TOUCHABLE ART GARDEN FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

SCI-Arc | Sensory Garden Workshop | Fall 2018

Instructor : Pavel Getov, Scott Uriu

In most cases, the visually impaired have rare opportunities to physically touch and feel art in their normal day-to-day life. Those with vision loss would often be prohibited from touching the artwork in museums or art galleries, making art a sphere of influence that is even less out of touch for them. However, the sensory garden of the New York Branch of Alphapointe is able to change this dynamic, art can finally be accessible to those who have been rejected from experiencing art in regular museums and galleries. The solution is simple, by interpreting paintings as grey-scale and translating its color range into three-dimensional reliefs, these panels can now become touchable, allowing those with vision loss to be able to sense textures and patterns that they have not experienced before.

In order to allow visitors to immerse themselves within the artwork, the aluminum panel is pressed by a CNC milled relief which is then attached to a 3/4” thick steel panel adhered to a bench on either side. Since each art relief is made detachable from the bench itself, the Alphapointe Branch is able to change the paintings at whim.

Regardless of vision loss, the relief panel is absent of color allowing visitors to be able to experience the same art in different yet equally powerful ways.