This event is part of our public + programming
Join artist Collin van Uchelen for a public presentation of his innovative practices in the pyrotechnic arts. Drawing on his own experience as a pyrotechnician with sight-loss, Collin will explore how to translate the light of fireworks across senses to make it accessible through touch, description, and sight.
Collin will introduce his “Fingerworks for Fireworks” tactile technique for describing fireworks to members of the blind/low vision community by “drawing” their light-emitting star trajectories onto the backs of consenting participants. Collin uses this technique in designing and choreographing his own pyro-musical firework displays.
Finally, we will explore resonance (tingles/goosebumps) in response to art and its implications as a creative means for access and wayfinding in the arts. This presentation invites participants to consider how multisensory accessibility can provide meaningful pathways for inclusion in public displays of art, whether pyrotechnics, dance, or other dynamic artforms.
- Duration : 1 hour
- Free entry – no reservation required
- MAI Gallery
ABOUT+
Collin van Uchelen, Ph.D., is a conceptual artist, community psychologist, and pyrotechnician based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His artistic practice explores techniques for translating the light of pyrotechnic art into non-visual forms using tactile representations and audio description. Currently, Collin is designing a multi-sensory pyro-musical display which uses fireworks to depict his own experience of sight loss from a progressive blinding eye disease. He also consults on choreography and audio description for dance performances (Translations 2019/2024) from his perspective as an artist who is functionally blind.
Collin’s community psychology work seeks to enhance social connections within and across the communities to which we belong – regardless of ability and social identity. In 2017, he received the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award for his work in this area.