Artist Gives His Completely Blind Friend A Personal Tactile Tour Of His Venice Exhibition

This year, the ‘City of Canals’ is hosting an extraordinary solo exhibition - “Venice 3024” by artist Daniel Arsham at the prestigious 60th Venice Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa.

The American contemporary artist, known for his statement that 'art is for everyone,' just proved it once again when, during his new exhibition in Venice, he held a tactile tour for his friend Dr. Hoby Wedler, who has been completely blind since birth.

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On April 19th, Daniel Arsham shared a video on his Instagram account where people could see how the artist carefully led Dr. Hoby Wedler toward one of his signature sculptures. "I gave my friend Hoby a tour of the exhibition in Venice. Hoby can hear space," was written next to the video.

In the video, Arsham can be seen guiding Dr. Wedler's hands up the sculpture and explaining that the artwork is from a series based on Star Wars. Wedler, who's known for his work as an American chemist, educator, and entrepreneur, seems overwhelmed with emotion and is continuously asking questions. Curious about what kind of stones are incorporated into the sculpture, he mentions that from the texture he could assume that they were quartz crystals.

Arsham not only does a truly beautiful job with patiently explaining the details but also by giving Dr. Wedler space to discover the art piece for himself. When the artist finally moves Wedler’s hands up the bust, he asks if his friend can understand what the statue depicts, but Wedler only can tell it's human-like, which Arsham further clarifies to be a Star Wars Stormtrooper.

Then, still discussing how the crystals are incorporated and sourced, they both moving to 'see' the next part of the exhibition, beautifully reminding everyone around there that there is more than one way to enjoy art.

Dr. Wedler discovered Arsham’s artworks a couple of years ago and this year came to Venice with the Emotitech team, a company that is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of affective technology, patenting new solutions for better life experiences.

“My love of art has always been a part of me, it always has been something that I care about. How things fit together, how do they work. I feel that there’s a beautiful and very narrow fine intersection between art and science,” Dr. Wedler shared in an interview with Bored Panda.

"It was a possibility to see the artworks but it was also on me to ask for that possibility," he added and explained that never took his loss of eyesight as disability.

"I use it as a way to better understand other parts of the world around me, so I don’t consider myself to have a disability. I’ve learned to take something that a lot of people would think of as a disadvantage and turn it into a truly game-changing advantage. And the funny thing for me is that so often people don’t ask the question of ‘hey, can I go feel some artworks with you?’. If I would have not asked that, he would have not ever done that with me, but because I asked, he said ‘yes, absolutely, let’s do it!'" he shared.

Asked about what surprised him the most during that day, Dr. Wedler cited the way Arsham incorporates crystals into his artworks and how he represents things as falling apart but also having so much order around them. "As a chemist, I love how things gain disorder over time, but they are also quite ordered, and that's what I love about Arsham's work," he explained.

Driven by passion for innovative, creative, and insightful thinking, Dr. Wedler over the years has become a motivational speaker, a mentor, and an educator committed to making the world more inclusive and accessible for all.

"Have an open mind, have a positive attitude and you'll succeed in the world. If you believe in something, you can do it. Challenge yourself to exceed your own expectations," Dr. Wedler shared an important message with all the people who have disabilities and doubt themselves.

The video about Arsham's kind gesture was recorded by Modesto III Banzon, a creative based in Rome, Italy, who has recently done fashion photography and is hoping to land a career in filmmaking since he is obsessed with art and cinema.

"I’ve been following Daniel Arsham’s work for years now. I am a massive fan of his artistry. He is the modern Bernini," Banzon shared in an interview with Bored Panda.

Banzon came to Venice from Rome just to see Arsham's masterpieces in person. "When I finally stepped inside the exhibition, I was literally in awe with his jaw-dropping pieces. I had a chance to chat with Daniel and I shared that the clock from his previous collection which I have got chipped the morning before my trip because I was pushing it too hard to fit inside my bag. He replied, 'Oh noooo' in the sweetest way and I said that he’s such an inspiration," Banzon recalled the memories.

Asked about what was the most special moment of the day when Banzon had a chance to witness the tactile tour, he said that going to ‘Venice 3024’ was a dream, but seeing the sincere heart-to-heart dialog between Daniel and Hoby became the highlight of the entire experience not only for him, but for everyone inside the Chiesa.

"It felt magical to see how humans can be beautiful. Our worlds stopped for a moment when I heard them talking to each other. We became silent and just listened to the whole interaction as Daniel carefully explained his works," explained Banzon.

He also mentioned that after the Stormtrooper, Daniel and Hoby went to another mosaic piece, which the artist kindly led his friend to touch and then both ended up in front of the Chiesa with the center piece of the exhibition.

"It was inspiring to see Daniel masterfully and gracefully explaining his art and how Hoby responded. I am thankful to witness Daniel and Hoby. They are beautiful people. We need more of this more than ever," shared Banzon.

Such an experience, known as a tactile tour, is a common practice in museums and galleries for visually impaired visitors to be able to enjoy the artwork. Museums in many countries provide special models that make masterpieces accessible to those people who are blind or visually impaired. Allowing the participants to physically interact with the artworks through touch, sound, and other sensory experiences enhances their understanding and enjoyment of art.

For instance, the Danish mobile app Be My Eyes, which was created to help people who are blind or low-vision, has collected 10 museums and initiatives from around the globe that you can find on their site. The company is all about sharing small acts of kindness: blind or visually impaired users can request help from a sighted volunteer, who will be notified on their phone and once they accept the request for help, a live audio-video connection will be set up between the two parts.

Since Be My Eyes was launched in January 2015, over 6 million volunteers have signed up to assist blind and low-vision users. The assistance request can be done in over 180 languages, making the app the biggest online community for blind and low-vision people as well as one of the largest micro-volunteering platforms in the world!

The video capturing Dr. Wedler's tactile tour was filmed at the deconsecrated Roman Catholic church, Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Venice, where Daniel Arshham is taking viewers from the past and present into the future with his Fractured Idols series, alongside his signature ones from Fictional Archaeology. Due to collaboration with the historic Réunion des Musées Nationaux - Grand Palais (RMN), a 200-year-old French molding atelier, Arsham was able to use molds and scans of some of the most iconic works from the collections of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, Acropolis Museum in Athens and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

The solo exhibition named 'Venice 3024,' presented by Perrotin in collaboration with Ronald Harrar, was unveiled to public on the 17th of April and will be open until September 15th, 2024 at the Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Venice, Italy.

Arsham was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Miami, Florida. At only 12 years old, he lost his childhood home due to Hurricane Andrew and this traumatic event has been a continuous theme through his work ever since.

21 years ago, without any art world connections, gallery, recognition or social media, Arsham went to his studio daily and just made art by failing over and over again. Through the years, consistency, dedication, hard work and incredible talent eventually led him to worldwide success.

“I met Daniel when he was 22 years old, an emerging artist living in his studio, and I was immediately drawn to his incredible talent and distinct vision. Daniel’s practice breaks the boundaries of fine art and exists across industries. As his success has grown, he has been able to keep his practice open to a broad audience, as a leader in editions, collaborations, and a widespread internet presence, which is admirable. It has been a pleasure to grow with Daniel, our gallery expanding alongside his career,” art advisor Todd Marshall shared his thoughts on his social media.

According to All May See Foundation, globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment, yet that doesn't mean that they can't enjoy art.

Born completely blind, Dr. Wedler's story is not only showing overcoming challenges, but also redefining what's possible and thanks to Daniel Arsham's shared video, people got an inspiring reminder of how art and little gestures of kindness can bring so much joy and light to those who need it the most.