Unlocking Touch is a participatory binaural (audio) experience, designed for listeners to encounter in their own homes. Through imaginative sound design, an emotionally gripping narrative, and powerful invitations to engage in simple physical practices, the very rooms in which the audience participants live become the setting for this unique story.
The piece journeys through a central character’s (Mary) story and experience of lockdown which centres around different aspects of touch. Unlocking Touch is a ‘touch journey’ through the COVID19 pandemic, a story of restriction and expansion, a compelling story about hope and connectedness.
It is a research-based creative project drawing on a set of touch diaries kept by 14 participants over two to three weeks during lockdown. The piece is centred around four touch zones that emerged from these, and some of the diarists’ experiences, which inspired the fictional script.
This work is undertaken as a part of the InTouch project, a European Research Council Consolidator Award (Award Number: 681489), UCL Knowledge Exchange fund, and Studio Wayne McGregor.
