2024 Workshop Exploring Visual Impairment in Belfast

The workshop, organised in 2024 by  Maruška Svašek, was part of the module Hanging Out On Streetcorners and related to the research project Watch! Debunk! Act!

The workshop was a collaboration with singer-songwriter Daisy Johnston and composer Tristan Sparks

The aim of the workshop was to explore the experience of walking with blindfolds and glasses that simulate different eye diseases through sensorial tasks. The students commissioned the two musicians to produce a song that expressed their experiences and findings.

Song composed and produced by Tristan Sparks Listen to the song

Vocals and lyrics by Daisy Johnston Verse 1/ perspective 1  Feeling with my feet  I can smell the cold  Bright lights one thing at a time please (frustration) Uneven ground  I’m heading down the narrow path  I’m crossing all the line again  I can’t find the signals oh its getting very old  getting very old   Verse 2/ perspective 2  feeling lonely do you trust me  don’t listen to a word they say  I here for you    back to perspective 1  they say its colourful  I’m isolated and terrified  I can hear it in your voice that your tired  I could say that I’m tired too I’m tired too

Daisy Johnston: ‘This song is an exploration of visual impairment, based on what would it be like to walk in the shoes of a blind person for a day. It is important to say that without living with it every day we can never really know how it feels to be blind. This song has been inspired by the themes explored by students when wearing glasses that created different levels of impairment. A lot of their findings focused on the other senses with scents or sounds, they also heavily relied on others to guide them down the streets. This led Tristan and I to think of the song as a two-way discussion between someone with a visual impairment, and a loved one. Through the different verses I wanted it to be conversational and discuss the trust needed between them, alongside the mutual agreement that they are both tired but still intend to care for one another.’

Tristan Sparks: ‘The composition is marked by a succession of chord clusters and repeating ostinati. The work followed a discussion with Daisy, where we decided to frame our work around the theme of dependency and care. The music reflects the students’ confrontation with a destabilising sensorial experience and their roles as responsible supporters during the walk.’