Touch Set enables a ritual between two people in a guided effort to create connection through simultaneous sensory experience.

The act itself is simple— each participant pours tea for the other using the specialized vessels, then consumes the tea. The ritual begins with the pitcher.  Sensuous folds mimic grasped flesh, undulating curves create anthropomorphic contours, and an organic shifting pink hue evokes sensations of organs and flesh. All of this creates a sense of touch and intimacy, augmenting the casual interaction of having tea with another person. The user grasps the pitcher at its intended points— right hand pinched at the back and the left cupping the spout— and the darker pink flush of the points of contact implies a creation from an otherwise inanimate object.

Warm from the tea within and fleshy from the form and hue, the pitcher feels almost like a living being. With a gentle tip, it dispenses tea into the open, eager mouth of the cup. Having poured the tea for each other, each participant now may drink. Again, the handholds of the cup are indicated with a darker pink flush. The users grasps the cup with two hands, sacramentally, and raise the cup to their lips— steam from the tea warms their brows. The mouth-like opening of the cups interlocks with the lips of the participants in an intimate transference of sensation— a kiss to seal the deal.

Through this act, I intend for the participants to experience a sense of closeness, an intimacy primarily found in touch, without ever actually touching the other. Touch Set augments the users’ sense of touch, allowing them to experience a connection where they otherwise would not.