Commissioned for Boston by JArts and curated and produced by Now + There, The Shape of Play, a new public art installation by artist Sari Carel, invites us to reflect on the connections between play and the universal search for freedom. An engaging multi-media work on view at Waterfront Park in the North End, The Shape of Play invites people from across Boston to come, play, question, and explore what freedom means now and what it may look like in the future.

Conceived in the pre-pandemic world, The Shape of Play has taken on new importance in a city full of padlocked play spaces and heightened awareness that not all people experience freedom equally.

Inspired by the beauty, form, function, and simplicity of everyday play structures, The Shape of Play fuses an ambient multi-channel soundtrack with a colorful and architectural sculpture evocative of children’s wooden building blocks. Using tones, textures, shapes, and rhythms, it conjures the playfulness, nostalgia, and life-affirming experiences that we often imagine when we think about our neighborhood playgrounds.

Played through speakers embedded in the sculpture, the multi-channel soundscape is at points whimsical, energetic, buoyant, and ethereal. Created by the artist using structures and play equipment at Boston-area playgrounds as the instrument, this dynamic auditory experience offers us moments of respite and delight, creates a communal experience through shared listening, and reminds us of the freedom we all deserve to express ourselves with joy and abandon.