Why do I move through my environment in isolation when it is so obviously alive, breathing and reaching out to touch me? When there seem to be such intense opportunities for exchange and interpenetration? I walk down the sidewalk and find the branch of a tree gingerly grazing my cheek. A lamppost runs its light over my skin. What happens if I return the caress?
Envirotouchers are artists Tracy Featherstone and Krista Connerly’s response to these questions. A series of prototypes for a more connected world, they seek to replace rationality with sensuality and isolation with relationship. We often get stuck in a relationship-rut with our environment, wearing down the same path to work and back or ignoring the (arguably) tender call of a car-alarm. Envirotouchers offers a simple and playful solution to this by allowing us re-imagine our selves and our relationship to our built and natural environment. Through this series of actions and wearable sculptures individuals can experiment with and ultimately create new and individualized environmental connections.