University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester

A conference organised by Professor of Textile Culture Lesley Millar and the University College for the Creative Arts at Epsom will mark the opening of a major new exhibition at RIBA London on Wednesday 7 May.To coincide with the exhibition HAPTIC - awakening the senses the conference Memory and Touch explores the importance of the sense of touch as a means of communication - that is as textural communication

The term haptic refers primarily to touch but also the engagement of all the senses through the use of carefully selected materials and surfaces in designed objects. These objects often encourage the observer to touch them and discover them with their hands.

Keynote speaker and exhibition curator, Kenya Hara, is Chief Designer at the worldwide design company MUJI, Chief Executive of Nippon Design and also works alongside international architects including Shigeru Ban and Toyo Ito.

Hara, who identified and developed Haptic design, says: “Without resorting to new materials or abstraction we can infer that there is something vital in the domain of the senses. That’s why we can understand the tactile sensation of a scrubbing brush without actually experiencing it.”

Professor Millar explains: “It is possible to ‘touch’ colour: very bright red will create an expectation and somehow the colour will bring some warmth. Some people ’see’ cloth through the sound it makes, the sound when people are walking and the cloth moves against the skin.”

Conference presentations will draw on a wide variety of interpretations, disciplines and experiences exploring the symbolic, cultural, social and technical aspects of textural communication.

Speakers include: Professor Masayo Ave (Estonia Academy of Art) Founder of the Centre for Haptic Interface Design (Berlin University of Art) and creator of the Haptic dictionary; Robert Zimmer and Professor Janis Jefferies, Goldsmiths Digital Studios, (Goldsmiths, University of London); Kate Baker and Belinda Mitchell, School of Architecture and Interior Design (University of Portsmouth); June Hill, Curator, writer; Dr Mark Paterson, Lecturer in Human Geography (University of Exeter) author The Senses of Touch: Haptics, Affects and Technologies

In addition, there will also be a number of short presentations throughout the day and the conference will be chaired by the Editor of Blueprint Vicky Richardson.

Memory and Touch will take place on 7 May 2008 at the Royal Institute of British Architects, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD. Fee: £65 (£25 students limited number) including lunch. To book please contact: Peter Walshaw at the University College, Tel: 01372 202480 or Email: pwalshaw@ucreative.ac.uk.
Link to full story at the University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester

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