Touch-Based Art Decelerates Museum Experience for Accessibility

Artists Kyungmin Kate Lee and Olivia Brouwer challenge ocularcentrism in museums by centering touch and haptic experience. Lee, a Toronto-based artist born in South Korea, shifted from photography to multisensory works after limited vision in her right optic nerve. Her series 'Seen and Unseen' (2023–25) includes 'Transcendence III' (2025), which translates 'I am Korean Canadian' into Braille using wooden modules, and 'Transcendence II (Self-Rewriting)' (2025), which invites physical contact. Lee critiques Sophie Calle's 'The Blind' (1986) for exploiting blind experience. Brouwer, based in Cambridge, creates multisensory installations after partial blindness from a viral infection. Her series 'Soft-Spoken' (2020–22) features canvases embossed with Braille from interviews with blind or low-vision individuals, paired with audio recordings. Works like 'Out of Body (Inkblot Soundscape)' (2022–23) incorporate embossed surfaces and vibration. Both artists advocate for 'crip time' and slowness, reconfiguring curatorial paradigms to prioritize accessibility and embodied knowledge. The article cites Amanda Cachia on a 'politics of access' and notes scientists estimate humans have twenty or more senses.