This workshop project aims to ‘defamiliarize’
part of our body by making it into a lifeless object. Even though we can touch one of our hands with the other, we can
never feel either of our hands with our two hands. By giving a chance to do this, I hope that the participating
audience will re-discover their body. I
will allow those ‘hands’ exhibited to be touched by visitors to the show. Each hand will have a name of the original
owner.
This project has two parts: the first part is a
mould making workshop where the participants have a chance to experience one of
the basic techniques of body casting; and the second part is an exhibition
where the hand casts made after the workshop will be shown. The second part will be accompanied by a
follow-up workshop for the participants of the first part.
All the
hands will be returned to the original owner after the show or the follow-up
workshop.
1) Workshop (up to 20 participants per session)
In this workshop, the participants will make moulds of their hands. To make a mould, I will use Dust Free Alginate. Alginate is widely used by the dentists to take an impression of teeth. It is safe to use directly on the skin, and is water based. When mixed with water, Alginate will become thick paste, and it will set within 2 - 3 minutes. While Alginate is setting, the participants are allowed to move their hands in the Alginate since this would not affect the result unlike other mould making materials. This means that even a small child who normally finds it difficult to keep still can take part in this workshop. I have already experimented with a 7-month old child.
Using
Alginate is one of the most basic techniques employed by the sculptors to make
casting. So, this session aims to
introduce participants to this technique and, by doing so, I hope, they will
get to know how some sculptures are made.
2) The exhibition with a follow-up workshop
After
the mould making workshop, I will make castings of hands by using Cristacal ‘R’
Plaster which is hard and durable.
Then, before the show, each hand’s surface will be sealed by using
waterproof PVA to make it touchable without causing damage to the surface.
Each
hand with a small plinth at the bottom will be securely screwed on the wall,
and the audience are invited to touch them.
Please see the images attached.
The
participants to the first workshop will be offered a follow-up workshop. This workshop can be organised in two
different setups.
One
setup is to ask the participants to divide into pairs. Then, one member of each pair is asked to
wear a blindfold. The partner in the
pair will guide the blindfolded person.
With a help from the other, the blindfolded participants are asked to
find their hands. In this setup, the
aims are as follows: 1) to encourage the participants to re-discover their
hands through the experience of touching them with both their hands; 2) to learn the fact that the sight is not the
single most important sense, and that touching can tell them a lot; and 3) to
experience guiding the blind (or the blindfolded) person.
The
second setup can be done when the participants of the mould making workshop are
all children. In this setup, the
participants are asked to come with their parents/guardians. While the parents/guardians are wearing the
blindfold, children are allowed to touch the hands and asked to find their
own. Then, the children are asked to
guide their blindfolded parents/guardians to the hands and ask their
parents/guardians to identify their own children=s hands. The aims are mostly the same as in the first
setting, but with one addition: to change the power relation between the
children and their parents/guardians by making the latter wear blindfold. By doing so, I hope that the children can
learn how to take responsibility and the parents/guardians can learn how to
trust their children.