Installation by Jordyn Taylor

“Bound”

“Often the language used to describe a person and their wheelchair is a reflection of ableist views that comes with negative connotations, like the term "wheelchair bound". This suggests the person is being tied down in some way. As if using a wheelchair is limiting a person and their experiences. The idea that a person is confined to a wheelchair is seeded in this idea that it is something that holds us back. It's not the stairs to get into the school that prevents us from accessing an education, it's the wheelchair. It's not the stairs to get into the subway station that prevents us from reaching our destination of choice, it's the wheelchair. The wheelchair is always what's viewed as being at fault for our limitations when the fact of the matter is, our environment and the lack of thought that goes into creating space for a person using a wheelchair, is what limits our freedom. The wheelchair itself is the opposite of a limitation because when you take it away what then? Using a wheelchair is nothing short of liberating. It gives a person the power to move yet it does not overpower the person using it. By no means does it hold them down, it does not bind them. The power lies in the hands of its user. It's the wheelchair user that ultimately dominates and takes control of the wheelchair”

“The idea that a person is confined to a wheelchair is seeded in this idea that it is something that holds us back. It's not the stairs to get into the school that prevents us from accessing an education, it's the wheelchair. It's not the stairs to get into the subway station that prevents us from reaching our destination of choice, it's the wheelchair. The wheelchair is always what's viewed as being at fault for our limitations when the fact of the matter is, our environment and the lack of thought that goes into creating space for a person using a wheelchair, is what limits our freedom. The wheelchair itself is the opposite of a limitation because when you take it away what then?”

Queer Babe, Cripple Punk

H. Jordyn Taylor "Garden of Knives" Oil on Panel 24x30

Installation

Jordyn Taylor

Often the language used to describe a person and their wheelchair is a reflection of ableist views that comes with negative connotations, like the term "wheelchair bound". This suggests the person is being tied down in some way. As if using a wheelchair is limiting a person and their experiences. The idea that a person is confined to a wheelchair is seeded in this idea that it is something that holds us back. It's not the stairs to get into the school that prevents us from accessing an education, it's the wheelchair. It's not the stairs to get into the subway station that prevents us from reaching our destination of choice, it's the wheelchair. The wheelchair is always what's viewed as being at fault for our limitations when the fact of the matter is, our environment and the lack of thought that goes into creating space for a person using a wheelchair, is what limits our freedom. The wheelchair itself is the opposite of a limitation because when you take it away what then? Using a wheelchair is nothing short of liberating. It gives a person the power to move yet it does not overpower the person using it. By no means does it hold them down, it does not bind them. The power lies in the hands of its user. It's the wheelchair user that ultimately dominates and takes control of the wheelchair.

Labels given during the Queer Orientation workshop:

"Bisexual, Bi-Curious, Bi-Cautiously-Optimistic, Bi-Curious but I'm pretty sure it's going to go well..." "Pan-Hopeful"

Last night I went to a non-academic lecture on the late Lisa Bufano and the artwork she made. It was really interesting and I highly recommend people look her up. Some of her work can be found on youtube and there's a show going on until Sunday in Oshawa. The lecture was more or less a friend and collaborator talking in depth about her work. He explained that when she was 21 she developed a staph infection and overnight she went from being an exotic dancer, relying on her abled-body as a primary source of income to becoming a bilateral below-the-knee and total finger-thumb amputee, relying on a broken medical system for support. Her friend told a story about the first time she unwrapped the bandages from her hands, against her doctors orders and she described what she saw as five opened mouths, which she would later turn into a performance piece with the same name. She is quoted as saying Despite my own terror and discomfort in being watched (or, maybe, because of it), I am finding that being in front of viewers as a performer with deformity can produce a magnetic tension that could be developed into strength. I attempt to channel this tension by exaggerating the mode of physical difference (for example, presenting myself on stilts).

This is me pretending to workout when really I just came for the change in scenery while my sister actually works out.

My partner and I went to the beach today. I love that even our chairs are a couple of gender-benders.