+49 0157-5277-5203
A sense of Touch
Between Yoko Ono's work Touch and Avi Albers's work Touch
Yoko Ono and Avi Albers Ben Chamo both created works titled Touch, but they differ significantly in their conceptual approach, execution, and historical context. Ono's work focuses on conceptual, participatory art and overcoming social isolation, while Albers Ben Chamo uses the canvas to challenge traditional museum etiquette and foster intimate, tactile interaction.
The quest for connection and overcoming alienation
Both works are meant to create bridges between people and to elicit a strong emotional connection. Ono wanted people to touch each other physically to overcome emotional distance, and Albers Ben Chamo's work was a gesture of gratitude and a way to connect with people.
For both artists, the work is not a static object but a conceptual idea made real through experience. Ono's early Touch Poems were meant to be "read" by touch, and Albers Ben Chamo's canvas was first hung to be touched by people in the streets of Sicily.
In 2024, during a three-week residency in Palermo, Sicily, Albers was moved by the welcoming and emotionally expressive nature of the locals. Instead of painting on a canvas, he decided to turn the canvas into a participatory, anthropological mirror of his experience.
Albers began hanging blank, primed canvases on street walls, openly inviting passersby to touch them. This act subverted the traditional museum prohibition against touching art and recontextualized the artwork as a site for human interaction. The resulting impressions and marks left on the canvas became an intimate record of the encounters and connections Albers experienced with the Sicilian people.
Touch work is an anthropological study of human connection and cultural expression through tactile interaction. The project contrasts with the formal, reserved nature of museum-going, and instead focuses on the immediate, tangible human experience. The Sicilian people's willingness to engage with the canvas mirrors their culture of emotional openness and hospitality, which deeply affected Albers.
Albers later noted that when he exhibited the work in Germany, people were more hesitant and shy to interact with the canvas, highlighting a cultural contrast in attitudes towards public displays of emotion and physical interaction. (See the vandelized Touch in Berlin) Albers has described the work as a mirror for inner beauty and a means to bridge disagreements through the simple act of human contact. He was inspired by his ancestor, Rabbi Joseph Messas, who sought to connect with others across divides.
Lasting connection to Sicily
The Touch project has become a permanent part of Sicily's artistic landscape, solidifying the anthropological link between Albers' work and the people who inspired it. Touch 8 was acquired by the Museo San Rocco for Contemporary Art in Trapani, Sicily. The Seminary Priory of Erice also houses one of his Touch works (Touch no 1). The project demonstrates how art can serve as a medium for cross-cultural yconnection, communication, and the preservation of a moment of shared humanity.
What is peace Danilo Dulci
On the occasion of the presence in Palermo of the SISTANAGILA project, I was reading a text by Danilo Dulci "What is Peace" (1968) and a final note regarding the importance of keeping the legacy of Danilo alive. Sistanagila, which has been uniting Iranian and Israeli musicians in Berlin for ten years, and the Alessandro Scarlatti Conservatory in Palermo hosted a moment of readings, music and testimonies for the centenary of the birth of Danilo Dolci, an international symbol of the commitment to peace. The meeting to remember the Italian sociologist, poet, educator and activist of nonviolence, nicknamed Gandhi of Sicily, will see the participation of the teachers and the Director of the Conservatory M° Mauro Visconti. The very special relationship with music will be deepened at a later date, again in collaboration with the Danilo Dolci Center for Creative Development. Special thanks to Amico Dolci, Alberto Biondo, Babak Shafieian and Marion Weerning. Palermo, Sicily May, 2024
Recording Palermo
Palermo, 1st of Mai, noon time, all is alive, all is real and not perfect at all. Palermo reminds me what I have forgotten, the feeling of touch, touch of the heart. a quote from the Palermitani writer Roberto Alajmo will describe her and the search for peace better than me "Palermo Is an Onion. Like an onion, you can peel away Palermo’s countless layers without ever reaching its real core. As you try to peel it, it makes you cry. When you are done peeling it, it dissolves". Avi, May 2024
The art of touch
"The beginning
of all art
is touch."
Sophie Albers Ben Chamo
This statement encapsulates the essence of artist Avi Albers Ben Chamo's work. The first installation, "Touch "1" was first introduced this year in the San Rocco Museum of contemporary art in Sicily. "Touch "1" invites viewers to step into a dimly lit room filled with naked primed fabrics that beckon to be touched. As visitors tentatively reach out, they are enveloped in layers of textures – smooth touch, rough touch, cold touch – each evoking a different emotional response. The room pulsates with a holy energy, as if the very walls are alive with the vibrations of human connection. "I was searching for a way to create a space where touch becomes the language of the soul, where words are unnecessary, and emotions speak out loud." Albers Ben Chamo In a society increasingly dominated by screens and virtual interactions, Touch serves as a poignant reminder of the power of human touch to bridge divides and forge connections. The climax of the installation comes when two strangers, hesitant at first, tentatively reach out and grasp each other's hands. In that fleeting instant, a spark ignites between them, a silent understanding that transcends words. It is a moment of pure vulnerability and trust, a testament to the transformative potential, a permission to touch and to be touched. As the viewer stands there, hands intertwined, bathed in the white canvas, it becomes clear that Chamo's touch is not just about sensation, it is about the profound higher beauty of human connection.
Avi Albers Ben Chamo's touch is a representation of spirituality, primal sensuality, and sensory experience that challenges traditional artistic norms. Through this innovative approach, Chamo invites viewers to engage in a transformative journey that transcends the physical realm and delves into the depths of human consciousness. By intertwining touch with spiritual and primal elements, "Touch" creates a unique sensory experience that resonates on a profound emotional level. Despite potential skepticism, Chamo's work serves as a testament to the enduring power of touch as a medium for artistic expression and self - discovery.
