I find toy objects very interesting because they have separate openings for playful appropriation—an essential characteristic of play in contemporary writing on the topic. There are intrinsic openings and extrinsic openings for play. Intrinsic openings take the form of objects similar to legos, which provide an opening for world-building, storytelling, and so on with the objects themselves, whereas a rubber ball may offer an extrinsic opening for play in that it will invite players to transform space around them like a wall, hallway or stairs into a dynamic playspace. (Miguel Sicart’s Play Matters is a great place to start here)
What I wanted to do was apply this way of thinking to making something that was about the act of writing, but contradicted what purpose writing may be expected to have. One can only see what one is writing while writing. One can only be seen writing while writing. The more one writes, the less legible that which one is writing becomes (the erasure via addition takes place due to overwriting on a small surface). One also has a limit to the duration of their writing based on the life of their battery, being pulled only when the writing utensil makes contact with the plate.
_Schematic & Score Document [view]
_Video Demonstration of Early Prototype & Musing [view]