UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – “Tactile Perceptions, Two Interactive Installations” presents the first iteration of ongoing work by artists and faculty members at Penn State School of Visual Arts, Bonnie Collura and Andrew Hieronymi.
The projects on display at the Woskob Family Gallery from October 27th to 29th, November 3rd to 5th and November 10th to 12th from 5pm to 8pm also deal with notions of immersion and physical engagement and experiential learning as different processes aimed at translating human gestures into art.
Collura’s interdisciplinary project “Together, Tacit” aims to inspire creativity and artistic collaboration among visually impaired, blind and sighted people.
On view is the documentation of two ongoing collaborations led by Collura. One workflow uses a haptic virtual reality glove developed by students in the College of Engineering at Penn State, which uses a vibration feedback system that simulates a sense of sculpting in virtual space.
The movements of the visually impaired participants are translated into three-dimensional markings. The virtual molds are 3D printed and become practical models, which in turn are used by the sighted and partially sighted team members as stepping stones to create new molds together.
The other project presented in the gallery is an analogous collaboration between Laura Shaffer and Collura. Three-dimensional shapes are sewn by Collura and then felted by Shaffer. Seams, textures and edges on these shapes inspire pencil drawings guided by Shaffer’s memory and hand movement. These drawings are shared with Collura, resulting in redesigned textiles inspired by Shaffer’s two-dimensional lines.
Jerome “CONTACT” is an installation game about movement, interaction, perception and the aesthetic sense of coordinated skill. Hieronymi develops installation games in which custom input systems that require full-body engagement challenge participants to understand the game environment.
In “CONTACT,” a single-player installation, oversized dual controllers encourage participants to interact with circular cell-like shapes displayed on a wall projection. With its hard-to-maneuver controllers, sparse graphics and limited player actions, and little sense of reward and progression, “CONTACT” underscores the tension that human-computer interfaces impose on us between agency and limitation in a governed digital game space.
