[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] dance, China, Japan- Yann Arthus-Bertrand

[Lisa Yayla]

Hi,
A couple of excerpt that could be of interest and article about Yann 
Arthus-Bertrand exhibit in Japan. The first excerpt was of interest I 
thought because it was an example of how the artists' exposure to 
deaf-blindness enriched his art and the second of how color blindness 
was seen as a barrier for an award-winning  sculptor  by others.

Regards,
Lisa

effect of deaf-blind on art - dance

http://www.cafebabel.com/en/article.asp?T=T&Id=6076
excerpt from article
Frenak tells me about the maturation of his strongly particular style of 
choregraphy, as his tea cools down on the pedestal table. His parents 
were deaf-blind and as a consequence the first language he learnt was 
that of signs, thus instigating in him a great sensibility towards 
mimics, moves and body language.


extract
http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/features/userobject1ai1881217.html
Zhang became interested in fine art when he was a teenager, wanting to 
enter an academy of fine arts. But in the physical examination before 
the college entrance exam, it was found that he was color blind and was 
not allowed entry any arts academy.
"But my sense of image is still good," says Zhang. "I don't want to give 
it up."
Zhang started his "playing with mud" as a second best choice since 
sculpture does not highly value color. So he tried making sculptures 
with the sticky clay available.
"I found the mud covered rice-wine jars were sticky enough, I removed 
their contents and kneaded them into sculptures," he says.

------------------------




http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20060406TDY18002.htm


  Yann Arthus-Bertrand invents photography you can feel

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A unique exhibition of touchable photos is under way at the Spiral 
Garden art space in Minato Ward, Tokyo, allowing even the visually 
impaired to enjoy experiencing the images.
The exhibition, titled Te de Miru Shashinten: Touch and See, displays 
about 20 photos taken by world-renowned French photographer Yann 
Arthus-Bertrand alongside their touchable versions.
The Touch and See exhibition was first held at the Natural History 
Museum in London in 2003, and later toured Europe.
The photos on display at the Tokyo exhibition include an aerial shot of 
a small, heart-shaped "island" in the marshland of New Caledonia and an 
image of Mt. Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, where a huge statue of Christ 
looks down on the port city from above.
At the venue, Bertrand's original photos and the touchable versions are 
on display side by side.
The touchable pieces are made by superimposing translucent copies of the 
original photos, and then carving out the landscape from the photos 
layer by layer to create a relief version of the image.
French eyewear designer Alain Mikli is involved in the project, adopting 
eyeglass frame production techniques to the photo manufacturing.
Bertrand has long been known for his spectacular aerial photos, and his 
work has been published in top international magazines such as National 
Geographic and Life. He has organized a series of exhibitions in many 
countries under the title of The Earth from the Air.
He launched the touchable photo exhibition after showing The Earth from 
the Air in Paris in 2000. At the venue, he was asked by a visually 
impaired child to explain what his photos were showing. But the 
photographer found it difficult to give an explanation, and became 
determined to come up with a better way of conveying his work to the 
visually impaired, with the final results now the subject of the Spiral 
show.
Until Monday. The venue is a one-minute walk from Omotesando subway 
station. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.spiral.co.jp 
or call Mikli Japon at (03) 3401-7981.