Colour, Materials, Trends
LOSING TOUCH
June 2018
“We touch things to assure ourselves of reality.”
Anni Albers, Textile Artist
Raising awareness for a need for tactility, designers are considering ways to put us ‘in touch’ with our senses. We live in an environment of increasing technological developments thrusting smooth, cold screens in every form into our lives, and the rise of virtual worlds blurring lines of materiality and creating uncertainty. Tactile surfaces become almost a necessity.
A sense of touch has not only been found to be an antidote to a growing digital presence, but is beneficial in developing communication and play skills that are increasingly under threat.
Through the introduction of online doctors, the prescription of antibiotics is taking place with no human interaction to check symptoms through touch. Online degree courses mean that we are learning everything from design to medicine on the internet, with all tutorials and submissions being digital. Clothing brands are now sourcing fabrics that look good on screen, putting less consideration into the feel, quality and weight of the textiles.
As it becomes more accessible, the world of virtual reality is quickly becoming a bigger part of our lives. Technology is creating a whole world to explore, but missing the sense of touch as we know it. With most VR sets, the use of simple pushbuttons is the only way to connect with this new world. Professor Slater worked on a project allowing scientists in London and Boston to hold hands through touch technology and found that “touch is the most difficult aspect of virtual environments to simulate.”
‘Distraction Eater’ Studio Philipp Weber is a solid piece of cast glass that resembles a typical smartphone through its shape and size, so it feels as though you are carrying your usual device, but when looked at, shows its surroundings through the clear glass. Though more through the sense of sight rather than touch, this piece is intended to highlight the need to step back from the digital and notice our environments more.
The Institute for New Feeling is “a research clinic committed to the development of new ways of feeling, and ways of feeling new.” The US clinic focusses on engaging the senses through sculptures, products, treatments, video, virtual reality, and digital publications. One of which is a tongue-in-cheek concrete neck pillow – humorous but also encouraging viewers to consider their personal interaction with materials.
“The skin is our largest organ… it lets us appreciate the texture and temperature of our environments.” Biological anthropologist, Professor Alice Roberts
As humans, we crave tangibility. Always wanting touch to reassure, comfort, fulfil curiosities and play. By engaging with touch and playing with objects and materials our spatial awareness and motor mobility skills can be improved, as well as problem solving and wellbeing.
We are obsessed with touch and feel. We want to touch and feel, and be immersed in our surroundings. Everything is smooth, clean, pristine, almost clinical. We need to counteract this with materials that want us to engage more.”
Sally Angharad, Design Writer and Trend Researcher
“Interactive tangibility supports the recognition of oneself as a physical entity that can engage with the material world. I believe tangibility helps one understand and engage with abstract concepts and emotions.”
Adele Orcajada, The SCIN Gallery Material Library
RCA student and visual artist Lucy Hardcastle focusses on tactility, illusions and sensual aesthetics in her sculpture, set design, moving image and digitally rendered pieces, which bridge the gap between the digital and the tangible. She is an artist known for her ‘phygital’ work, blending the highly digital with the physical. This leads to immersive experimental pieces, which have led to recent collaborations with Chanel, i-D Magazine, and exhibits at Milan Design Week 2016 and ’17.
Giles Miller Studio creates surface designs that almost require interaction to fulfil their function. They described their ‘Miranda’ wallcovering, consisting of thousands of tiny plastic hairs that can be brushed in any direction, as “ever-adaptable and the temptation to touch is impossible to resist.” Miller’s designs not only counter a flat wall surface that most are used to, but the flatness of everyday life.
Victoria Ledig’s ‘Softie Wanted’ invites interaction with foam presented in different ways, “creating tangible imagery rooted in play and experimentation.”
Jewellery designer Zoe Robertson examines our relationship with materials through a sensory approach. Materials that evoke physical feeling are popular in her work and pieces are exhibited to be touched and even worn to perform in, displaying their natural properties.