Wolverhampton Art Gallery, West Midlands, UK

A three-dimensional open rectangular display case is set on a dark background. The title of the box is, shown at the top, 'The Wall Street Journal'. Inside the case are black, red, white and orange objects. At the top left hand corner is a fish, in the top centre a multi-coloured paint splodge, in the middle some slanted lines running horizontally and next to them a Cubist figure which is free standing.

The multi-sensory painting

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A multi-sensory 'painting'

Wolverhampton Art Gallery initiated the revolutionary concept of the 'tactile' painting - a three-dimensional installation of a two dimensional artwork, as part of their development of non-visual methods to explore art. 'The Wall Street Journal', a work by the artist Conrad Atkinson, was selected for the experimental project, and the installation was created by James Hanlon. The piece is not just tactile, but also incorporates an interpretive series of sound tracks, created and recorded by The Dog Rose Trust. The text on the actual picture is read out and complemented by appropriate sounds so that the picture explains itself. The sounds are woven with music specially written for the project by international composer Adrian Williams.

A tactile schematic wood-grained plan of the ground floor of the Gallery is shown. To the left is a large white outline of a hand indicating that the plan is to be touched. Blue, yellow, red and green indicate the different spaces in the Gallery. A white arrow points to the entrance and symbols indicate doors and stairs.

A tactile plan

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Wolverhampton Art Gallery tactile plans

In a parallel project for the same Gallery, the Trust produced laser cut tactile plans of the layout of the building, following designs produced by two visually impaired children. Brightly coloured baize corresponds to the colour of the carpets or flooring in the actual rooms.

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