Museums are places for community education, yet they are seldom accessible to everyone nor equitable in their presentation of content. Acknowledging the unfortunate truth that visually impaired people struggle to enjoy museum experiences, “Senses: Design Beyond Vision” invited visitors of all abilities to actively engage in the exhibition in ways surpassing conventional “universal design” considerations.

LOOK/HEAR was a student project installed at the Fred Lazarus IV Center Leidy Gallery that explores the relationship between scenes and soundscapes, looking and hearing.

Inside the exhibition, a system of aural and visual signals generates shifting typographic forms and triggers associations about people and environment. The letters respond to a range of ambient recordings made in New York City, from the relative stillness of Central Park, to the clamor of the subway while integrating input from visitors to the exhibition.