Blind City
Mixed media
15 c-prints and sound
Minimum space needed 300 x 500 cm
1998

We live in a world dominated by sight. We experience space and move from one place to an other using mainly visual information. We can easily disregard other senses. When a blind experiences space he/she has no visual information to use. He/she has hearing and tactile sense.

Different spaces have different kinds of echoes. Different materials sound different. Sounds reveal where one is. A blind cannot experience a space at a glance. To form an idea of a space takes time. It is a process. Echoes tell how far the walls are. Someone opening a door at the other end of the room is a meaningfull event. It is impossible to feel a house at one step. One has to concentrate on detail, shape and material. The white stick of a blind has a ceramic head. When tapped on the ground it makes a sound. This sound is extremely usefull. The alteration of echo reveals when a house dissapears or when one comes to a doorway. The materials of a house tell a blind which house it is.

I followed a blind man. He showed me his routes, the ones he can remember. If he wants to walk from one place to an other he has to remember tremendous amouts of information. My pictures are form the routes of this man. They are images of places where he recognizes where he is or can confirm he is not lost. The sound track is recorded from the same routes.