The Emotional Echo in the Old Objects

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Summary

In the contemporary art field, making emotions tangible is a frequently discussed topic. The large-scale fiber sculptures created by Panamanian textile artist Katrina allow viewers to touch and embrace them. The textiles bring about a sense of intimacy, warmth, and joy, regulating the emotions of the viewers. Therefore, this toolkit is inspired by the "tactile emotions" in Katrina's artworks and combines this mechanism with the emotional memory attributes of old objects, allowing participants to experience the flow of emotions by touching their own old items.

Introduction & Aim

This is an open toolkit that helps individuals retrieve their memories and emotions by touching old objects. They allow absent people or vanished scenes to remain in the present in the form of “objects”, providing people with a sense of security and a mental transition. By touching them, individuals can draw calmness and energy from them. This toolkit is inspired by the “tactile emotions” concept in Katrina’s artworks. It combines this mechanism with the emotional memory attributes of old objects, allowing participants to experience the flow of emotions by touching their own old objects.

Choose to read the case of relevant artist

Panamanian textile artist Katrina Sánchez specializes in soft sculpture creation. She explores themes of healing and emotion through textures, knitting, and colors. Her works often delve into the concepts of group interaction and play therapy. Textiles provide a sense of collective intimacy, warmth, and joy. She hopes that participants will view the act of embracing the sculptures as a way to heal trauma and feel their own emotions, thereby re-establishing their inner connection with the surrounding world.

You can click the link: https://katrinasanchez.com/

Preparation: Don’t forget to take your own objects!

(These objects hold deep emotions for you and are of the greatest significance to you!)

Let’s do some games! Follow these steps! Participants from any background or with any major can join in!

Step 1: Anonymous item placement (2 minutes)

Participants place the objects they brought into a unified bag without any names or explanations. Randomly rearrange the objects to maintain anonymity.

Step 2: Extract objects + Silent observation (4 minutes)

Each participant randomly receives an object (not their own) and conducts a quiet observation.
Follow these three guiding sentences. Participants only need to write down key words on a small piece of paper.

Here are some guiding sentences you can use:

• “The atmosphere of this object is like…”

• “It reminds me of…”

• “What has this object experienced…”

Step 3: Select emotion cards anonymously (3 minutes)

Display emotion cards (such as: nostalgia, calmness, shyness, guilt, relief, anticipation and so on.).

Each participant selects the emotion card that best represents the “object in their hands”, and attaches the emotion card to a note placed next to the object.

emotinal cards shot by the author

Step 4: Choose the matching audio and engage in self-meditation (3 minutes)

Here are some audio ! The style of each audio matches with the emotion on each card. Please choose the audio that matches your emotion! Listen to the right one and let the atmosphere it creates help you enter the moment of your memory and feel the flow of your emotions at that time.

If you feel happy, listen:

Lonely:

Sad:

The participants can close their eyes and touch the object in their hands again with the audios.

Listen to the slowly guiding:

• “What physical sensations does this object bring to you?”

• “How is its emotion different from the one you have?”

• “Have there been any new, slight emotional changes?”

Classroom discussion (2–3 minutes)

Express your emotional feelings aloud, allowing your body to experience the changes in emotions, and at the same time enhancing the interactivity among the participants. Also, returning to the contemporary art field mentioned at the beginning, making emotions tangible is also a frequently discussed theme. Many artists create artworks or exhibitions using the old objects they have collected. Participants can try to use the perception steps of this class to feel the emotional flow in the hearts of contemporary artists.

Some cases you can see: https://www.acrylicize.com/perspectives/in-conversation-with-stuart-haygarth

Quick summary:

• Different objects bring different emotional projections.

• Everyone’s old objects is the medium through which we understand our own emotions.