Cloth books

The Art of Darkness blog had a post about making children's cloth books
http://www.shadowmanor.com/blog/?p=12484
specifically, the soft books which have things little kids can do, such as tie things, remove things, etc., but the post describes a woman who makes these books with "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" themes.

It occurred to me that this kind of book is innately accessible to readers who read through touch, and that this concept could be adapted to make a book for an adult. There could be a winter solstice themed book, with fake fur, pine needles, and mulled spice scent, or a cutesy "I love you" sort of book (one could even use those felt letters used for kids' clothboards), one could make a science fiction book with robots with cut-out squares of aluminum foil and tiny electronic parts, or one could make a horror book with cut-out monsters. One could even make an erotic cloth book. Any of these could also be adapted to making pages mini-collages which were more intended to be experienced as abstract tactile designs.

Tactile tour of Arisia art show

Cross-posted to the Arisia LJ

This year we will once again be having the tactile tour of the Arisia art show. While the precise day and time has not yet been scheduled, we already have our volunteer docent and we are arranging to provide cotton gloves for the participants.

If you are an artist who wishes her or his art to be experienced by those with vision or other sensory impairments during the tactile art show, there should be a checkbox on the Arisia art show entry form which allows you to communicate this to the organizers. Only art which has been expressly allowed to be touched will be included in the tactile art tour. Artists are also encouraged to be present during the tour, and may give a very short explanation of their work if they so desire (a couple of sentences works well with our time limitation).

This tour usually lasts an hour, sometimes a little over an hour. People without sensory impairments are very welcome to attend the tour but, since the size of the group has to be limited in order to move through the show, priority is given to people with disabilities.