I personally really resonated with the article — it made me realize that what I thought was ‘desired’ by our society has been constructed by the ‘normal’ people who fall under the ‘normal’ section of the bell curve.
When we make ‘assistive’ tools for the ‘disabled’ we are putting such a distinctive gap between the ‘normals’ and the ‘disabled’ : ‘us’ versus ‘them.’ Therefore, when the ‘abled’ make assistive tools for the other party, the tools are made so that the ‘disabled’ can look ‘abled.’ The tools are made (aesthetically) to look discreate so that one can hide their ‘disability.’ However, reading this article made me realize that, although achieving this ‘normal’ look may be desired by some, this desire has been largely shaped by the ‘normal’ people, who believe that appearing ‘normal’ is what the ‘disabled’ long and desire. Below is a quote that I found relatable to this topic:
“Plenty of well-meaning designers set out to re-design an object so that its wearer won’t “appear disabled,” with the presumption that a preconception of “normal” is always desirable.”
Rather than trying to make ‘disabled’ look ‘normal,’ what we need to focus on is to rerange and redefine ‘normalcy’ to include a wider population: disabled does is not automatically correlated to abnormal. Then, with the newly defined normalcy, we can aim to construct technological tools that appeal to all — aesthetically and functionally.
“Once freed from thinking in terms of creating tools for disability, designers can create personal objects that disrupt our notions of dependence and autonomy.”
Lastly, Jennifer Crupi’s gestural jewelry stood out to me because it throws out the notion that tools should look unnoticable. Instead, Crupi makes a powerful statement by choosing to deliberately enhance the mechanical look of the tools via her metal work. As an effect, she is able to display “the authoritative position of steepled fingers.” Crupi’s devices help the user to rehearse “one’s self-presentation” instead of hiding it like the conventional assistive machines, which is a method that I want to incorporate in my future works.