//BWR
// margherita
It seems odd that there are serious academic thinkers who spend their careers theorizing about the nature of play, but they do exist, and in all fields of intellectual research. Centuries of arguments between philosophers, poets, psychologists, and scientists have brought us no closer to a universal definition of play, or even a consensus over whether it is at heart random, whimsical, and Dionysian, or purposeful, rational, and Apollonian.
Although it may have precise biological roots, play often takes shape in ways that suggest the mythical. Only the hint of a smile on Margherita’s face (and, perhaps, her somewhat broomstick-inappropriate footwear) belie her serious, almost military pose and the blunt lines of her no nonsense hair. Rising above the tall sunflowers, she cuts the imposing figure of a magician on a mission.
However you define it, play functions as a way to escape the constraints of everyday life and transcend the limitations of our own ordinary states. What do you think—a moment after this picture was taken, did Margherita the Witch take off and do just that?
Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, meerasethi and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
