Over the last decade, Kate McIntosh's works have physically involved audiences in many ways - breaking apart domestic objects to make new inventions from the fragments (“Worktable” 2011), becoming orchestras (“All Ears” 2013), or melting into a jelly lake (“Lake Life” 2023). These playful invitations create unusual social spaces, where audiences can explore both shared connection and individual agency.
A classic work from this series, “In Many Hands” (2016) is a celebration of sensory skills leading the audience deep into a tactile and multi-sensory world of testing, touching, listening and sniffing. Without words, the audience enters a series of sensory-situations where they can handle materials and immerse themselves in corporeal phenomena.
In Many Hands” is both an exploration of vibrant physicality, and a subtle social experiment that brings strangers into unspoken communication. If we learn-by-doing, then what's learned here is a sensitization of nerves, a tuning of attention and curiosity for each other. “In Many Hands” is part laboratory, part expedition, part meditation - as it unfolds, visitors take their time to engage and explore as they wish, following their noses and curiosities.
As always, Kate's work is guided by her ongoing fascinations with the misuse of objects, playfulness with the audience and an off-beat humour.
"Although it’s hard to do it justice in writing, the experience is profoundly meditative...The shared experience left me at once disoriented and contemplatively aware of the wonders of these human bodies we inhabit."
Adrian Dimanlig, adriandimanlig.com, 17/12/19
"...raw and human."
Chelsea Borgman, AEQAI.com, 13/15/18
"... develops a subtle and intelligent community."
Bettine Trouwborst, WAZ, 18/10/16
"After about 45 minutes, there is probably no one in the room whose hands are not completely filthy… A rare and wonderful offer to concentrate on yourself without losing sight of your fellow human beings."
Lisa Kerlin, kultur.kino.ruhr, 17/10/16
"Kate McIntosh connects the people in her audience without having a word exchanged - without even knowing each other's faces."
Rozemarijn van Kalmthout, tumult, 10/11/16
"A simple and radical concept"
Ive Stevenheydens, Metropolis M, 09/04/17
"… offering and accepting gifts without the undertone of possession or accumulation, was immensely gratifying."
Annelyse Gelman, conflictofinteresttx.com, 01/05/18
“A scent, an object, the texture of something in your palm can unfurl whole worlds, stories, memories, and associations. Kate McIntosh’s immersive performance In Many Hands acknowledges the power and potential of sensory experiences and how they perform and work upon the imagination. As the title suggests, this is not just an individual experience but a communal one, empowering a group of audience members to participate and engage their hands, their noses, and their curiosity. Words can’t do this performance justice; you have to see it, feel it, smell it, experience it for yourself.”
Fusebox Festival, Austin (USA), 2017
