2016 - Pericula Ludus

Collaborative project by Otilia Cadar, Liviu Coman and Lala.

Pericula Ludus (Latin for The Danger of the Game) explored authorship, trust, destruction, and play through a collaborative process involving our two-year-old daughter, Lala.

For this project, each artist completed a series of paintings independently before surrendering them entirely to the spontaneous intervention of a child. Using acrylic markers, Lala was invited to draw freely across the finished works without guidance, restriction, or correction. The gesture introduced both risk and liberation into the creative process: the paintings could be damaged, transformed, or unexpectedly completed through play.

The project questioned the authority of the artist and the preciousness of the finished artwork. By allowing a child unrestricted access to the surface, the paintings became spaces of negotiation between control and chaos, intention and instinct.

A short video documenting these interventions accompanied the exhibition, capturing the moment in which the works shifted from completed objects into living collaborations.

Pericula Ludus was exhibited in Bucharest and Munich in 2016. During the exhibition openings, visiting children were encouraged to continue this process themselves by drawing on black canvases resembling the original paintings, extending the project into a participatory experience.

Mediums: Acrylic painting, video, sound
Paintings: Acrylic on canvas, 40 × 45 cm
Location: Bucharest and Munich
Year: 2016