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Sculpture has always been recognized as a tactile practice, but artist Guido Dettoni pushes the didactic boundary of sculpture with his collective creative process, Handsmatter. In this activity, he encourages a group of individuals to give up the visual experience in favor of a heightened physical one. Participants are asked to mold a small pile of black wax as a reaction to some stimuli, ranging from music to the telling of a cultural narrative. Each of these pieces are then digitally photographed and then arranged in a montage by Dettoni to fabricate a larger visual work. While Dettoni’s personal ventures through this methodology are indeed impressive, the introduction of sculpture as a purely non-visual act opens up opportunities for the deaf-blind to engage in artistic creation and community. Handsmatter crosses cultural and physical constraints and leads the way into a nirvana in which inclusion and convergence becomes the basis and inspiration for art.
