24 July 2013

Blind art for the sighted

A new exhibition by a PhD student at the University of Dundee exploring the decline of Braille opens this Friday.

'Double Blind Test Series' is an exhibition of print works highlighting the artistic research of David Lyons, a postgraduate student at Duncan of Jordansone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) and a lecturer at the University of Abertay Dundee. The series, which was conceived as a visual investigation of sensually expressive printmaking, will be displayed at Abertay's Hannah Maclure Centre art gallery.

As Braille is a communication tool in decline, David believes that its increasing abandonment opens it to exploration and experimentation, and that this may result in Braille becoming a dynamic form of expression for the sighted - with exhibition visitors experiencing Braille through sight and not touch.

He said, 'With this series of prints I travelled from a narrow interest in Braille to a much broader interest in vision and visions, layering Braille elements, literary texts and the Ishihara Colour Blind test.

'It is my hope that they communicate engaging sensory experiences to people of varied sighted abilities."

David's PhD sees him investigate layered messages and sensory experiences in order to communicate to audiences of varied sighted abilities through printmaking. He is also a lecturer and researcher in Abertay University's Institute for Arts, Media and Computer Games.

For this exhibition, he produced 12 prints that use visual elements from various sources. The layouts and colours are influenced by the Ishihara Colour Blind Test plates and his readings on colour blindness. Selections of text from William Blake, Aldous Huxley and Tom Wolfe are used as visual texture.

Whereas Braille messages are hidden from the sighted, numbers and patterns are hidden from the colour blind. The prints can therefore be experienced differently depending on one's perception.

The prints are visually and tactically expressive, engaging the blind, the colour blind, partially sighted and the sighted.

The exhibition, Double Blind Test Series, is free and open to the public in Abertay University's Hannah Maclure Centre, on the top floor of the Student Centre on Bell Street.

The preview evening takes place from 6-9pm on Friday, 26th July.

The exhibition runs Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm, from July 29th to August 9th.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277