TACTILE CRITICISM

I have trouble decifering most texts from contemporary art critics. I think the issue is the limitation of language when it comes to describing the inexpressible. But that is not the only one: there seems to be a general lack of a sense of mission among art critics. Why are you writing about art? Is it simply to express your taste? Is it just because you like writing? Or perhaps you were just fooled into believing it could be a profession.

So art critics, I have a new challenge for you: help me achieve catharsis. Help me look at a thing, a thing for which I have some liking and a sense of attraction, and lead me beyond mere visual pleasure until I reach a profound aesthetic enlightenment. Be free to use any means necessary. Anything that is, except for word; no words allowed. Try something new: try touch-teaching me.

For the bold touch-critic that will pick up this challenge,  I have devised a small device: a Tactile Cube. This Tactile Cube is a little box with a hole. The box conceals what is inside and it is applied below or next to a work of art. It is crucial that the viewer does not see what is inside the box so as to not add visual distraction.

The viewer inserts his hand into the hole and feels something as he looks at the image. The feeling is the art critic’s message as it relates to the image. As you feel an object and look at another you experience “An-aesthesia“. This has nothing to do with “Synaesthesia”: a state of confusion among different sensory modalities.With An-aesthesia you focus simultaneously on two sensory inputs and your mind goes blank. While your mind goes blank, all is clear: the critical message or teaching is deeply understood without the aid of words.

I wonder if there is an art critic out there that would stand up to the challenge and pick up this new school of touch teaching. The Tactile Cubes are on me.

Ronald Lewis Facchinetti

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