The haptic perception at contemporary sculpture: Appraisal and scopes of evolution

The research proposes the analysis of the role of touch at contemporary sculpture. We start from the conviction of touch importance in creation and perception of sculpture and the need to reconsider this sensing scope in critical analysis and artistic pedagogy. In the first part, we analyse the scientific bases which explain how we sense through touch, and the psychological and social factors that determine our appreciation. We make use of the actual concept of haptic perception which permits us to look at sculptural valuation form whether tactile aspects as kinesthetic, overrating the aiming rule of the action and, questioning the spectator's passive attitude. In the second part, we state the circumstances, which have led to touch discredit and invited to useless attempts to emphasize its importance in artistic analysis and museums context; the constant presence of tactile values on sculptural pieces of work, and the most outstanding pedagogical proposals emerged from art which embody the touch perception education inside their educational plans are set out. In the last part, we try to determine different points of view on how touch is present in contemporary sculpture---the haptic stare at, the prosthesis, the relation with the object and the space, touch as therapy, the reconnaissance of the ache limits and the proposals of interaction in virtual reality artistic creations. These scopes of development are shown through the piece of work of artists---who in a continuous way and with different perspective---insist on touch inclusion in their work.