play and affect

What does play actually sound, look, and feel like? Play is often viewed as joyful and carefree, mobilized by images of happy children. Play, in its current imaginary, limits the range of emotions encompassing play–particularly how play can also be frustrating, tense, violent, and not always a perfect picture of pleasure and cooperation. Furthermore, play is usually defined as social and physical. However, can play be solitary and still across various multimodal experiences? This research topic features the affective range of play, from pleasurable and frivolous to dark and intense (or both all at once). The research here aims to expand what play might sound, look, and feel like – especially when play breaks out of the traditional boundaries defining it.