Avi is a creature whose only sense is touch. Physically, it reacts to being touched in recognizable ways: the visible heart beats harder and the flow of blood speeds up. If someone holding onto its hand hangs on for more than a few seconds, Avi will attempt to communicate something textually. Its words tend to be jumbled and difficult to decipher, but the creature is not without the ability to self-improve, and if one maintains contact for an extended period of time, it can be seen actively working to clarify itself. One by one, words are swapped out for other words that are a little bit closer to the intended meaning. These revisions are ongoing:

For example, when the exhibition at NYU began, Avi would sometimes say: me have together from so far and the are no you have. Flesh pushing me- self aside, a way, a lone, coming please to itself.

And by the end of the exhibition this became You have come from so far and this is all we have. Flesh pushing it- self aside, a way, a lone, coming back to itself.

What started out as: The, here, many & silent- erous, the sight of a self.

became: This, here, many & num- erous, the image of a voice.

And so on.

As long as people make contact with Avi, Avi continues to revise.









Work with Avi was a joint effort between Dan Sakamoto and writer Carlee Ryan.

Mid-exhibition manicure by Shelly Rice.