Haptic Paradigm critiques the dog piles on social media and how everyone’s action (or lack of action) plays into what we are exposed to. The anonymous element ties into the essay by Thompson “cig thesis-anon” and call for a space that isn’t about the likes. The main focus is on the call and response and the catalyst of place finding or making; in effect the artists involved are giving up control of some variables, which they craft to be influenced by the participants, and the participants are only able to understand the space made through interaction and learning based on response. Asking the participant to pause and observe contributions before participating, when it is the participant’s turn they will be notified of being handed the controller.
Despite the isolation and distance we feel due to pressures in our society toward individualism and restrictions put in place as a result of COVID-19, we are still in relationship to and with others outside of our view. With this project Thompson seeks to create a space for mutual enjoyment and interaction considering the power of small investigative action, whether it is immediately visible or not, through play.
