HandMade is a wearable recording device that captures what one does with their hands from a first-person perspective. Recordings made with HandMade allow audience members to immerse themselves more deeply into the shoes of artists or craft-makers than is possible in typical TV documentaries or other archival formats. Recordings can also be keepsakes, allowing users to capture ordinary moments or special techniques together with stories that can be shared with family and friends in the far future.

This is a HandMade record of printmaker Ishbel Macdonald working in her studio in Balnakeil Village, near Durness in northwest Scotland. Distance Lab made many recordings with artists from Visual Arts Sutherland: vasu.org.uk

WEAR HEADPHONES! The audio is recorded binaurally - in other words, special microphones were worn in the ears of the participant to capture exactly what they were hearing. If you wear headphones and turn up the volume, you will feel more immersed into the scene.

HandMade is a project from Distance Lab, a research lab for digital media and technology in Scotland. We are interested in working with cultural organisations and archives to create unique recordings of endangered skills and techniques.

distancelab.org