Auftrag
Universität für Angewandte Kunst Wien
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Inspired by the creation of ‘grandmother’s hands’ and using these objects during a workshop at a school, as a design element, sparked great interest among the students. The unexpected emotional impact of the miniature hands and the students' fascination with the 3D printed objects led to the development of the 'Gestures of Empathy' workshop. In this workshop, students paired up to contemplate how, together with one hand each, they could gesture the meaning of empathy. Using the same technique, several versions were created. Additionally, an alteration of the workshop was held at a nursing home which participants involved individuals both with and without dementia.
The artistic outcome were miniature gestures of empathy, 3D-printed in transparent resin. The transparency only subtly hinted at the age of the hand's owner, emphasizing that empathy is a cross-generational ability and should not be misunderstood as sympathy or pity toward one generation or another.