Experiment One:
The word ‘hands’
I went around taking pictures of hands, trying to get entirely different results each time.
According to Aristotle, the hand is the “tool of tools.”
In each of the pictures, the hands act as complementary tools to enhance the experience of the sense organ(s). i.e. The smell of coffee, the taste of wine, the warmth of fire, the sound of two glasses clashing, the appearance of different art styles on different pages of a book, etc.
A lot of the categories from the mind map become evident in the pictures. For example, each of the photographs focus on ‘touch’ which directly links to feeling(s). Feeling is pivotal to using hands, each action evokes a different feeling.
I realised how two hands meet, and almost always act as a whole, complementing each other. With that in mind, I thought of using the concept of merging, i.e. two things meeting to form a whole. I merged all the hands I photographed into one frame. The picture now involves a myriad of functions performed by the hand to feel, smell, taste, point, hear and much more.
The result is a photograph that blankets an array of meanings, some of them being the privilege and the possibilities that come with having hands. The picture isn’t direct in its message, but rather, leaves the interpretation to the viewer, who has to unravel the meanings by paying close attention.The variety of colors plays an important role by strengthening the contrast between the different hand movements. The different textures act as a metaphor for the various different feelings that the touch of hands stimulate.
The lack of a specific location implies the omnipotence of the hands. They could be anywhere, and are everywhere. The picture also embodies the four elements: water, fire, air and earth, reflecting the cosmic nature of all the aforementioned sensations.
The experiment made me realise how hands can bring about infinite number of connotations, each pertaining to a different facet of life.