Sue Austin: Deep sea diving ... in a wheelchair

(YouTube) When Sue Austin got a power chair 16 years ago, she felt a tremendous sense of freedom -- yet others looked at her as though she had lost something. In her art, she aims to convey the spirit of wonder she feels wheeling through the world. Includes thrilling footage of an underwater wheelchair that lets her explore ocean beds, drifting through schools of fish, floating free in 360 degrees. (Filmed at TEDxWomen.)
KnivesOutsays...

I think her point wasn't to just go scuba-diving. Sure she could have just paddled around in the water if she wanted a nice swim.

It was to deconstruct/reconstruct the preconceived icon that is "The Wheel Chair" into something that would be as empowering and symbolic to everyone else as it is to the artist.

"Transcendent" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.

deathcowsaid:

Strange? problematic? Wasn't Jacques Cousteau using stuff like this: http://www.gizmag.com/go/7148/ back in the 1970s? Her arms work so she could use something like this quite effectively right?

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