The exhibit includes:

Tactile Firework Panels – this is a set of 7 illuminated acrylic panels which show the shapes of classic fireworks effects as if captured in long-exposure photographs. The star trajectories are engraved and illuminated – enabling the viewer to follow their pathways through touch and also adjust their light as desired.

Pyrotechnic Tableau – this display uses faux flowers and plants to represent a scene from a firework show as if frozen in time. Pampas grass, flowers, and willow trees are arranged to depict how emission effects and shells are combined in multi-level firework displays.

Fingerworks for Fireworks

In this workshop, describers learn how to translate the dynamic characteristics of fireworks by “drawing” their shapes with fingertips onto the backs of viewers who are blind or partially sighted. The tactile gestures represent the trajectories and patterns of the moving stars emanating from emission effects and aerial firework shells. Touch also conveys characteristics of light such as brightness, velocity, duration, and sparkle. Importantly, participants learn how to describe fireworks in terms that are accessible to people who are blind/low-vision.

Awaken is a pyro-musical display which uses the light of fireworks to depict Collin’s own experience of progressive sight loss. He designed the display using high-contrast effects to be easily accessible to viewers who might have partial eyesight. The show also utilizes sound-emitting effects to reveal the movement of light through moving sound in order to make the fireworks more accessible to blind viewers. The display was designed to elicit tingles/goosebumps in the viewer – an experience Collin calls resonance. This is the focus for Collin’s approach to pyro-musical choreography and has become a guiding light in his own practice in the pyrotechnic arts.