hi, i was wondering what's your opinion on artists who make blindfolded challenges (for example, painting or sculpting blindfolded) i know this is just a fun concept that people do but i was wondering if this is in any way insensitive towards blind people who always have to make art "blinfolded" so to say. ofc blind people are capable of making good art, and that's why i'm wondering if these videos might be offensive?
On Blindfold Challenges and Blindness
Hi anon bean! Thanks for the question.
Most of the time, I ignore these challenges for my own peace or because they aren’t worth my time with how fleeting challenges usually are. I haven’t seen these videos myself, but I think it depends on how this is handled and spoken about. Since these blindfolding challenges are probably more consistently popular with artists, I think it is a good idea to discuss the topic.
I remember other general blindfolding challenges, which were without a doubt, ableist. People were doing things blind people do all the time without getting the same positive attention from it. (Not that blind people want attention, but it’s the principle of the matter, especially when blind people mostly get negative or harmful attention for doing the same things simply because they are living as a blind person.) With blindfolding challenges that pop up over the years, the issue also stems from people acting like it is impossible to do daily tasks while blindfolded (aka while blind) or crediting themselves with coming up with techniques blind people already came up with. Remember, blind people will do these things easily compared to sighted people making a game out of it. Blind people have training, personal experience, and assistive technology that sighted people simply don’t have and probably wouldn’t think of. Therefore, a blind person cooking is going to be different from a blindfolded person cooking, and reactions about how impossible cooking is while blindfolded or how impressive it was the person was able to cook while blindfolded are ignoring that blind people do such things every day. Sometimes we get treated negatively because of it.
I think my real issue with challenges like these is when they intentionally or unintentionally perpetuate the unconscious ideas of what blind people can and cannot do.
Therefore, I think how artists talk about this as they’re doing the challenge is important. These challenges bother me less because they aren’t about doing small everyday tasks. However, there are amazing blind artists out there making art as a hobby or career and such challenges could be viewed as devaluing their work or turning it into a joke for entertainment. Artists acting as if making art while blindfolded is impossible or will inevitably have a terrible result could also be annoying to deal with as a blind artist. Or hugely invalidating.
When it comes to artists doing such challenges, I think it would help if they acknowledged blind artists or donated some money to a nonprofit for blind people in their area. Ending the video with something like, “If you liked this video, check out these blind sculptors!” They could also mention assistive technology blind people would normally use while making art, which will show that they did research on the topic. It would also be helpful to add an audio description to the video for actual blind people who might want to watch. People in the audience who enjoy these challenges should also make an effort to support blind creators on their own instead of assuming they don’t exist.
These challenges will come and go. The idea is to give attention to the people who actually do these things while blind, because they may receive less attention because they can’t just remove a blindfold when the fun is over.
Posting something like this comes with worry about being called overly sensitive. While blind do have more important, systemic issues to worry about, instances of casual ableism change our lives. Blind artists also deserve recognition and money for their work. Even something seemingly harmless could have a negative influence on the lives of people who make careers out of art. It is important we give attention to these topics, too, because blind people live and work and enjoy hobbies, too.
