Impacts of Touch is a personal project consisting of a participatory performance with a complimentary website to create social awareness about the potential unpleasant impacts of social touch.
Impacts of Touch is my graduation project for the Royal College Of Arts MA. The project explored the unobstructive impacts of instant touch and their fundamental relationship with emotions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic many people missed touching and being touched but I noticed how some people were happy with such limitations as they would also prevent unpleasent touches.
My first step was finding the right way to make the instant touch visible and tangible so to transfer the possible emotions within. Accordingly some different materials have been tried, as white and black acrylic paints. However, white was representing mostly the pure and cleanness, and acrylic was leaving a very clean mark on the body which doesn't represent the unpleasant impact exactly. During the material exploration, I decided on charcoal which gives the dispersed effect and leaving a messy, blurry mark on the body for both ends.
I was keen on collecting real and everyday stories that the audience could also find similarities with in their daily lifes without unheeding their emotions through unpleasent touches. I want to point out these nearly invisible but impactful touches, which are always around us and might leave unexpected impacts on more people than we can imagine.
The project evolved into a though-provoking experience which aims to show touchers the possible destructive impact their instant, volatile touch might create. To reach a wider audience, I initiated public performances, to engage and explore people interactions. The goal was to inspire people to be more mindful. in their daily actions.
At first, performances took place in public outdoor spaces to grab the attention.We purposefully withheld information to observe the audiences’ genuine reactions and behaviours, contributing to the project’s ongoing research. After their participation, instructions led the audience to the website with its striking opening question followed by touch stories.
The website hosts a “Share Your Story” page where I continue to collect narratives, encouraging individuals to find their voices. Our everyday actions may impact others more profoundly than we realize: my aim is to foster greater awareness about our impactful actions and everyone’s emotions.
Impacts of Touch website
https://kayaaslanozge.wixsite.com/impactsoftouch
