The British design studio Pearlfisher has created a ball pit as an art installation in London. Yes, that’s right: A ball pit. For adults.
The immersive art installation “Jump In!” is open for free to the public. For every person who shows up, Pearlfisher will donate £1 to Right to Play, a global charity that combats the effects of poverty and conflict by teaching children sports and games.
The response to the installation has been overwhelming, and it is now booked up for external visitors, a Pearlfisher spokeswoman tells Quartz. She attributes the excitement to ”The importance of play in promoting creativity, its transformative power and the future of work being play.
“The fact that we’ve been inundated with requests shows there’s a real desire and need for this in our daily lives,” she says.
While the inner 6-year-old in all of us might be tempted to dive into the nearest fast-food-restaurant ball pit, it’s probably worth pointing out that these play areas are also germ-infested nightmare chambers. They are crawling with bacteria, including stuff that can cause meningitis and other serious diseases. It is not uncommon to find fecal coliform in ball pits. And they’re not exactly easy to disinfect.
But on the flip side, playing can be extremely beneficial to adults, so maybe it’s worth risking a staph infection to feel like a kid again.
The adult ball pit comes amid an upswing of playful interactive art installations, from balloon-filled rooms, to walkable roller coasters, to erotic fairgrounds, to bus stops literally composed of the word “bus.”
Can’t make it to London to relive your childhood games? Don’t worry, there are adult hide and seek leagues (video) all over the world.