Hi,
If any one knows how to contact Dr. Anita Ghai currently staying in
Queens, New York please have her call Danise Hoover-Head Librarian at
1-212-772-4190. Danise will arrange visiting privaledges for her thanks.
Phyllis Rubenfeld
On Tue, 1 Jun 1999, Andy Stevens wrote:
> Dear Bill
> I had very similar reactions to this documentary. I was also suprised
> when I knew it was David's work -- which made it more acceptable to me,
> but I was unsure of how the average discriminating (in both
> senses of the word) viewer might have their negative stereotypes
> reinforced. I agree that David position as an artist gives him
> justification to present this perspective, but speaking as a historian
> despite the one-diamensional historical perspective I was much happier
> with this presentation than the one done by Steve Humphries (Out of
> Sight) a few years ago.
>
> On Sun, 30 May 1999 11:55:33 +0100 Bill Albert <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > This is mainly for people in the UK who may have seen The Disabled Century,
> > a BBC documentary screened last Thursday evening. It is written as a
> > review, but is really little more than an attempt to structure my thoughts
> > on how I feel about the film.
> >
> > The Enfreakment Of David Hevey
> >
> > In his wonderfully provocative book, The Creatures That Time Forgot, David
> > Hevey offers a powerful critique of the work of Diana Arbus and her
> > enfreakment photography of disabled people. He writes that she viewed her
> > relationship with them "not as social and equal relationships but as
> > encounters with souls from an underworld." Watching the first part of The
> > Disabled Century, and not knowing that Hevey was producer and director, I
> > kept thinking, "Whoever directed this should have read Hevey."
> >
> > Disabled people in this film were not so much objectified as "the other",
> > although they were, as they were exploited as objects for Hevey's artistic
> > ambitions. Lingering close-ups of body parts and missing body parts, of
> > bulging eyes, damply nervous mouths all detracted from the hard stories of
> > these peoples' lives. Artful camera angles, tricky superimpositions of
> > moving pictures of war on the faces of disabled veterans, random switching
> > from colour to black and white was all little but artifice masquerading as
> > art.
> >
> > In his book, Hevey argues that photographs of disabled people often isolate
> > them from the "normal" world or if they are in that world photos portray
> > them as invaders from another dimension. In his film, he seems to do just
> > this. Physical and social isolation are a constant theme of Hevey's images.
> > Figures placed in empty institutional halls, framed and static in their
> > understuffed chairs. Where were the points of contact with the real,
> > tactile world outside? Of course, a great many disabled people were locked
> > away in these years and Hevey's isolating imagery could be seen as an
> > attempt to reflect that painful reality.
> >
> > As you would expect from Hevey, there were some marvellous sequences. The
> > elderly deaf couple dancing to the music only they couldn't hear while
> > their signed voiceovers told their horrendous story of being officially
> > abducted from their families and sent to a "special" school. The wise and
> > forgiving man with a learning difficulty, sounding exactly like Arthur
> > Mullard, who was imprisoned in an institution for most of his life against
> > the wishes of himself and his family. But marvellous sequences don't make a
> > marvellous documentary.
> >
> > For disabled people with a knowledge of our history it was possible to give
> > shape and meaning to Hevey's disjointed narrative. However, for most people
> > it must have appeared as no more than a series of hard luck stories
> > stitched together with too-clever photography.
> >
> > But thenŠ.this is David Hevey, someone whom I greatly respect and admire.
> > And, what the hell do I know about things artistic? So I tried to think of
> > another way in.
> >
> > Perhaps the series was made for the too-late-at-night-for anyone-to-be
> > watching experimental ghetto slot and it was decided only later to market
> > it as a mainstream documentary. This could account for the weakness of
> > historical narrative.
> >
> > The excessive concentration on impairment, the deliberately weird imagery
> > could be seen as an "in-your-face" assault. "This is impairment, get used
> > to it!" Behind this, Hevey might be saying, are real people, just like you
> > with stories not like yours but with feelings as easily abused. It must
> > also be said that unlike most films about disability, Hevey does let people
> > speak for themselves and never tries to elicit pity. While they may have
> > some terrible things to tell us, the people interviewed are clearly
> > comfortable with who they are.
> >
> > Also, any artist worth the name needs to kick against the party line and
> > that line in the disability movement for many years has been the social
> > model of disability. While the film does show how people were disabled by
> > the system, it does not do so, as some activists might wish, by ignoring or
> > downplaying impairment. In fact, it revels in, embellishes, celebrates, and
> > jokes about impairment. Healthy stuff perhaps, but I would imagine only for
> > those who have thought it through and are ready to come out the other side.
> > The problem is that for the vast majority of people, and that includes most
> > disabled people, the real orthodoxy is still the impairment-centred medical
> > model of disability. For those still working within this paradigm Hevey's
> > film may not be seen as subversive but rather as reinforcing.
> >
> > Despite my reservations, I look forward to the remaining instalments of The
> > Disabled Century. After all, David Hevey is a disabled person with an
> > informed and persuasive artistic vision, a vision which at its best
> > challenges our ideas about how we see and represent ourselves. If we're
> > lucky he will take us, even artistic philistines like me, somewhere new
> > and, more importantly, somewhere liberating.
> >
> > Bill Albert
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> ----------------------
> Andy Stevens
> Anglia Polytechnic University
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
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