantasies in my head as I ran

across the platforms and bridges. I can’t seem to remember the first day that I kept

on walking by.

 

 

To film my project I used an Everio Camera. I didn’t have access to the RMIT

equipment as I was based at home on the peninsula due to an injury. It isn’t

anything fancy or flash, but I believe it definetly does the job. I also couldn’t get my

hands on a tripod so instead opted for the slightly-shaky, hand-held look.

 

 

Film-making, producing and editing are all skills that I am still really trying hard to

work on. It’s not been something that has come naturally to me since beginning my

course this year, so I will continue to work hard at it and hopefully improve my

Project Brief’s each time.