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A gif of a thumb swiping across a transparent surface; the movement mimics that of scrolling content on a handheld device. The gif entitled Thumb Stroke (2017) was made by Jenny Dunseath.
The right hand of Christine Carpenter, Anchoress of Shere, cut out from a printed copy of a black and white still from the film Anchoress (1993), directed by Chris Newby. The hand sits on a plain grey background.
A still from a film showing a quatrefoil opening, one of the few physical remnants of the Anchorite Catherine of Shere’s enclosure at St. James church. In the film a hand blindly feels the rough stone surface behind the aperture.
A still from a film showing a stone lintel, one of the few physical remnants of the Anchorite Catherine of Shere’s enclosure built into the wall of St. James church. A hand, open palmed, rests upon the lintel surface and follows the sweep of the arch.
A string of eight date seeds taped together with masking tape.
A colour photocopy of dried flowers pressed together between glass in the shape and size of a mobile phone.
A 5 x 7” photograph with a white border of a collage consisting of black and white pictures of hands.
An annotated page from A Distribution of Forces (2018), a scripted conversation performed live by the artists for the Artist Run Multiverse Summit at Eastside Projects. The notes point to a section concerning breath and considering whether breath and breathing might constitute a type of touch.
A photocopy of a physical hand touching a printed picture of the Anchoress of Shere’s hand, cut out from a black and white still from the film Anchoress (1993), directed by Chris Newby.
A black and white film still of the Anchoress of Shere’s hand, photocopied and cut out. The cut-outs have been tessellated and taped together into a chain of hands. The still is from the film Anchoress (1993), directed by Chris Newby.
Some folded pages from The Body Social (1993) Anthony Synnott. Two paragraphs are highlighted: one describes the hierarchy of the senses and the other discusses the biological, physical and social functions of skin and its connection to touch. These are annotated with a pencilled correspondence in the margins.
A small, black lozenge shaped piece of paper, joined with black strands to a similar red shape. The joined shapes have been carefully cut out into a complex, flat form. The image is taken from Filogeńeticos (Phylogenetic), (2014), a series of drawings by Anna Maria Maiolino.
A drawing of concentric rings around the shapes of hands, built up and overlapping on a page.
A narrow piece of paper, one end of which contains a black and white image of a cheek, blown out, inflated with air. The other end holds a series of red marks made in biro.
Three A4 photocopies of artworks by Giuseppe Penone depicting hands, the rings of a tree and a drawing from the series The Eroded Steps (1989), in which Penone traces the contour line of footsteps on the worn stone steps of a factory.
A piece of paper, folded and showing several imprints of a human bite.
A page from The Neuroscience of Touch and Pain (2020) Sandra Blumenrath, detailing how the sense of touch sends messages to the brain. A paragraph headed ‘Sending and Receiving Messages’ has been highlighted.
A pencilled outline of two connected lozenge shapes taken from Filogeńeticos (Phylogenetic), (2014), a series of acrylic ink on paper drawings by Anna Maria Maiolino. Drawn lines have been added to suggest energy radiating from the edges of the shapes to the edges of the page.
A found black and white print-out of a short, poetic text stating that the history and identity of man lies in the palm of the hand, dated 1975.
A torn-off scrap of white paper containing handwritten notes that loosely connect skin, touch, contact and transmission. The note has been roughly folded.
A printed-out still from the film Stalker (1979), directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, of a girl sitting at a table, wearing a golden brown headscarf with her head at a tilt. She stares intently at three glass beakers sitting on the table top which she pushes away from her using the power of psychokinesis. The last glass tips off the table’s edge to the floor. Attached to the print-out with a piece of fluorescent orange sticky tape are hand-written annotations connecting proximity, presence and extra-perceptual touch.
A printed-out photograph of a greasy hand print on a window.
Twenty thumbnail images of hands in the process of manipulating different materials. Each cut-out pair of hands are isolated on a blank background. With the materials and contexts of production redacted, the gestures of physical making and handling are emphasised.
A printed-out still from a video in which a tessellated chain of cut-out hands move and jump across a surface. They appear to be animated by an unknown force. The hand is from a black and white still of the Anchoress of Shere’s hand, from the film Anchoress (1993), directed by Chris Newby.
A black and white image of the Lygia Clark artwork Pedra e ar (Stone and Air), (1966).
A plastic file sleeve filled with air then sealed to prevent it from escaping.
Two women stand on one side of a window, pressing gloved hands on to the glass with their faces partially obscured. Their hands are matched on the other side by a woman on the inside of the window. The image was taken during the COVID pandemic.
A found illustration that demonstrates how a touch screen works.
A photograph of a man, taken from the behind, asleep on a bus with his head resting against the window. His hair is black and touches the steamed-up glass.
A black and white film still of the Anchoress of Shere’s hand, photocopied and cut out many times, the cut-outs have been tessellated and taped together into a curtain of hands. They shudder and ripple in the passing breeze. The still is from the film Anchoress (1993), directed by Chris Newby.
A printed still from the film Arrival (2016), directed by Denise Villeneuve in which the lead character, a female scientist communicates with an alien lifeform for the first time.
Found photograph of a ring of people holding hands, communicating through tactile signing.
A photograph of a ring of people (their heads are not in the picture) holding hands, participating in a seance. The image is an archival photograph entitled No.49, jan 9, 1933. 3rd Katie face and veil from The Hamilton Family fonds, an archive containing Dr. T. Glendenning and Lilian Hamilton’s investigations into psychic phenomenon in their home in Winnipeg, 1918-1945.
Found black and white photograph of a group of men congregating around a young girl, her back to the camera. With hands resting on her head they are performing a laying on of hands ceremony in the Pentecostal Church of God in Lejunior, Kentucky, 1946.
Found picture of a cat’s cradle being worked by four hands. There are numbers at the points at which the lines of string intersect. The hands have painted nails.
Twelve thumbnail images showing folds of brightly coloured and patterned fabrics. These are stills from a video documenting clothing in a shop being handled and felt clandestinely.