In the search of a tactile ideal

25.03.2011

Author Atanas Totlyakov

„In the search of a tactile ideal” is a performance carried out on March 25th, 2011, in the are of the Veliko Turnovo University with students and professors from the University. The main element of the experience are soaps, whose surface has been carved and changed. The choice of the soap is due to its daily use as an object that comes on many occasions with human skin and our touch, yet it is rarely thought through. The focus of attention is towards the transformation of through towards valuing the tactile qualities of an obscure pragmatic object, as the soap is transformed from hard and smooth to soft and slippery upon the touch of water. Furthermore, its shapes is transformed ergonomically under the action of the hands, which opens rich tactile possibilities for experience.


Situation:
- Soaps with previously carved surfaces
- Bucket of warm water
Each participant is blind-folded and by touch selects a soap and starts washing the soap through his or her inner sense of touch.
The action is accompanied by a reading of the poem of Russian poet Henrich Sapgir “Tactile opus.” It is the time of one reading of the poem that sets the temporal frame for the interaction of the participant with the soap, which is then passed on to the next pair of participating hands.