Daniel Disselkoen commuted for 4 years during his time at the Royal Academy of Art by tram. Then, he decided to add a little something to change his and his fellow traveler’s daily commute. He created a mind game called the “man-eater”. The objective of the activity is to make the cartoon sticker
eat as many heads of people passing by into ‘the man-eaters’ mouth.
“Why would you look out the window with curiosity when there is no reason to expect anything new?”
—-Daniel Disselkoen
In the recent years, there is a rise in incorporating “playfulness” in public space by creating and injecting urban play elements, just like Disselkoen’s man-eater. These urban interventions allow people to have fun, to feel, and to observe. At the essence of it, is to see the city as playground and to really experience, and maybe transform it, through the act of play.
Being a commuter for years myself, I would be very intrigued to play this game. As I’m already staring at the window, the man-eater might just provide me with a fun perspective to view the landscape through the window.
Some more projects that makes the everyday a little more playful:
Pop-up guerrilla swings (by Bruno Taylor, etc.)
Basket bin (by Collectiv DC)
Slide to the train (by HIK Ontwerpers)
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”—George Bernard Shawn
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