Tactile Art Studies

Can art be a purely tactile experience?

In the art world, it is extremely rare that art is meant to be touched. There are several reasons for this, but the primary reason is that we, as people who love art, feel the weight of art's truly ephemeral and fragile nature. By touching most art, we would be the agents of its destruction. We would be robbing those who come after us of an experience of beauty. And in truth, for any art, physical contact by its very nature, does exactly that. Touching something will destroy it over time, and much more quickly than if it were only touched by the light necessary to experience the work of art visually. With the exception of outdoor and public artworks, of which the vast majority are impossible to fully experience with one's sense of touch, there are very few examples of art designed to withstand being experienced with the sense of touch. Why are there no wings in modern museums with touchable art? If artists so chose, they could create works that could be experienced with the sense of touch and withstand the test of time. Even for those who fear contagions, it's acceptable to touch a door handle, why not art? Perhaps this rift between what could be and what is currently accepted is historic. The sense of touch has never truly been associated with art. But one of the hallmarks of art is that it changes and evolves. Not only does art change, but the definition of art changes. Perhaps this chasm is simply because there has yet to be a movement of artists who create tactile art.

"Touch could well be the very sense most suitable for the functions of modern art.”

-Jan Švankmajer, 1983

This image represents a 2.5 x 2.5 inch tactile art card. The lines and shapes are shadowed intending to convey a three-dimensional appearance and indicate that they are in relief. The outline of the work is a square with tightly rounded corners. The title of the piece (Choice) in braille and the artist’s signature are in the bottom right corner along with a version number, in this case 0/250 since this is not an actual print. This artwork intends to convey a tactile experience by following the different paths embossed in the card through different textural environments. This piece contains lines extending from the small circle (about a quarter of an inch in diameter) in the bottom center of the card that fork into different pathways. Textures lie on either side of many of the lines, forming a tactile experience as one moves their fingers down each path. There are six different paths. They all start from the center circle.

Choice, 2023

2.5" x 2.5" embossed, spot UV coated card, edition of 250

Choice invites you to abandon your intuition and desire for a visual experience and to use your sense of touch. Art meant to be touched creates an experience that is necessarily narrative. Your fingers don't allow for the perception of an artwork as a whole without the benefit of contemplation that time affords. Choice asks you to truly engage with this artwork to experience it.

This piece a 2.5x2.5 inch square card with tightly rounded corners. The card has a circle in the bottom center. The title of the piece (Out) in braille and the artist’s signature are in the bottom right corner along with a version number, in this case 0/250 since this is not an actual print. This artwork intends to convey a story using tactile shapes. The card has a smooth, velvety texture, and the shapes are lightly embossed. A circle, a quarter inch in diameter is in the bottom center. A path extends upwards from the circle. The path then becomes surrounded by the points of six triangles with a smaller circle in the middle of them. The path continues with a circle encountering another triangle blocking the path. Behind the triangle there is a square with vertical lines and the circle inside. Continuing down a path to the left the small circle is surrounded by the square but now with expanding rings around it. Continuing further down the path, the center circle has rings that expand again, now taking up a third of the card. The path winds and ends in another circle with a missing dot in the middle. This is the story: The world is cloaked in darkness. As you venture forth, you find yourself surrounded by enemies. One by one, they fall to your sword. Now exhausted, your final foe manages to subdue you. Taken in chains to a prison to await your fate, you begin to meditate. Gathering your energy, you feel the swell of life within your body. A wave of ethereal power bursts from your hands, disintegrating the bars that hold you. As you recover, your mind clears. Your power grows and your control deepens. Your strength pushes away the evil forces that had surrounded you as you return home.

Escape, 2023

2.5" x 2.5" embossed card, edition of 250

Can a story be told using tactile art? Glyphs can tell a story visually, but can that translate into the tactile realm? Can an artist craft a narrative using touch alone?

This is a tactile representation of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. A mountain stands in front of swirling wind and clouds, the stars shine with small strokes of thick paint. A village is in the foreground with rolling hills. Van Gogh used many small strokes of thick paint to form the painting. The resulting image is a very stylized view of the scene. The swirling clouds are probably the most present feature of the scene. The mountain is in dark contrast to the blues and whites of the clouds and night sky. The moon shines bright in an exaggerated crescent.

Starry, 2023

2.5" x 2.5" embossed, spot and dusted UV coated card, edition of 250

Can visual art be successfully interpreted into the tactile realm? Are relief and texture sufficient to capture the essence of a visual artwork? Or are more tactile parameters needed to approach the full richness and variety of visual art? If so, what are the other modes of tactile communication that we would need to employ, and how would it be done?

This piece a 2.5x2.5 inch square card with tightly rounded corners. The card has a circle in the bottom center. The title of the piece (Sense) in braille and the artist’s signature are in the bottom right corner along with the edition number, 250/250. A perfect ring graces the card. Thick waving lines flow in and out of that ring. A shape like a river flows out of the ring from the other side of the waving lines. Dots pop larger and smaller outside of the ring, while a thin strand drags a row of planets that descend in size as they approach the ring. The strand continues past where the planets stop and curves in and out of the ring before extending off the edge of the card. A small strand twists back and forth next to the river. A thick quarter moon ring shows in the corner.

Sense, 2023

2.5" x 2.5" spot UV coated card, edition of 250

Can an abstract tactile experience approach the detail and richness of visual art? We have fundamental limitations in the resolution of our sense of touch that aren't present in a meaningful way in a visual work of art. We can only perceive a limited portion of an artwork at a single time with our sense of touch. There's also a limit to the minimum size of a tactile feature. Visual art can contain an extreme amount of complexity and detail in a small area, but since the highest resolution mode of experiencing tactile art is using our fingers, there is a limit to the level of detail we can perceive at a single time with touch. Taken as a whole, a tactile work of art can certainly achieve a similar level of detail and complexity as visual art, but can that be truly appreciated? Could tactile art become prevalent enough that the experience and ability of artists and patrons of art becomes sufficient to appreciate the esoteric?