From 14 December 2022 to 20 January 2023, I undertook a residency at Firstdraft as part of their Writers Program.

Project Proposal: This project begins by posing the question, what would sensory closed captioning look like, sound like, or feel like? By responding to the growing theoretical and curatorial interest in sensory art, this project aims to develop ways to convey the haptic, sonic, olfactory, and gustatory dimensions of art through experimental writing. I will explore the potential of synaesthetic perception to produce cross-modal correspondences (or intercommunication) between the senses as a means to facilitate a deeper understanding of an object. An example of this in practice is how a description of a meal can cause one’s mouth to salivate or how an image of food can invoke an impression of its taste.

The project will respond to upcoming Firstdraft exhibitions that feature sensory art to experiment with synaesthetic writing in art criticism. With many arts organisations now including written captions alongside Instagram posts and other visual media, I see this project sitting alongside the increasing drive to encourage accessibility across the arts sector. The project will test the potential of language to express intersensory exchanges while generating an approach to produce sensory closed captioning. 

Project Outcome:

Feeling images and sensing words (2023).

Case Study 1: Monica Rani Rudhar, I Cook A Lot Of All These Foods (2022)

Case Study 2: erincox and blackwd, Our bodies are the instruments (2022)