Disability Arts Online

The eagle eyed DAO reader just might have noticed that the image used (yesterday) in Earthbowl 1 was not actually from 'Creating the Spectacle!'

'Portal' (2008), that iconic picture of Sue Austin under water in a wheelchair, was however our first hint of things to come - watch this space!

The Earthbowl series continues with an image from the early development stages of the project when the chair was still being refined and Sue was still learning how to control it.

Earthbowl 2 contains an image from the clinical waters of a diving pool where Sue, almost unrecognisable without that signature dress (but check out the hair), wears the full diving gear - necessary for any time spent performing in colder waters.

The finned wheelchair, well rehearsed in chlorinated diving, had not at this point had much opportunity to expand it's horizons; but after it's first globetrotting adventure, LinkUpArts was thrilled to be able to invite people to Sue's presentation (at Salisbury Arts Centre earlier in the month) documenting 'Creating the Spectacle!' to date and featuring The Underwater Wheelchair.

 

 

On stage, as it were,

facing a live audience,

the chair acquires gravitas;

a quiet dignity

it does not possess poolside.

It also radiates

solemnity in this

alien environment,

at odds with it's adventurous

appearance underwater.

Striped of it's blanket disguise

it waits patiently while it's

conception, evolution

and progression unfolds;

It's historical journeys

roll out over the big screen

behind, until the moment

we, the audience, are free

to surround and admire;

to touch and covet the

underwater wheelchair.