What do you know? After running an article on real-life bionic girl Viktoria Modesta some weeks ago, this week I not only found one article on Haute Macabre about interesting prostheses - or even two - but three. They've also covered The Alternative Limb Project, which I mentioned in my last post.
Prosthetics are exciting. Rather than the traditional model of disability, where your potential is seen as reduced (however untrue), prosthetics carry the possibility of your flaw becoming an asset; you are more than before. From the cellist to the fashion model, this new generation of prosthetics allow the incorporation of one's interests and visions into the very fabric of one's body.
Prosthetics are personally exciting to me also because there is a chance that these developments will significantly improve the lives of my future patients. Despite my rhapsodising, amputation is a serious and upsetting event for most patients, and not to be taken lightly. These developments, however, offer a means of making the road to recovery just a little bit easier.
Fee
from the thumbnail, i thought the photo was a hoof and thought that would've been so awesome.
ReplyDeleteHell yeah! There was that double amputee swimmer who got a mermaid tail prosthesis; so cool.
DeleteWow, that one is beautiful, looks like fibre optic wires inside! I think if I lost a limb I would like a beautiful and strange prosthesis! Touch wood that doesn't happen!
ReplyDeleteIt is gorgeous! I too am kind of hoping that I never need one, though.
DeleteI studied Aimee Mullins twice in my undergrad. Matthew Barney created special prosthetics for her roles in Cremaster and Alexander McQueen hand carved her a pair of prosthetic legs for a fashion show. I found it really fascinating. I was torn, because there's much controversy in regards to whether or not these artists were exploiting her, but I think it's acceptable. I mean, we adorn ourselves with accessories, why can't an amputee have ornamental prosthetics? Well, other than the fact that it would cost a freaking fortune.
ReplyDeleteI am neither disabled nor 100% familiar with discourse on disability, but most examples of unusual prosthetics I've seen (and posted here) have been very patient led? I really support the push for better prosthetics - ornamentally focused or otherwise - because it's not an easy thing for a patient to go through, and there is a need for both changing perceptions and better prosthetics.
DeleteThis leg is a beauty.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's pretty gorgeous!
Delete