TouchTheSound – An Itinerant Tactile Exhibition
TouchTheSound is creating a traveling tactile exhibition designed to explore sound as vibration through direct contact with musical instruments. The exhibition aims to enhance and develop tactile perception. Its first installation took place at Centro Asteria in Milan as part of the XV Festival Corde d’Autunno 2024.
Section 1: Ways of Touching
The first section focuses on different ways of touching, offering exercises to heighten tactile listening. Visitors interact with various artifacts, each with distinct textures and sonic properties. Accompanying each object is a text with exercises designed to guide interaction.
Section 2: Exploring Strings
The second section is dedicated to strings, allowing visitors to explore the diversity of materials used in string making. They can feel the differences in elasticity and tension and observe how materials wear over time. The exhibit highlights the distinct characteristics of nylon, gut, and metal strings.
Section 3: Guitar Components
The third section invites visitors to explore unfinished guitar parts, such as the neck, sides, soundboard, and bridge. By using tuning forks, participants can listen to and feel the vibrational responses of these different components.
Section 4: The Guitar as a vibrating object
The final section focuses on guitars, not only as instruments for producing vibrations but also as resonators that respond to surrounding vibrations. Some guitars in the exhibit are used to capture ambient vibrations, demonstrating their sensitivity to external sound sources.
Section 5: Play with touch
The exhibition concludes with a playful section featuring tactile and musical games among participants, fostering an engaging and interactive sensory experience.
