[Synapse elist] Elist discussion: goes live later today

[linda carroli]

i hope this is a useful contribution to this discussion ... not so 
much about artistic practice but certainly something that an 
interdisciplinary investigation could rewardingly explore, i recently 
stumbled on this blog about 'transability', which i found rather fascinating:

"someone who is transabled "wants" to be disabled. But it is not so 
much a "want" as much as a "need". Our "desire" is more a reflection 
of the fact that our self-image is that of a paraplegic (or amputee, 
or blind, or any number of other disabilities) than that of an able 
bodied man or woman. The dichotomy between what our psyche tells us 
and what our body tells us is ripping us apart."
http://transabled.org/

it just seemed worth introducing this into the discussion - is part 
of the desire evoked in transability, also about wanting to redesign, 
reshape the body or, perhaps, apply the technologies which 
're-enable', 'augment' the body as with Body Integrity Identity 
Disorder (BIID), where people have elective amputations performed, 
sometimes in order to have prosthetics fitted - this doesn't quite 
fit the binary that brad has introduced ... according to that source 
of scientific veracity, wikipedia, BIID also applies to those who 
wish to alter their bodily integrity in general. linda



At 06:33 PM 1/05/2008, Brad Nunn wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>Thank you Vicki for starting this discussion.
>
>I am a professional sculptor, public artist, part time lecturer and
>researcher who experiences a malfunctioning body, a body that has in
>the past been labelled 'disabled', but now a body that I understand as
>impaired. From the perspective of artist living with such impairment,
>I have investigated the two prevailing notions of the prosthesis as
>they are imagined and enacted by artists: compensatory prosthetic
>augmentation of the so-called 'disabled' body, and bio-tech prosthetic
>'enhancement' of so-called 'normal' (or 'able') bodies for a high-tech
>future.

---snip---