El BalancíN: Abstract Balancing Stacking Wooden Art Toy from Spain

This game is based on two of the oldest and most basic play activities known: stacking and balancing. People have been playing with these elements since the dawn of time. Both possibilities – standing up or falling over – can be equally exciting.

The first swing was created when one crossed branch was positioned over another branch. Soon after came the balancing scale, the wheel, the ball-bearing, articulated joints.

This game helps us recapture our primitive sense of experimentation. The pieces are of seemingly arbitrary shapes such as you might find around a carpenter’s workbench. They are the sort of object that is bound to appeal to any neighbourhood child, who is certain to see them as something to build with, owing to the material they’re made from (wood) and their form (random geometric shapes).

The building potential of simple objects is something that not only children, architects and engineers have observed; the first abstract artists were quick to capture the tension produced by the juxtaposition of objects and the way in which a certain concurrence could produce sensations and emotions normally associated with other aspects of our lives. The field of abstract constructivism is really a reversion to the simplest and most fundamental of our childhood games, what we called ‘building something’.

This collection is more than just a toy. It is a piece of art and can undoubtedly upgrade your home’s artistic atmosphere into a whole different level. Play with it, look at it and appreciate it. It is definitely something that can help you to slow down and relax a bit after a long busy day.