Connections

This last week in London has been wonderful. I have been traveling around a good bit exploring some new museums. Also, I was able to connect with the Helen Hamlyn Center in the Royal College of Art through a off chance conversation with a student at a bus stop. How amazing is that! At the Helen Hamlyn Center they have research on all sorts of topics including much work with Inclusive Design a program that examines the functionality and feasibility of many products and designs new products for whatever needs arise. I sat down with one of the senior researcher fellows who had actually done exhibitions in the field of art for the visually impaired. She was very helpful and I learned a lot. She gave me several new leads into areas I will be looking into. The only drawback was the book she had written on the topic is in Japanese! Nevertheless, I was glad to have some more face to face time with the people here in London.

This week I am off to Edinburgh, Scotland to continue researching with the galleries, museums, and universities up there! I am definitely going to miss the London scene; the people, the city, the weather! However, I don't think this will be my last time in the great city of London; I'm sure I will be back before I know it! Plus, with such great friends, who are now more like family, it will be hard to stay away... So, one more month to research and collect information then it's state side for me to wrap this project up!

Art... and More Art

In this last week or so I have been traveling around London visiting museums and collecting information. It has definitely been an experience! Between getting caught in the rain, running into some very interesting people and in general, the sensory overload of these museums themselves, I have had a lot to take in. I really have enjoyed it though and I'm glad I chose London over some of the other European cities that were possible research locations.

I am still in the process of setting up a meeting time for a Touch Tour with the Tate Modern. I am definitely looking forward to that experience in the coming week though. I will also be meeting again with a local art student that I met, just to examine ideas with her and discuss the London art scene and all of that. I plan also to begin the arduous journey of exploring the British Museum this coming week. It is the biggest and farthest away of all the major galleries and museums here in London, but, with that I hope to uncover the most helpful information. Also, I am finding that the Tate Archives have interesting possibilities for gather information. Further research that I have begun is looking at the artistic side of "Art for the Visually Impaired" in which, I am assessing the qualities and attributes that work well for individual pieces of art in respect to their non-visual sensory stimulation.