[Artbeyondsightmuseums] art, haptics, photography

Fri Apr 3 09:46:41 UTC 2009

Hi,

Links to articles about art, photography and haptic devices.

Best regards,

Lisa

excerpt

Touching art: Special Portsmouth exhibit designed for blind, low-vision 
people

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Cunningham/Democrat photo Rick Burns of Berwick, Maine, is among the 
artists showing at a newly opened exhibition dedicated to helping the 
blind have access to art. His piece "Programmed" will be among those to 
be experienced through touch at New Hampshire Art Association's Robert 
Lincoln Levy Gallery on State Street in Portsmouth.

PORTSMOUTH — It's not often that you walk into a gallery and are 
actually encouraged to touch the art.

On Wednesday the New Hampshire Art Association's Robert Lincoln Levy 
Gallery on State Street opened a new "Art Beyond Sight" exhibit that 
features all two- and three-dimensional artwork designed to be 
experienced by the blind and those with low vision.

For the first time the art association collaborated with the New 
Hampshire Association for the Blind to present a show that is open to 
all, but intended to allow those without sight to experience art at its 
136 State St. gallery.

The show is the brainchild of exhibit co-chairs Judy Brenner and Valerie 
Sobel of the New Hampshire Art Association. It opened on Wednesday with 
all of the work being textured paintings, etchings and sculpture.

The juried show features works from artists all over New England and may 
be experienced through touch and through identification cards written in 
braille on the gallery's walls.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090402/GJCOMMUNITY_01/704029720/-1/FOSNEWS

article

ART BEYOND SIGHT held in conjunction with the N.H. Association for the 
Blind, juried exhibit that allows those who are blind, low vision and 
the public to use multi-sensory means to experience art, through April 
30, reception April 3, 5-8 p.m. in conjunction with Art 'Round Town 
gallery walk, New Hampshire Art Association, Robert Lincoln Levy 
Gallery, 136 State St., Portsmouth. Gallery hours: Wed.-Sat.: 10 a.m.-5 
p.m.; Sun.: noon- 5 p.m. 431-4230.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090402-ENTERTAIN-904020304

article

New downtown gallery, boutique opening today

Legally blind artist offering session to help others succeed

PALLADIUM-ITEM

A new gallery and boutique is opening on Richmond's Main Street today.

The ribbon-cutting and grand opening for the Blind Ambition Gallery and 
Boutique will be at 1 p.m. today at 817 E. Main St.

The gallery will offer support and opportunities for people with 
disabilities who create art.

Richmond artist Joyce Acton is leading the gallery. Acton, who is 
legally blind, began painting in 2002 while attending a program for the 
adult blind in Jacksonville, Fla., where she won a scholarship.

After moving to Richmond, she demonstrated her talent at the Independent 
Living Center as part of the organization's celebration of March as 
Disability Awareness Month.

Since then, she has since participated in area art shows and helped 
other artisans who have disabilities.

On April 9, the gallery will offer a workshop discussion targeting 
techniques to market artwork, types of adaptive equipment available and 
overcoming challenges in the creation of art by individuals with 
disabilities.

The workshop will be 12:30-1:30 p.m. April 9 at the gallery, with 
sponsorship by VSAI Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the 
National Center for Artists with Disabilities-UCLA-Los Angeles.

For more information about the gallery or the workshop, call (765) 939-6200.
http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090402/NEWS01/904020320&template=printart

excerpt

Art is Blind
UCD's New Avant-Garde Photographer Proves That You Don't Need Eyes to 
Really See
By: Kindra Weisbrod
Posted: 4/1/09

Once in awhile, genius strikes in the hallowed halls of CU-Denver. In 
the giant mass of potential lies the isolated motivation to strive 
through adversity and meet goals with earnest determination.

Matthew Doyle is one of the few undergraduates who choose boozeless 
studying over wild parties; instead of going out and dancing with hot 
women, Doyle has been feverishly applying for scholarships and grants to 
aid in his project.

Finally, after weeks of anticipation, the 19-year-old Visual Arts major 
got his wish; the Aspiring Photographer Association's envelope was in 
his hand-and with it the funds to reveal his talent to the world.

For months, Doyle worked on something that could potentially change the 
face of photography everywhere. With the much-needed funds in his 
pocket, Doyle single-handedly took to the streets of downtown Denver, 
finding people and places that reflected his perception on his 
hometown's culture.

As a result, his cutting-edge photography immediately gained momentum 
within the visual arts department.

http://www.ucdadvocate.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=7a368cdd-783d-486b-b8e1-932573be4e0d

exceprt
The touch of technology

Akihiro Sato’s “morpheotron” might sound like it belongs in a video game 
or a manga published in his native Japan, but please get the image of 
100 foot tall warrior robots out of your head. The sophisticated 
mechatronic device actually “displays” shapes through the dual senses of 
touch and body position.

“You can program it to display any shape,” explained Sato, who just 
earned his Master’s degree in Engineering. “In the morpheotron, your 
finger rests on an incline plate that rocks back and forth as the 
platform it’s on moves up and down. As your finger is pushed in these 
multiple planes, you feel the programmed shape.”

http://reporter.mcgill.ca/2009/04/the-touch-of-technology/

excerpt
Picking up a good vibration
The project was inspired by Professor Charlotte Reed’s work on the 
Tadoma technique, which can improve communication for deaf-blind people. 
The method involves a practitioner holding their hands to someone’s face 
while they are talking, allowing them to feel the vibrations on their 
face and neck. Professor Reed said: “We were inspired by seeing what 
deaf-blind people could accomplish just using the sense of touch alone.”

In the future, the acoustic processing software may be developed for use 
in existing smart phones ensuring that the price of the technology 
remains low. “Tactile devices can be several orders of magnitude cheaper 
than cochlear implants,” said Ted Moallem, a graduate student working on 
the project.
http://www.labnews.co.uk/laboratory_article.php/4357/2/picking-up-a-good-vibration

excerpt

Vibrating Touchscreen Devices Could Get Braille Tweak for Blind Users
We've written a lot about touchscreen [0] technology, both existing and 
near future, but there's an inescapable limitation if you're a user with 
impaired or zero vision: touchscreens accept your touch, but usually 
respond solely with visual information. Now Finnish scientists have 
devised a way to remedy that, and it's a darn clever re-interpretation 
of Braille.

http://www.fastcompany.com/node/1252257/print