Touch II was the piece I submitted for the 2013 RBC People’s Choice Emerging Artist Award at the Gardiner Museum. An explanatory post card directed participants to choose a piece that appealed to them from the wall installation and take it down and handle it. The forms of the pieces were deliberately altered with indentations and dimples to encourage the user to explore and run their hand along the surface of the pot. Participants were then encouraged to turn towards a photo kiosk and have their picture taken with the piece.
Through a touch pad on the kiosk, participants could send the photo digitally to themselves or share on social networks to remember the experience. In this exhibition, the photo kiosk became the impetus the audience needed to give themselves permission to touch the work in a typically formal gallery setting. It is interesting to note that over the course of the exhibition run there was no breakage or theft of the work.
Through a touch pad on the kiosk, participants could send the photo digitally to themselves or share on social networks to remember the experience. In this exhibition, the photo kiosk became the impetus the audience needed to give themselves permission to touch the work in a typically formal gallery setting. It is interesting to note that over the course of the exhibition run there was no breakage or theft of the work.
