PinArtMuseum
TEAM: Jose Andres Coba, Paulina Ortiz Rivadeneira, Ecuador, Civil Architecture Office
Subtitle: PinArt Museum, art within reach
Have you ever pondered how you felt when you entered a museum and sat to watch Starry Night or Las Meninas? An indescribable sensation of being transported to a different world, which I thought I would never be able to experience.
From the moment I entered the Mauritshuis museum and followed the path that led me to The Girl with the Pearl Earring, I knew I would finally be able to appreciate its beauty. I sat on a chair in front of it, laid my cane on my lap and took off my dark glasses; I could hear people around me mumbling and asking what a blind man could be doing in front of a painting.
I took the device given to me as I entered the museum and waited for it to “read” the painting. I could feel how the cylindrical rods moved one by one, just like my childhood game PinArt. I gradually began to feel how forms were being created in my hands; I could feel the girl’s veil and her face… I was finally able to grasp her features and appreciate the beauty I had heard of but had been forced to only imagine.