A photograph of the sculpture I made for image 3. It is a naked woman wearing a gas mask with her arms and legs tied to points out of view. I used fimo, sculpey, cardboard, twine, mesh, carpet tape & ribbon to create this work. It is mounted on a piece of Braille paper, ready for the thermoform machine.
Tactile Mind Studio Limited uses thermoform plastic for tactile images and Braille descriptions. This is a very sturdy material and pages can be sprayed and gently wiped with disinfectant. tactile mind book and tactile atelier bookmark both have paper accompaniments which can be held back and mailed (at no extra expense) when the pandemic passes.
tactile femme – new work produced in 2019. Check it out.
Yes, it really is a tactile thermoform hamster (side view).
Believe it.
Lisa J. Murphy
Tactile Mind Studio Limited
Artist /Author of tactile mind: A book of nude (3-D) photographs for the blind / vision impaired.
Artist / Author of tactile atelier bookmark: A set of four photographs for the blind / vision impaired.
Found this tactile thermoform page in a box. I believe it’s a type of sea snail.
I created the original sculpture using diagramming foil.
Lisa J. Murphy
Tactile Mind Studio Limited
Artist / Author of tactile mind: A book of nude (3-D) photographs for the blind / vision impaired.
Artist / Author of tactile atelier bookmark: A set of four photographs for the blind / vision impaired.
tactile mind: A book of nude (3-D) photographs for the blind and vision impaired.
(Because I know a few people out there need convincing-) by Lisa J. Murphy
tactile mind (pages and book ) makes a great gift for any occasion.
This book is handmade by myself from home in about 150 feet of space. My thermoform machine sits inbetween windows for best air-flow, surrounded by tables with the master diagrams and the thermoform plastic tactile copies . (My apartment is currently a disaster area of artwork. shipping supplies, and dirty dishes).
Each book is signed and numbered, and because of the hand-made nature of the project, each book and the individual diagrams are a little bit different – no two are the same.
It’s the self-published indie book that’s received world recognition.There was no financial backing or publishing house in the background. It was merely me, throwing down a few million pounds of wings and even more jugs of draft, to try to make enough money to produce this. At this point, I believe every country in the world has run press regarding ‘tactile mind’, every time I search the internet, there are more articles on this project. Even though I’ve been misquoted about a million times, I am really happy this book has started a dialogue about “equalizing” people with disabilities of any sort. It’s amazing how in this day and age there are still so many generalizations about people with disabilities.We are all human, we all have needs, and wants, and dislikes, and sexual needs are included, but now a days you can even hook-up with kinky MILFS online if you’d like and get all of the casual sex that you could ever want.
A few of my favorite press/interviews (right now, off the top of my head) include: CNN, BBC World Service, “Q”CBC, ABC, Michel Comte, Jay Thomas Show (Howard Stern Network), Rachel Ray, The Daily Telegraph, The National Post, Global T.V., AOL, (and there are so many others!). I have talked to so many amazing journalists from all over the world in the past month, since the story launched with The Toronto Star.
Sighted, vision impaired, or blind – this book (and pages) are great to touch! I’ve watched people grab it and start feeling the pages. And so many people have different opinions of this work. It’s been called everything from erotic and pornographic to others, but if you want to find local sex online you can go online to find this. It’s just a cool book of my photographs, done in a style to make my work more accessible.
Just a couple pictures of me (Lisa J. Murphy) pressing pages of tactile mind at home. For those who have a vision impairment or blindness, or anyone who is simply curious; I will give you a quick description. In the two pictures, I am putting the master copy Braille page of Diagram 13/ Bullet Belt onto the thermoform machine. I am laying the page within the confines of the machine; the base and frame of the thermoform machine is layered in tape to get the best suction. Soon I lay a piece of thermoform plastic on top, press the edges down with the frame, pull the heat source over the diagram and the plastic, the vacuum suction goes – and voila! A 3-D thermoform diagram page.
Sounds really easy. In reality many things can go wrong. The diagram, for starters can break – but that is the worst case scenario. Lately, I’ve had a couple problems in my master pages with a knee cap dislodging , a couple nipples coming loose, a background shredding, hearts moving, and a vagina crumbling. Nothing major, very fixable – just general wear and tear on the images.
Also, my trusty thermoform machine can be a little tempermental. I just give her lots of time to heat up, and some break periods throughout days when I’m printing.
