Sense festival and Sencity

Presenting “tactile sonic sculptures” on festivals for deaf, hearing disabled and hearing people: Sense festival and Sencity.

People with hearing disabilities and deaf people, “differently sense abled”, also have their own “multi sensorial hearing perspective”  (artistic research) based on the vibrations they can feel through the body, the skin, the organs and their ears (when they are not completely deaf). The associations and interpretations triggered by the “tactile sonic sculptures” depend on their memories of heard sounds, felt vibrations and experienced sensations (some deaf people still have memories of heard sounds like hearing people have, when they became deaf during their life). People that never “heard” can get memories when feeling sound vibrations connected to specific parts of their body or when touching the sonic sculpture: A deaf Asian woman got memories about her homeland when experiencing gong-like sounds; she recognized the vibrations. Other deaf people got associations with standing in the street surrounded by the vibrations of a big cars and traffic.  I also created more musical rhythmic compositions with industrial sounds and heartbeats. For some people with hearing disabilities it was easier to hear the sounds in reality because they could better concentrate on the heard and also felt sounds. We all hear differently using multi sensory information. (“aural diversity”)

2005    “Sense festival” in Paradiso, Amsterdam:

                              “soundbridge” – installation and  “shortcut”- listening.

sound bridge – installation in Paradiso, Amsterdam

                sound bridge                

sharing the experience of feeling the sounds

sound bridge

But “short cut – listening”  to a  touch – soundscape with body, skin, hands or ears can also be a very relaxing experience for deaf, hearing disabled and hearing people.

 

2006    Sencity, Heerhugowaard:  “super sonic sound scape shoes”installation

“super sonic sound scape shoes” – installation, sign interpreter with balloon.   I asked deaf, hearing disabled and hearing public how they experienced it as part of my artistic research: the “multi sensorial hearing perspective”. (link)