Staging HAPTICA

Cheryl Akner-Koler, Konstfack, Stockholm

In the KISDtalk “Staging HAPTICA“, guest speaker Cheryl Akner-Koler will elaborate on a three-year artistic research project Cheryl has been leading in cooperation with the Swedish Research Council. The project is about exploring haptic attributes that begin with the study of the hand. Cheryl will present a recent exhibition – “Staging HAPTICA” – where they exhibited their work in two design studios: one dark one and one with light. In the dark studio, an experiential performance was staged where the participants experienced haptic attributes of: a) -the hand, b)- the nose, mouth and throat and c) -the body. In the light studio, 9 parallel projects were shown that applied haptic attributes in, for example, sensitizing labs, design projects, taste laboratories, meal experience, norm critical service design, and vibro-tactile aids. The HAPTICA project is carried out from Konstfack in collaboration with culinary researchers and practitioners from Örebro University, School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science, Sweden.

Cheryl Akner-Koler has a BA from Western Washington State University, USA, and did her PhD on the topic “Form and Formlessness: Questioning Aesthetic in Art Projects, Cross-Disciplinary Studies and Product Design Education“ at Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Sweden. Since 2001, she is Professor in Theoretical and Applied Aesthetics at Konstfack, University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm.

www.haptica.se

www.konstfack.se