i don't get it, either. but it seems that if you're designing a tee for this site the winners are usually a mishmash of nonsensical miscellany... this fits the bill 'nicely'.

not everything has a meaning.

omg, life has no meaning!

Seriously, does everything really have to be explained. how about this, explain to me what love feels like, say the first time you met a gal that took your breath away, how did you feel about that? If someone can sum up something so profound in two words or in one senetnce then they either have no bearing on what it truly means or they are simply a moron (that drives a lifted truck). However, the exception is Mark twain but then I don't think there is anyone as brilliant as Mark Twain in our presence.





Furthermore, I wish threadless had more tees like this.

chelly.. outstanding response. lol sometimes i'm confused about shirt designs on threadless, too. i agree its a pretty shirt, but it just won a competition, right? i think the person who posted this just wanted a little help. no need for the hostility. if i'm going to wear a shirt around and have people constantly asking "well, what does your shirt mean?" i'd like to have an answer ready... thats all =)

The Virgin Suicides reference just comes from the title, "Playground Love", which is on the soundtrack. That's about all I know.

i think this shirt got some extra fives just cause the name is taken from the virgin suicide song.



happy birthday. yeah, random.

I like it, but yeah-I don't see any joke or anything in there. I don't know it just seems beautiful to me. But the first thing that popped in my head when I read the title, "Playground Love," was that great song by Air.

How come everyone's talking about the title and not the shirt itself? I dunno but titling the shirt after a song on a movie's soundtrack doesn't mean much to me.



So about the shirt... I don't know the person who designed it so I can't tell you what it's supposed to mean but I can tell you what I think it means: Every rocket scientist or chemical engineer or biologist was a child once. There. That's it. It makes you think about all of these beautiful thoughts that spring from their minds and how they grow up to benefit society. And these seeds (if you will) of thought are all planted at a very young age; at the park, in class, at home etc. It makes me want to make sure that my younger brother and my future children grow up in an environment that is both supportive and thought-provoking.



See that wasn't so hard was it? Don't be afraid to deduce the meaning of something for yourself. Don't be afraid of being wrong or getting criticised. The kiddies who do let their thoughts flow are like the ones on the shirt. They grow up and lead fulfilling lives. The kiddies who make fun of them for using their brains are actually jealous and dull, and end up working at McDonalds...



:)

i think the "meaning" behind the shirt seems to be the connection between science & culture (which is what the 'seed loves threadless' competition was about.) the point they make is that science figures so prominently in so many aspects of our lives these days that "science is culture." so the shirt emphasizes the prevalence of science by incorporating it into one of the most unscientific of events, a day at the playground.



it really doesn't have much to do with the virgin suicides at all other than the title of the shirt being the same as the title of a song from the movie's soundtrack.



btw, if you don't get the meaning behind the shirt it's ok to shut up and say nothing. being a jerk to a person asking a simple question because you also don't get it and want to still come off as clever really just proves what a dunce you are.

these designs are largely symbolic, and symbols have meaning. Not to say that diverse interpretations of that meaning are a bad thing, but what's wrong with trying to find the meaning of the shirt?

The design looks cool. Isn't that enough?

I think that art is never separate from the messages the artist wishes to convey (even "avant-garde" pieces fit the bill by delivering a postmodern message); otherwise, how is art (be it music or paintings) different from any other objects we can perceive with our senses? Even seeing the "art" in random objects is an extraction of a certain standard, or message.



The meaning behind the shirt is exactly what kmuto said, which is that our childhood wonders are never lost but are manifested into ways that progress and benefit society. The awe of a child's first glimpse at a jellyfish or a firefly is rarely "discarded," but is retained and has the potential to transform into a budding scientist's study of bioluminescence.

Kmuto, for the record, there's nothing wrong with working at McDonalds :P

I always dislike when people look down on people who work jobs in the service industry. There are a lot of decent people (just like you'd find anywhere else, and there are jerks and idiots too) and actually a lot of people have degrees. My friend just finished law and he's been working in McDonalds for I think a few years now.

sirensrising, I suppose I was wrongfully drawing a stereotype to make a point.. after all, I'm paying for my mechanical engineering degree by working as a delivery driver :P

Seeing It's an abstract version of the electromagnetic Spectrum and its wavelenghts, I'd interpret the shirt, seeing that only a little "piece" of the Spectrum is visible to us (R,G,B) that there is so much more before and after the visible part of the spectrum (Infrared, Radio, x-rays) for us to explore, and that's why this world and it's characteristics is a playground, seeing there is so much to discover.

i really enjoy hearing all the different interpretations of what the shirt might mean, and it makes the shirt itself even more enjoyable as well. also, it's true that there's nothing wrong with wanting an explanation of things, while it's also true that it's ok to not ask if you don't understand something, and try to think of one yourself. +RECONSTRUCT+, even though this shirt design is really cool, i doubt that it was as "profound" to you (or anyone else for that matter) as the feelings you described, and therefore by your own standards, yes, it is ok to have this shirt explained. on the other hand, if i'm wrong, and this shirt is profound enough to you to leave you speechless, then forget what i said. just remember that not everyone will have the same reaction as you will.

as for the shirt, not only is it a great composition with nice colors, but the images in it and the associations they bring up make for a cool combination of thoughts and meanings. for me, since i didn't completely understand it, i wondered if the purpose of it was to leave it partly unexplained, so as to represent the curiosity kids have that can lead to a thirst for knowledge and education, like the scientific images refer to. idk, maybe?

wow sorry that was so long... :P

i'm with kathrynista on this one-- we don't have to force meaning out of everything, but it's *okay* (good, even?) to be curious. really, i promise.

Nellaluce, I agree that we don't have to force a meaning out of everything, but ONLY if that is the artist's intent. To say that one is "forcing" a meaning is supposing that there was no meaning to begin with.



If the original artist did intend for it to have a meaning, then it does precisely have that meaning, no matter how deviant or fitting other interpretations seem to be; the work of art is never separate from the artist who created it.



Also, I don't understand what you mean by "we don't have to force meaning out of everything, but it's *okay* (good, even?) to be curious" because that is what curiosity IS: the will finding the explanation/justification for things. I think it is strange that the search for an explanation should DEFY curiosity.



I think what you meant to say is more "ignorance is bliss," that it can also be emotionally fulfilling to purposefully not know something, to leave it "up in the air."

Grammatical correction: ...the will TO FIND the explanation/justification for things.

yes ma'am we'll try to follow the rules next time. ;P

Hahaha... I always notice a tone of seriousness in my post, but I'm simply pointing something out with an explanation. I think it's just the way I express myself. In this case, I'm neither agreeing or disagreeing, just clarifying.



Yeah, it does sound a bit harsh, I admit (but it's rarely my intention, unless is was meant to offend).



=D See, here I go again...

it's all good. :)

Ehh, it's kinda rude to insult someone who just wants to make sure that they're not missing something about the meaning.



But most of you were pretty nice about it. :)