Tactile contact is ten times stronger than verbal or pictorial contact and affects almost everything people do. It stimulates them most strongly of all the senses.
(Bernadeta Niesporek-Szamburska, Senses in Communication. Speech and its determinants)
HAPPY* is an invitation to explore the world of touch. The interactive installation at TRAFO Center for Contemporary Art in Szczecin focuses on the haptic experience of materials and textures through a system of tiflographic modules and matrices. The project develops the tactile perception ability of those taking part in the interaction, allowing them to navigate through structure and texture, providing an alternative form of perception of space and objects. The HAPPY* system, developed as an educational and therapeutic tool as part of the author’s doctoral dissertation, is dedicated to institutions and environments working with visually impaired people of all ages. The tool’s modular and scalable design allows the installation to be flexibly adapted to the specific needs of audience groups, supporting the inclusion of users with different perceptual abilities and opening a dialogue between sighted and blind participants in the experience.
HAPPY* raises questions about the limits of cognition and perception, suggesting that excluding sight from the perception process can enrich our experience of space and matter. The installation proposes a new form of tactile narrative, in which each module – through its texture, temperature and resistance — creates a unique story, requiring the viewer’s full engagement and tactile sensitivity.
By turning off our sight even for a moment, are we able to see more?
