The Head 头
Social media platforms have been touted in popular press as the most transformative and revolutionary type of communication technologies in the 21st-century. Often framed in Utopian terms, these web-based services are thought to enable individuals to connect with each other in ways that have the potential of dismantling old power hierarchies. The promises of these new channels for transmitting information have shaped the creation, display and distribution of art: in addition to using social media tools to keep in touch with their real and virtual bases of observers, artists also make artworks with these technologies. However, the most popular social media platforms are designed for certain kinds of interaction. For people with physical disabilities, accessibility to these tools can be severely limited. These internet-based channels for sharing and exchange are thus not as barrier-free as they are often made out to be.
“The Head” explores the limits of social media tools as they are used by people who are blind. It is an attempt by sculptor Victor Tan Wee Tar to bring his art to the virtual spaces of the Internet where it can be seen by both sighted and blind observers. Tan, who is visually impaired, focusses his art practice on creating 3D forms with metal wires, doing so primarily by touch. As such, his works have a strong tactile dimension. To experience this dimension of Tan’s art, however, an observer needs to be in the same physical space as the artwork. “The Head” looks into the possibilities of how this art can be experienced in the virtual spaces of the Internet.
Central to “The Head” is a large wire sculpture in the shape of a human head (medium: 316 stainless steel and rod, dimensions: 115 x 102 x 148 cm). Victor Tan begins the creative process with a wire frame, paying close attention to scale and proportion. He then strengthens it with thick wires before weaving in finer ones. Like creepers seeking anchor points, the wires extends across gaps, giving the surface of the sculpture an appearance that may seem chaotic to the sighted observer, but will “make sense” to someone who explores it by touch.
Observers are asked to interact with the sculpture. Specifically, they are invited to place their bodies inside the wire frame head. With the aid of accessibility features on his phone camera, Tan takes photographs of the interactions, creating digital documents of the event. He then broadcasts the pictures on Twitter, and asks those whose photos have just been tweeted to respond with Tweet descriptions of what they see. These written descriptions allow Tan, as well as blind observers of the work, to experience the photographs. The pictures are uploaded to a Tumblr page, where they are stored for future viewing.
As it is currently set up, “The Head” is a work-in-progress that will likely change in response to observer feedback and “user experience” of the Internet tools. Other than Victor Tan, “The Head” involves the collaborative work of artist Teow Yue Han and writer and researcher Yow Siew Kah, the former conceptualises and executes the social media dimension of the work, while the latter will provide written updates.
Written by : Yow Siew Kah
社交媒体平台被大众媒体吹捧为 21 世纪最具变革性和革命性的通信技术类型。这些基于网络的服务通常用乌托邦式的术语来描述，人们认为它们使个人能够以有可能瓦解旧权力等级制度的方式相互联系。这些新的信息传输渠道的承诺塑造了艺术的创作、展示和传播：除了使用社交媒体工具与真实和虚拟的观察者保持联系之外，艺术家还利用这些技术创作艺术品。然而，最流行的社交媒体平台是为某些类型的互动而设计的。对于身体残疾的人来说，使用这些工具可能会受到严重限制。因此，这些基于互联网的共享和交流渠道并不像人们通常认为的那样无障碍。
《The Head》探讨了盲人使用社交媒体工具的局限性。这是雕塑家 陈为达的一次尝试，将他的艺术带入互联网的虚拟空间，让视力正常和失明的观察者都可以看到。 陈为达患有视觉障碍，他的艺术实践主要集中在用金属线创建 3D 形状，主要通过触摸来完成。因此，他的作品具有很强的触觉维度。然而，为了体验谭艺术的这个维度，观察者需要与艺术品处于同一物理空间。 “The Head”探讨了如何在互联网的虚拟空间中体验这种艺术的可能性。
“头”的中心是一个大型人头形状的铁线雕塑（中号：316不锈钢和杆，尺寸：115 x 102 x 148厘米）。 陈为达从线框开始创作过程，密切关注规模和比例。然后，他用粗线加固它，然后编织更细的线。就像爬行动物寻找锚点一样，电线延伸穿过间隙，使雕塑的表面看起来对有视力的观察者来说可能看起来很混乱，但对于通过触摸探索它的人来说却是“有意义的”。
观察者被要求与雕塑互动。具体来说，他们被邀请将自己的身体放在线框头部内。借助手机相机上的辅助功能，陈为达拍摄了互动照片，创建了该活动的数字文档。然后，他在推特上播放这些照片，并要求那些照片刚刚在推特上发布的人在推特上描述他们所看到的内容。这些书面描述让谭以及作品的盲人观察者能够体验这些照片。这些图片会上传到 Tumblr 页面，并存储在那里以供将来查看。
按照目前的设置，“The Head”是一项正在进行的工作，可能会根据观察者的反馈和互联网工具的“用户体验”而发生变化。除了陈为达之外，《The Head》还涉及艺术家 Teow Yue Han 和作家兼研究员 Yow Siew Kah 的合作作品，前者构思并执行作品的社交媒体维度，而后者将提供书面更新。
Written by : Yow Siew Kah