Microethology

Crete 3/3: Bronze Age robot

Posted on May 15, 2024May 15, 2024 By sethgiddings

Crete gets a direct mention in Toy Theory through the mythical automaton Talos. Constructed by the smith god Hephaestus, this giant bronze warrior patrolled…

Crete 2/3: ox machine

Posted on May 13, 2024May 15, 2024 By sethgiddings

The second of three posts linking my recent holiday in Crete with themes from Toy Theory. This toy, a clay figure of an ox…

A child's rattle in the shape of a human torso and head. It is made from baked clay and has three of its beads next to it in its museum case.

Crete 1/3: the twin timeline of the rattle

Posted on May 13, 2024May 15, 2024 By sethgiddings

The first of three posts linking my recent holiday to Crete with themes from Toy Theory. Toys as technological devices operate through two very…

the machine wants to play

Posted on April 18, 2024June 6, 2024 By sethgiddings

Slideshow sketch of a ludic/media archaeology of AI, A-Life and robotics. Displayed at the University of Southampton AI Arts Festival, 2nd June 2024. Designed…

a composite image: on the left a detail of a postcard, circa 1905, of three young girls standing by a wooden framed swing in a park. On the right a dynamic shot of a young girl on Lightbug, an experimental interactive swing featuring LED lights

technology and play

Posted on April 8, 2024April 8, 2024 By sethgiddings

Hot off the press: Playground equipment: postdigital design and the mechanics of history, urban space, and play. Space and Culture 27(2). Open access: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/12063312231213261…

A LEGO Minecraft set. A 'Steve' minifig in the foreground, with a playset of buildings and a tree

models and plans

Posted on March 21, 2024March 21, 2024 By sethgiddings

I write in Toy Theory that play with construction toy sets (LEGO, Meccano, etc.) “collapses design and construction: the child is at once building…

a cluttered desk from this research workshop, with coloured felt, pens and a Sphero robot

re-imagining the gallery with AI

Posted on March 21, 2024March 21, 2024 By sethgiddings

A short article on a recent-ish pilot project, Chatbots in the Gallery, in Re:Action, the University of Southampton’s research magazine.

a clipped screenshot from the MIT Press webpage for Toy Theory

Toy Theory – update

Posted on March 5, 2024March 5, 2024 By sethgiddings

Toy Theory: technology and imagination in play will be out in November. No cover image yet, but here is the draft marketing blurb: A…

A Toy Theory of Drawing

Posted on November 2, 2023November 2, 2023 By sethgiddings

My contribution to the Ordinary Things exhibition: A toy theory of drawing: a short essay to accompany this piece, and the exhibition 2ND—25TH NOVEMBER…

a sequence of three images: on the left Calvin and Hobbes enjoying outdoor play, on the right a screenshot of the landscape in the game Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time and in the middle a children's playground with climbing frames and other equipment.

postdigital playgrounds

Posted on June 27, 2023June 27, 2023 By sethgiddings

Text and images from my contribution to the A is for Age-Appropriate panel at CCA 2023, with Sara Grimes, Darshana Jayemanne, Bronwen Swerdfager, and…

Game board featuring movie studio / business theme, with paper money and plastic figures

toy economics