Two short essays were commissioned to respond to the exhibition from both a fictional and philosophical perspective.

Javier Moscoso, the curator of 'Skin' and Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the Spanish National Research Council, has considered the cultural and medical understanding of skin throughout the centuries, providing an interesting prologue to the exhibition itself.

Katie Kitamura, is a writer based in London and New York, she has a personal interest in tattoos as her brother is a tattoo artist. Katie tells the poignant tale of two freak show performers - the tattooed man and the human snake. This short story underlines how our skin, unlike any other organ, is intimately entwined with our identity.