Sat 21 August 2021:
With The Blind Spot, artist Jasper Udink ten Cate and experience designer Jeroen Prins want to contribute to a more accessible society.
They present a ‘4D art experience’ for both sighted visitors and visitors who are visually impaired or blind. The 4D artworks do not focus on looking, but appeal to other senses – smell, hearing and touch.
Guided by an audio tour, visitors are encouraged to actually touch the artworks and thus literally feel the food and the differences between light and shadow. The works are based on original still lifes: Still life with fruits, nuts and cheese by Floris Claesz. van Dijck (c. 1613, Frans Hals Museum collection) and Still Life (tray with apples) by Bart van der Leck (1921, Centraal Museum Utrecht collection).
Visitors to the Dutch exhibition “The Blind Spot” may describe it as “cheesy,” but they mean it in a positive way.
The exhibit recreates existing paintings but with extra dimensions, such as sound and smell – including the aroma of ripe cheese. And for once, museum-goers are allowed to touch.
A Dutch exhibition titled ‘The Blind Spot’ aims for blind and visually impaired visitors to appreciate art by touching and smelling https://t.co/gKF53zT0Bl pic.twitter.com/sPP7NrcI91
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 17, 2021
Sighted visitors are encouraged to wear a blindfold as they experience works including a version of the 1610 “Still Life with Fruit, Nuts and Cheese” by Floris van Dyck.
“The first thing that struck me was the smell,” said Farid el Manssouri, who is visually impaired, smiling after he ran his hands over cheese, grapes and a bread roll made into objects from Van Dyck’s original canvas.
“I could really smell the cheese, and I touched it too.”
El Manssouri pondered how the table was slanted yet the food did not fall off. “That was really surprising to feel … I guess it was glued on pretty well.”
Artist Jasper Udink ten Cate and designer Jeroen Prins said the idea came when they served food to accompany an artwork, and a blind woman visiting was very moved.
“That moment was the starting point,” Ten Cate said.
Steffie Maas, the museum’s head of inclusivity, said Blind Spot was one experiment on the way to more improvements, with better accessibility and facilities as important as the display.
“I think it’s an amazing experience, which is, to my idea, quite unique in the Netherlands,” said another appreciative visitor, Bas Suurland. “It triggers the other senses, other than visual sense.”
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