BLIND MAZE (BLINDER IRRGARTEN)

Installation in public space, Louis Braille Festival, Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz, Leipzig (2019)
Base area: 6m x 6m, detectable warning plates, dance floor, stage elements


The idea of the blind maze is based on the contrast between deception and the guidance system. The art installation made of tactile tiles for blind people addresses the issue of getting lost in public space. While tactile paving put blind and visually impaired people on the right path, mazes are intended to deceive the sense of orientation with a confusing system of paths. For the pleasure of the visitor, its branching paths intentionally tempt to linger, get lost and ponder.


The blind maze is aimed at both blind and sighted people. At the entrance, everyone is given a white cane with which they can feel their way. On an area of eight by eight meters, guide strips made of grooved plates describe the way, knobbed plates signal turns. The entrance as well as the target located in the middle are marked separately by attention fields. The right way is found by walking on the guide strips made of grooved plates and feeling your way forward. Whenever a knobbed plate interrupts the path made of grooved plates, it can go left, right or in several directions. You have to be careful here. There are no dead ends, different paths lead to the goal.





In cooperation with:
German Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (DBSV)
and German Central Library for the Blind (DZB)