Interactive Playground: Sight Unseen

Interactive Playground: Sight Unseen is an exciting event where people see, touch, feel, talk and hear diverse perspectives on disability through varied art projects. The title of this exhibition originates from the essay "Sight Unseen" by a blind author, Georgina Kleege; this essay illustrates her amazing experience dealing with blindness and describes in vivid imagery what and how she sees. The works in the exhibition reflect this title in various ways including invisible scenes, imaginative landscapes, unpredictable futures, or a different way of perceiving.

This international electronic art exhibition explores the concept of disability through a variety of media like interactive installation, robotic sculpture, electro luminescence installation and video/sound installation. This event aims to encourage well-balanced cultural communication between the disabled and non-disabled communities, and explores how participatory art activity narrows the perceptual gaps between the two communities and ultimately melts the border between them. While visitors enjoy the artwork, they are confronted with many questions. Why do we divide people into two categories: with and without disabilities? Because human beings are imperfect creatures in that we have finite life spans, what is the real boundary that defines "disability" in our society? Why do we need to demolish the invisible border between the two communities?

("Interactive Playground: Sight Unseen" is a part of "Bodies of Work" the Chicago Festival of Disability Arts and Culture 2006, and is sponsored by the Beverly Arts Center, Korean American Women In Need, Chicago Institute for the Moving Image, The Nomura Cultural Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affair.)

Beyond the artworks we appreciate through eyes and ears, Sandra Rosas Ridolfi’s "Untitled" allows audience to enjoy music through heat on their fingertips. A musical note is translated to soft heat. People can feel the melody on each fingertip like playing a piano, while they put their hand on the flat-type device. This creative way of listening music attracts people to enter the Alice’s wonderland.

Kiyoun Kim presents "TOUCH" series originated from her own memory of silent conversations with her friends who have difficulty in hearing. Since the valuable experience which guided her and the friends to be deeply meditated, she started to create works to share the strong feeling. In "TOUCH", the hand-shaped electro luminescence bulbs make patterns of sign language, and the twinkling hands on the wall stimulates visitors’ own memories.

Mika Fukumori approaches the theme of this exhibition in a recreational way with her game device called "Ototenji" translated as "sound braille" in Japanese. This chessboard-shaped device has an intuitive interface that invites participants to learn how to read the Braille in a fun way. On the small table, there are 12 holes where the participants can play with transparent beads to make a Braille character. As soon as the visitor arranges a pattern of beads, it immediately pronounces the meaning while the beads are highlighted.

To enjoy Dmitry Strakovsky’s electronic installation called "(Re)defining Borders No.3", the only thing you need to do is stand in front of it. The piece creates wind patterns of simple geometrical figures and explores alternatives to watching static art work hung on the wall. Close your eyes in front of the cool installation and focus on the whispering of wind. You may pass through the scene of "The Gleaners" (1857) by Jean-Francois Millet.

Michael Erzen, who struggled with blindness until age ten, presents two robotic installations exploring the relationship between sight and altered perception that originated from his own experience. The "Paint Bot" draws abstract patterns of images on a huge canvas based on what the robot sees through his electronic eyes at the gallery space. The other piece "Installation Bot" continuously rearranges pieces of small Styrofoam in a limited space by visitors' vocal commands. These robots symbolize the artist himself, and the entire installation successfully illustrates the dynamics between the being and his surrounding.

Eunsu Kang presents a new living species called "Projector Loquens" which means a communicating projector as a new being. Like Donna Haraway's "A Cyborg Manifesto" (1991) the piece demolishes the conceptual boundary between human and machine to ultimately explain the alternative of Socialist-Feminism in that era. Eunsu's "Projector Loquens" can also be interpreted as a post-human or post-being which is tricky to categorize as disabled or not. Through presenting the hybrid creature "Project Loqens", her distraction on partitioning the boundary between disability and non-disability communities allows us to think about deeper idea of disability.

Philomène Longprè who is interested in virtual character and space where different types of life exist, talks about a space we have never been before but exists around us. "UnderLayers" shows a virtual character living somewhere between and behind the walls at the gallery space. Like the unknown wonderland in the cabinets shown at the end scene of the SF movie "Men in Black II" (2002) by Barry Sonnenfeld, you might imagine that another life or post-being (with no distinction between with/without disability) might live with harmony in Philomene’s interesting wall.

Hisako K. Yamakawa presents an interactive installation called "KOTODAMA" which is an audio interface system that makes spoken words somewhat visible and tactile. "KOTODAMA" inspired by voice bubbles as depicted in comics invites visitors to secretly talk and hear about disability. More secrets cause the bubbles to swell in size, and listening through stethoscope shrinks them down. You already know the famous fable "The King Has Donkey’s Ears". Now, it is your turn.

David Parker's interactive installation "Heartbeat Carillon" uses visitors' pulse to play five transparent carillons. As each individual has heartbeat no matter what s/he looks like and what the person thinks, this common factor all we have creates music of harmony. This live sound ensemble meditates the participants and melts down the distinction between with and without disabilities.

"KARAKURI BLOCK" created by Natsu Kawakita and Nobuya Suzuki uses two small LCD monitor blocks covered with transparent acrylic material, which can be freely placed onto a grid. Beyond the physical gap between the two blocks, animation characters appeared on the monitors move from one to the other based on the arrangement of the blocks. The characters passing through the blocked borders are symbolized to bridging the gap between the two different communities with and without disabilities.

Without the help and support of many people, this exhibition would not have been possible. I would like to express my appreciation to the following:

Jennifer O'Connor (Visual Arts Coordinator / Curator of Beverly Arts Center)

Michael Hardesty (Adjunct Professor, Department of Sculpture, School of the Art Institute of Chicago)

Eva Silverman (Director of Collaborative Programs, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs)

Joshua Flanders (Executive Director, Chicago Institute for the Moving Image)

Tiffany Holmes (Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Technology, School of the Art Institute of Chicago)

Ho Sook La, David Rodriguez, Katherine Bennett, Ho Yun Son, Michael