Touch Art Sharing
[The Community Cultural Development Centre was originally scheduled to open Hong Kong’s first tactile art space in February and carry out activities for a year. In response to the novel coronavirus epidemic, the activities have been temporarily postponed to May. Before that, we would like to share some topics related to tactile art]
Tactile Art Sharing 1—Sharing from Tactile Art Pioneers
✦Sharing from pioneers of tactile art✦
In order to launch the new field plan of tactile art in the next year, we met with Huang Guocai and Cheng Zhanwei. As early as 2000, they participated in and curated "Behind the Eyeballs--Exhibition without "Seeing"" in 1a Space, exploring the non-visual side of art. According to their recollections, visitors need to cover their eyes and walk around under the guidance of a tour guide. During the period, they used touch to appreciate the artworks. There was even a big spinning top. After touching it, their hands, which were unconsciously stained with ink, became tools to add new works to the wall next to them. It was very interesting!
In addition to reminiscing, they shared many interesting and inspiring ideas. Among them, Huang Guocai suggested that we try to jump out of the framework of art for people with disabilities and advocate that tactile art is not for visually impaired friends/blind people. We should first open up our interpretation of "blindness". Each of us, now or in the future, is likely to have a certain degree of "blindness", such as myopia, presbyopia, etc. We just wear glasses and think we are "normal". From a philosophical perspective, how can we prove that the images we see with our eyes are real and exist accurately?
Compared to art for the visually impaired, tactile art should focus more on stimulating our sense of touch (tactility). It exists in everyone's life, for example, reflected in architecture and design. The touch of wood gives a warm feeling to the space, the texture of the rim of a water cup affects our drinking experience, and the touch of clothes is close to our skin. Do we pay less attention to the importance of touch because of various sensory stimulations?
Cheng Zhanwei shared with us the experience of the interaction between the Tu Pao Playground and the Hong Kong Society for the Blind Factory. Their project focuses on connection, designing new products to connect the blind factory with schools, and to connect people from different backgrounds, so that we are no longer separate individuals. They also collect stories and appreciate the amazing talents of the masters (it turns out that they know how to make brooms! And they also have dexterous sewing skills), so that everyone can be appreciated and have confidence. Our tactile art project also brings together a group of friends with different visual abilities, who have regular learning gatherings to connect people who originally didn’t know each other. We also think about how to deepen and continue the connection between each person and connect to more different groups.
From his sharing, we can see that the previous tactile art festivals rarely touched on the real life faced by the visually impaired, beyond art and aesthetics. In addition to being visually impaired, they are also members of the working class. In the blind factory, some workers are paid more for their work, and the time spent participating in art workshops means reducing their already meager income. Can tactile art provide an opportunity for us to try to enter other people's lives? Is it a way for visually impaired friends to tell their own stories?
We are very grateful to both of you for sharing your valuable ideas both in theory and practice. After the epidemic is over, we will once again invite artists from Japan, South Korea and more local artists to share their ideas at the seminar. We look forward to your participation!
【Text: KS】
Tactile Art Sharing 2—First Core Learning Group Gathering
✦First core study group gathering✦
Although the opening of the Tactile Art Space has to be postponed, we have already started the first core learning group gathering in January. This is a tactile art learning platform, in the form of monthly gatherings, composed of artists who have participated in the Tactile Art Festival. Members can create and discuss together, and ultimately try to establish teaching methods for tactile art and develop art education for people with disabilities.
At the first gathering, members recalled and shared their experiences of the previous tactile art festivals. A sighted artist shared how he went into the home of a visually impaired friend (who didn’t even know about it at first!), spent two months integrating into and observing the other person’s private life, and guided the visually impaired friend to create, emphasizing that “it is his creation, not my creation imposed on him.” Someone else shared how he first taught a visually impaired friend to do metalwork, and how they grew together; someone else went into the community where his partner lived, and was amazed that the other party could understand the reconstruction and changes of the community through sound.
Among us, the older visually impaired artist was everyone's favorite. He could tell us all the details of his previous works in great detail - "I think tactile art makes me happy. Usually when I touch an object, I always wonder what kind of art I can turn it into?", "I have been blind for more than 20 years. I am used to feeling the world with my hands. When I passed the test, I didn't have fingerprints on all ten fingers. ! 」亦有藝術家充滿創意和想法—「上次我作為失明人士引導一位睇到野既朋友創作，出現點解講極你都唔明既情況，捉住佢隻手佢都唔識做呢！」、「因為思考觸感藝術而重拾支筆，因為失明後都無再寫字，寫到第6行已經手軟，如果不用筆，可以如何表達文字呢?」、 「我期望觸感藝術不只用手摸，可以用patpat、頭髮感受、可以食、可以聞......」
Finally, everyone had a heated discussion on whether the tactile art space should retain visual elements. Some were absolutely opposed to any light and demanded to completely abandon the hegemony of vision, while others believed that vision and non-vision could exist at the same time... Although these discussions were intense, they were still very interesting. By expressing our own positions, we have more thoughts on tactile art. Fortunately, we will have 4 exhibitions and different methods can be tried. This space will be an experimental field, a place to ask questions and think.
【Text: KS】