Seeing Away  | 2016

MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA

There is no precise English equivalent for the Dutch verb tasten, a word that could be compared to “rummage,” or the action of searching with ones hands in the dark. Seeing Away explores a perceptual process that amalgamates several senses: sight, taste, and touch are unified, producing an unexpected experience of familiar objects, environments, and communication modes, defamiliarizing the spectators to their environment.

Participants wear custom-made spectacles, so-called "bed specs" – spectacles designed for reading lying down in bed to read – and engage with food, writing tools, and other everyday objects.