Guide dogs as aesthetic mediators

reconfigurations of the ways of doing and thinking about access culture

Abstract

Starting from the relationship between blind-woman-with-guide-dog, the article discusses the guide- dog’s work as an agent that promotes aesthetic mediation through the affections experienced in front of works of art such as a play or a sculpture. The central argument is that mediation is not defined as a bridge, but as a practice that occurs among many. In this way, the work of the guide dog as a mediator displaces and challenges hegemonic meanings of what it means to guide, mediate, and promote accessibility. With a situated writing style, the text concludes that aesthetic accessibility is not merely a sum of information, but a process that activates as experimentation among guide dogs, humans, and works of art.