Under the Skin(s)
– Tactile and Visual Devices Staged in an Exhibition Addressing Teenagers on Sexual, Emotional and Sensual Matters
Between 12 and 18 years old, the two main channels in which children learn about sexuality are school’s SexEducation and online pornography. These two sources of information do not always provide and support qualitative knowledge about the complexity of social, psychological and emotional skills essential to build healthy and respectful connections to others. In the past decades, children’s knowledge has been enriched by gendered study findings, speech liberation, more rights and space for women and the LGBTQIA+ community in the public space and in society. Yet the angst so present in adolescents is as potent. This project is aiming to acknowledge and contribute to ease this angst.
The results of the project Under the Skin(s) compile three illustrated short stories, three knitted garments to be worn while reading the stories and a scenography staging the reading experience in a modular space.
Under the Skin(s) is a project deeply rooted in artistic practice. It raises more questions in the audience, than it answers questions for them, leaving an open space for interpretations. Furthermore, Under the Skin(s) designs multi-sensory experiences to address bodies and minds simultaneously. This project connects a familiar and valued medium in child culture: illustration, with an unusual and often disregarded medium: knitwear, and wishes to broaden the type of cultural inputs children have access to and therefore can appropriate.
