Radcliffe exhibit turns touch into sight
“Calm. Smoke rises vertically” at Radcliffe Institute’s Johnson-Kulukundis Family Gallery gives visitors permission to use the sense least indulged at most art exhibits: touch. By combining a tactile theme with art, architecture, and innovation, artist Wendy Jacob RI ’05 has created an exhibit designed for the sighted, sightless, and hearing-impaired. For the hearing and hearing-impaired, “hotspots” on the walls provide live-stream NOAA broadcasts and emit vibrations when they are touched; another hotspot allows visitors to experience the ever-changing climate outside. Within this single room at the institute’s Byerly Hall gallery, the artist has opened the door to inclusivity through social connections and shared experiences. It is here that “touching can be synonymous with seeing.” The best advice for visitors: keep your gloves at home. Jacob, who was the Mary I. Bunting Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute in 2004–2005, spoke about her work and what she hoped to accomplish in “Calm. Smoke rises vertically.”...