The word ‘imagine’ has root in the word ‘image’ – it is a word with a strong visual connotation. What happens when we try to imagine touch? More often explored in the emotionally-loaded context of human interaction, what happens when the act of imagining touch is distilled and ‘researched’ by the audience in a gallery context? Is it possible for ‘the mind’s eye’ to become ‘the mind’s hand’?

A series of textured squares are displayed in series, with accompanying text encouraging the audience to experience each square in turn, first with visual attention, then via touch. The black squares vary only subtly in shade, the dark surfaces requiring close attention to discern the differences between their textures. As visitors progress along the sequence, they have the opportunity to notice a shift in their perception, perhaps towards a more embodied state. If the work is visited more than once and the textures become familiar this simply adds another layer to the experience, prompting questions about how memory and imagination interact in this simplified context. The artist hopes that many of the people introduced to The Texture Game will begin to play their own versions of it in their everyday environments.

This work was created for Making Sense, an exhibition curated by Freya Boittier at Old Paradise Yard.

Photographs by Freya Boittier.