Wade Jeffree and Leta Sobierajski built Catching Feelings to be used, not just looked at. The installation, a playscape installation made for the ninth Jing’an International Sculpture Project in Shanghai, invites visitors to slide, spin, and wander through a set of brightly painted forms.
A grandfather and his granddaughter kept coming back to play hide-and-seek on it. The artists noticed them during the installation’s first week at Shanghai’s Jing’an Sculpture Park. They also saw a man in a business suit take a turn on the slide. For a sculpture meant to be touched, it was a good week.
The piece covers 24.5 meters. A turquoise core anchors the site, with slides running out in four directions. One blue chute opens into a bright pink oval, and striped slopes flare out beside it. Overhead, a blue sphere rests on a broad orange disc. Rings and stacks of rounded forms rise on slender metal posts, standing out against the trees.
The duo’s graphic design training shows in how a single form changes jobs. One circle becomes a canopy, another a hoop to pass through, and a third a floor to stand on. Automotive paint gives the metal its gloss, so the curves of the pink and green pieces catch the light. The thin supports keep the view open, so people and trees stay visible between the objects.
Like Catching Feelings, playable art is meant to be used rather than admired from a distance. Alexandre Arrechea’s playable basketball tree sculpture in Toronto shows how a park piece can invite games.
Visitors Supply the Motion of This Shanghai Playscape Sculpture
Wade and Leta have made kinetic work before, but earlier pieces ran on motors or wind. Here, at this sculpture, the visitors supply the motion. Ground spinners and overhead bars sit alongside the slides, and the gaps between forms leave room for games nobody planned. The grandfather and granddaughter found one of them. Others took shape when strangers met on the spinning platforms. The artists say they want to keep developing this kind of participation in their work.
Cheng Jing of UCCA Lab curated Shapes of Becoming, the exhibition that frames the piece within the sculpture biennial. The show asks how sculpture draws its meaning from its materials, its scale, and the way it engages a person’s body. Catching Feelings answers that last question directly. The duo’s version is practical: handholds, turning platforms, and a slide to go down.
The studio’s roots are in graphic design. Wade and Leta started in 2016 as a graphic design and art direction studio in Brooklyn, according to their interview with UTIL. Champ magazine lists clients including Comme des Garçons, AIGA, Airbnb, and Herman Miller. Over time, the studio has moved away from branding and toward physical spaces. Leta told Champ that the city pushes its makers forward: “There is a collective momentum which exists here that pushes everyone forward.”
The title allows for uses the artists did not script. An 84-year-old man and his partner chose the installation as the setting for their video recordings. New friendships formed on the spinners. The duo hoped the work would give different generations a reason to play together, and visitors took them at their word. The Jing’an International Sculpture Project has since given the installation set opening and closing hours.
Catching Feelings succeeds because it hands the work over to the people who walk through it. The forms supply the shapes and colors, but the play belongs to whoever shows up. That is a useful lesson for public art: a shanghai playscape sculpture that asks people to move through it can outlast the visit that inspired it.
Via gessato.com
Frequently asked questions
What is Catching Feelings by Wade and Leta?
Catching Feelings is a playscape installation by Wade Jeffree and Leta Sobierajski, made for the ninth Jing’an International Sculpture Project in Shanghai. It invites visitors to slide, spin, and wander through a set of brightly painted forms that cover 24.5 meters.
Where is the Catching Feelings playscape located?
The Catching Feelings playscape is at Shanghai’s Jing’an Sculpture Park. It was shown there as part of the ninth Jing’an International Sculpture Project.
How does Catching Feelings differ from earlier kinetic works?
Wade and Leta’s earlier kinetic pieces ran on motors or wind. In Catching Feelings, the visitors supply the motion by sliding, spinning, and playing on the forms.
Who are Wade Jeffree and Leta Sobierajski?
Wade Jeffree and Leta Sobierajski are the artists behind Catching Feelings. They started in 2016 as a graphic design and art direction studio in Brooklyn, and over time have moved away from branding toward physical spaces.
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