Playroom is my biggest project yet. For weeks I researched the topic of 'toys' and how one's connection with childhood toys changes over time.
This project began with my curiosity about how toys—things that feel safe and familiar in childhood—can become strange or creepy as we grow up. I wanted to explore why this happens and how it reflects the way we remember the past. The idea of putting a dollhouse into an old TV felt like a great way to mix nostalgia with a sense of unease.
I did a lot of research into the idea of the uncanny—when something feels both familiar and weird at the same time. I also looked at how we sometimes see objects, like toys, as if they have their own personality or life.
Thats how the interactive digital dollhouse came to life. A dollhouse that seems normal and calm at first. But as you approach it starts to get distorted. The sound adds to the atmosphere, growing stranger as the visuals change. For the sound, I was inspired by childhood lullabies and how scary movies involving toys usually have some distorted lullaby in the soundtrack. To create the familiar to unfamiliar effect.
My initial moodboard
First sketch
To this day, I only exhibited a smaller, non interactive version of this installation because there was no specific space for the interactive part to work, but I still wanted to illustrate the idea.
I used the monitor to show a video of the dollhouse starting off normal but speeding up as you watch, to mimick the experience you would have if you approached it. In the video on the laptop, I show the video of the original installation, with text accompanying it to explain the concept.
And I wrote a short piece about the project for the publication of the exhibition
