Author(s): Sophie Reid-Singer & Michelle Vine.

Place of Publication: “Soft Touch: Michelle Vine” at Caboolture Regional Hub Gallery (Caboolture).

Format: Interactive projection artwork.

Statement:

Rage is a powerful motivator, but it is exhausting. For Soft Touch (2021–22), an exhibition at the Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, I collaborated with Michelle Vine to develop Snail’s Pace (2021), which reminds one of the importance of taking time to rest and recover. The artwork was inspired by Elizabeth Tova Bailey’s memoir The Sound of a Snail Eating (2010). The book tracks the pace of the snail’s movements during the author’s recovery from a chronic illness: experiences both removed from the speed of everyday life.

Snail’s Pace is an interactive, digital wall projection of a colourful, abstracted landscape, modulated by the movement of people in the gallery as captured on a webcam, hidden high above. Projected as 3.3 metres across and 1.8 metres high, the graphic is a slightly tilted oval shape. To produce the gradually shifting shapes inside the oval, I adhered to the principles formalised in a preceding artwork but at a much-reduced speed, mirroring the pace of a snail.

Vine’s Soft Touch explores our primary vehicle for experiencing the world: touch. Designed with accessibility and inclusivity in mind, her works recreate the child-like wonder of exploring the world through touch. This chapter ends in dialogue with Snail’s Pace because this collaboration made me pause and reflect on disability outside of my own (largely chaotic) worldview.

Findings:

Imagery of cyborgs in this videogame did not emancipate disabled peoples from the strict legal conditions imposed by the Australian Government.

However it had real world positive outcomes. The mayor Peter Flannery visited and made a statement that he was going to continue his commitment to making the community an accessible and inclusive area. A video of his addess is found here: link.

Below is a machinima I created to demonstrate the imagery, making a sharp edge using my webcam.