I’ve been thinking about invisible things a lot today… as well as this idea I have had floating around in my head for quite some time now – that people who are blind are, I suspect, actually able to see better than those of us with sight… Their heightened awareness and increased powers in their other senses (touch, sound, smell, taste and intuition) endow them with an ability to metaphorically see things better than we who are sighted might. I wonder sometimes, how they perceive/understand invisibility, and I would like to include people who are sense-impared in my research on invisibility. It would be especially intriguing to work with the unsighted to learn of their perceptions about the seen and unseen aspects of our world (which will differ based on whether an individual lost their sight over time or were blind at birth). What a privilege it would be to work with the blind on this project!

Recently, inspired by Kayoko’s braille studies, I started learning braille as well. When we went to MASS MoCA the day after Christmas, Kayoko was able to “read” the Braille wall plaques in the James Turrell Crater Room. It was very impressive!

I just found Branah.com – a useful braille translator site.
While I’m not anywhere near as far along in learning to read and write Braille as Kayoko, I did have fun playing around with translating some words on the site. These are all in first grade Braille.

. . . . . . .

truth           ⠞⠗⠥⠞⠓
religion      ⠗⠑⠇⠊⠛⠊⠕⠝
justice         ⠚⠥⠎⠞⠊⠉⠑
racism         ⠗⠁⠉⠊⠎⠍
courage       ⠉⠕⠥⠗⠁⠛⠑

. . . . . . . .

One sees clearly only with the heart,
what is essential is invisible to the eye.

– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

⠠⠕⠝⠑⠀⠎⠑⠑⠎⠀⠉⠇⠑⠁⠗⠇⠽⠀⠕⠝⠇⠽⠀⠺⠊⠞⠓⠀⠞⠓⠑⠀⠓⠑⠁⠗⠞⠂
⠺⠓⠁⠞⠀⠊⠎⠀⠑⠎⠎⠑⠝⠞⠊⠁⠇⠀⠊⠎⠀⠊⠝⠧⠊⠎⠊⠃⠇⠑⠀⠞⠕⠀⠞⠓⠑⠀⠑⠽⠑⠲

⠀⠤⠀⠠⠁⠝⠞⠕⠊⠝⠑⠀⠙⠑⠀⠠⠎⠁⠊⠝⠞⠤⠠⠑⠭⠥⠏⠘⠌⠑⠗⠽

. . . . . . . .