ABOUT

The project t/here is about different perceptions of space/ environment constructed through subjective experience and social interaction, and conditioned by different states of body and mind.

Western culture is a space that has often been described as dominated by a “hegemony of vision” and stereotypes of “being a normal person”. Space is not a given. Rather, space is constructed and lived differently by varying cultures and people. Under the concept of “style of perception”, social interaction and communication are linked to physical and emotional experiences. Using mainly “normal people’s” schemes of expression and interpretation in perception, communication and interaction, “normal people” constitute and construct their own normalcy of space, a normalcy that facilitates their lives and that makes the environment sociable and comprehensible for them. This process is taken as self-evident by those who belong to the dominant society and their perception thus becomes entrenched as normal space. And this socially constructed normalcy is then naturalized as the only possible way of perceiving the environment. This normalcy creates difficulties for “disabled people”. They create space via their own knowledge, skills, and needs. That is, via the “disabled style of perception” and ritualized interaction and communication. Without these rituals, everyone would be a disabled stranger.

The aim of the project is to explore the differences of perception of the space between “normal” and “disabled” people and to learn and teach one another about different perspectives and standpoints. We want to demonstrate that normality is built on the basis of our approaches and it doesn’t affect the quality of a sensed world.

The photographs were taken by three groups of participants: professional photographers without disabilities, people with different physical state i.e. blind or visually impaired people and participants with different state of mind, in particular autistic people. Each photographer was partnered with one blind or visually impaired and one autistic person. Workshops were based on seven different guidelines, with three of them brainstormed and matched by all participants:

PHOTOGRAPHY
-free
-chosen favorite time of the day
-chosen favorite place
-own and private space
-endless/ infinite
-being alone and among people
-in a photo studio

The pairs were wandering around Merseyside for seven days, exploring spaces/ environments using one guideline per day.

SPECIAL THANKS TO
All our sponsors and partners: The Arts Council England, Henshaws Society for Blind People, Bradbury Fields, Autism Initiatives, Mersey Care NHS Trust
Meike Holzmann, Elaine Stewart, Linda Leonard, Donna Sothern, Amanda Davidson
All our friends and family

VENUE
The works will be exhibited in the gallery at Camp and Furnace from 3rd to 10th May 2013.

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