The sense of touch is a sense that is usually disregarded by sound artists, seeing and hearing are closely related. Fiir Augen und Ohren was an exhibition that took place in Berlin in 1980 it highlighted the synthesis and central role of sight and hearing. The visitors of the exhibition were allowed to touch and play with the exhibited works. The exhibition included the works of Luigi Russolo, Man Ray, Christina Kubisch and Bernhard Leitner.
“There was, however, at least one other sense inquisitively employed by the visitors and that is the sense of touch. The visitors to the exhibition were allowed to touch play with the exhibited works”
Kunstgewerbemuseum in Cologne hosted Sehen und Hören: Design und Kommunikation in 1974 which “alluded directly to the importance of technology to the senses of sight and hearing”. Peter Frank was who curated the exhibition and divided the exhibition into three broad categories which were “How we expand communication”, “How we orientate in time and space” and “How we process information”. In each room there would be products and items that relate to these three categories which were exhibited in “sterile looking rooms”.
“Despite this sterile, perhaps cold site, visitors to this design and communication exhibition were allowed to touch and test all the items on display.”
In Dusseldorf John Cage used the white cube setting to show his work 33 1/3 from 1969 which was composed of twelve records playing simultaneously different music and the audience played the roll of a DJ and picked what music they were going to listen to.