The Cambridge Playlaws is a public art project funded by developer contributions via Section 106 agreements whose area of opportunity is set by the conditions of that funding. In this case it’s a 2km diameter circle emanating from a development on Warren Close.
As such we adhered closely to the boundary line of the designated funded area. During our research we’d see potential places to connect, to set down the Playbox and install the playlaw plaques, always asking ‘is this inside the boundary?’
The very way in which this project is funded and managed means that our streets and everyday experiences are guided by where the developer contribution funds money can and can’t be spent. What are boundaries and barriers to playing? Some are visible, and many are invisible, yet they govern the ways in which we are encouraged to take up our space as human beings.
This plaque is located on the border of the Section 106 zone and is 0.6 of the size of a standard playlaws plaque thus bringing the total number of plaques to 10.6. We decided to play with the legal, geographical, conceptual and physical boundaries of the S106 funding to reveal the hidden mechanisms of the way in which public art is funding in Cambridge and how it concentrates wealth and opportunity in the centre of the city.
