[accessibleimage] Fw: BlindNews: Can You Feel It In Your Art?

Hello:

     I thought this might be of interest.

Regards,

Robert Jaquiss

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Geoff Stephens" <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Blind News Mailing List" <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 11:48 PM
Subject: BlindNews: Can You Feel It In Your Art?


> The Times Higher Education Supplement
> Tuesday, February 15, 2005
>
> Can You Feel It In Your Art?
>
> By Thomas Watson
>
> An exhibition of sculpture has restricted visitors to their sense of 
> touch. Thomas Watson reports
>
> The very idea of an art exhibition in which you are not allowed to see the 
> exhibits may seem an odd one, but the Blind Alphabet C show encourages 
> visitors to ditch their preconceptions and explore artwork exclusively 
> through the medium of touch.
>
> Each of the 77 sculptures in the "show", lovingly crafted by South African 
> artist Willem Boshoff, resides in a box that bears a Braille description 
> of its contents. This ensures that the only way sighted people can 
> possibly experience the sculpture is to feel their way around it, while 
> the visually-impaired visitors get a little more information.
>
> Another twist from the norm is that the sculptures represent a range of 
> archaic words, ensuring that visitors have no preconceived meanings or 
> definitions.
>
> "People not only cannot see the pieces, but they don't know the meaning of 
> the words either, so they are forced to use their sense of touch," says 
> the exhibition's co-ordinator Bob Wright.
>
> Blind Alphabet C has been touring the country since 1998, two years after 
> the foundation Art-Sense, its parent company, was formed with the aim of 
> providing educational art that could be appreciated by sighted and 
> non-sighted alike.
>
> The involvement of schools was a major part of the Art-Sense plan right 
> from the outset.
>
> "We've had everything from Key Stage 1 pupils to adults with special 
> educational needs getting involved," says Bob.
>
> "Visitors love to handle the pieces. It means so much more to people than 
> looking at pictures."
>
> Teachers are briefed before all visits so that they are aware of the 
> dynamics of Blind Alphabet C. The wide range of wooden pieces, for 
> example, offer pupils a variety of figurative and abstract objects to 
> experience.
>
> Pupils are always "interested and amused" by the exhibition, says Bob, 
> although the challenge of using touch as the main sense leaves some 
> bewildered.
>
> "Encouraged to feel the pieces with their eyes closed, some people are 
> hopeless at properly examining them," he says.
>
> It's a welcome change to visit a museum where the rules steer well clear 
> of "Do not touch".
>
> Blind Alphabet C is on show in the following museums: North Somerset 
> Museum, Weston -Super-Mare, March 12-April 9; Museum of Reading, April 
> 23-July 23; Prestongrange Museum, Haddington, September 5-October 30
>
>
>
>
>
>
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