Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Motor Synapse

I've recently been giving a lot of thought to augmented humanity, and this short talk puts an interesting spin on it. Aimee Mullins discusses changing the dialogue on disability from one on compensation and disadvantage to one on enhancement and potential. It's really an intriguing talk that may make you prick up your ears, cock your head, raise an eyebrow, etc.

http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2009/03/how_my_legs_give_me_superpowers.html

Plus, if nothing else, this woman has got some awesome legs. I especially liked the hand-carved ash boot prosthetics:She talks about the importance of "combining cutting-edge technology... with the age-old poetry," and I couldn't agree more. It's that very impulse that draws a person to Victorian science, to dabble in steampunk, and even to illuminate their organic lab notebook. There is a sense that in the 19th century, science and art were more tightly intertwined, and that aesthetics were an important part of progress. William Whewell*-- demagogue, prophet, and hype-man** of the industrial revolution-- discussed at great length the marriage of art and science. He's one of my absolute favorite Victorians, but I think I'll blather about him in a future post. For now, do watch the video, and think about disability and enhancement.


*Pronounced "Hue-ull" not "Wee-well."
**Think of him like James Watt's Flavor Flav, with a giant pocketwatch around his neck and horns on his top hat.

[Edit: the link was working incorrectly, by which I actually mean not working at all. Apologies all around.]
at 9:22 AM
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1 comment:

  1. SamMarch 17, 2009 at 10:22 AM

    I watched this a couple of weeks ago when it was posted on... boingboing? Somewhere, anyway. Pretty cool.

    In shadowrun, the first recipient of a working cyber-limb is a violinist who lost her hands to frostbite. Mullins reminded me of her. Disability is real, of course, but plenty of the experience of being disabled, and how we react to disabled people, is socially constructed, and socially constructed to be shitty. It's easier to invent cyber-limbs than to change the world, and they're a better solution anyway.

    Her spiel about how people started telling her she was beautiful was a little eye-rolling. She's a pretty blonde with a dancer's body - legs or no, it's not exactly bucking society's expectations.

    Also, art and science may have parted ways a bit since ye olde victorian era, but I think art and tech have become ever more intertwined, from apple ipods to backyard steampunks.

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