The Braille Window Project Presentation
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JOIN US MONDAY, OCTOBER 1st
at 6:15 pm
in room 442 (the conference room)
For a presentation by Anne Walton and Bruice Maguire on The Braille
Window Project.
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Anne Walton is a new media artist and Bruce Maguire is a braille
advocate and publisher. They come to Art Beyond Sight from Australia,
where they recently launched The Braille Window Project on the street
front window of Gallery 4a, in Sydney’s Chinatown district. The
project is conceived with access as its cornerstone.
For three weeks the outside surface of Gallery 4a’s streetfront
window was coated in a semi-transparent braille text, describing the
street and its passing parade of characters. A steady stream of touch-
readers of all ages visited the gallery and agreed to be filmed in
the act of reading the window. After sunset, this footage was back-
projected onto the window, creating the illusion of people on the
other side of the glass, touch-reading its tactile surface all
through the night. At least 5,000 members of the public passed the
braille-coated window daily, countless numbers stopping to look and
listen, to reach out and touch the braille and to talk with touch-
readers.
People who are blind are often tempted to believe that all they need
to do to maximise their lifestyle choices is choose (and buy) the
right combination of technologies. While technology certainly widens
horizons and enhances access, it also carries with it the danger that
more and more time will be spent in the virtual communities of
cyberspace, hidden away from the real bricks-and-mortar of local
neighbourhoods. In the face of an increasing reliance on information
technology in order to feel included, it is more important than ever
to find ways for people who are blind or vision-impaired to stay
grounded in communities of flesh-and-blood people and to make space
and time for creative exchanges and experiences.
The Braille Window Project is on track to become more inclusive with
the incorporation of sound and touch-sensors, but it is already a
significant milestone in the development of a truly accessible
community hybrid art form. Anne and Bruce will be screening an audio-
described and captioned DVD of the braille window project. They will
also be talking about other projects they are researching together,
such as ‘LAB’ – a human/dog guide hybrid – and Bruce will talk
briefly about access to consumer electronics for people with
disabilities and older people, from his perspective as a policy
officer in the Disability Rights Unit of the Australian Human Rights
Commission.
Their trip to the US is supported by the Australian Network for Art &
Technology (ANAT): www.anat.org.au
Anne and Bruce can be contacted at:
brl_ink@bigpond.com
awal_ink@optusnet.com.au