[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.55,0:00:02.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's wonderful to be here
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.78,0:00:04.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to talk about my journey,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.87,0:00:06.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to talk about the wheelchair
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.60,0:00:09.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the freedom it has bought me.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.24,0:00:11.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started using a wheelchair 16 years ago
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.88,0:00:14.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when an extended illness
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.02,0:00:17.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,changed the way I could access the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.60,0:00:19.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I started using the wheelchair,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.98,0:00:22.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was a tremendous new freedom.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.56,0:00:25.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd seen my life slip away and become restricted.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.65,0:00:28.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was like having an enormous new toy.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.22,0:00:32.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I could whiz around and feel the wind in my face again.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.25,0:00:35.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just being out on the street was exhilarating.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.76,0:00:40.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But even though I had this newfound joy and freedom,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.16,0:00:43.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people's reaction completely changed towards me.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.71,0:00:46.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was as if they couldn't see me anymore,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.19,0:00:50.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as if an invisibility cloak had descended.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.19,0:00:53.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They seemed to see me in terms of their assumptions
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.41,0:00:57.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of what it must be like to be in a wheelchair.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.64,0:01:02.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I asked people their associations with the wheelchair,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.55,0:01:06.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they used words like "limitation," "fear,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.11,0:01:09.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"pity" and "restriction."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.13,0:01:13.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I realized I'd internalized these responses
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.90,0:01:17.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it had changed who I was on a core level.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.44,0:01:21.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A part of me had become alienated from myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.63,0:01:25.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was seeing myself not from my perspective,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.21,0:01:29.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but vividly and continuously from the perspective
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.37,0:01:32.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of other people's responses to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.27,0:01:37.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a result, I knew I needed to make my own stories
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.40,0:01:39.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about this experience,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.64,0:01:42.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,new narratives to reclaim my identity.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.41,0:01:45.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,["Finding Freedom: 'By creating our own stories we learn to take the texts of our lives as seriously as we do 'official' narratives.' — Davis 2009, TEDx Women"]
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.52,0:01:47.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started making work
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.59,0:01:50.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that aimed to communicate something
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.41,0:01:55.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the joy and freedom I felt when using a wheelchair --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.53,0:02:00.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a power chair -- to negotiate the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.14,0:02:06.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was working to transform these internalized responses,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.73,0:02:10.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to transform the preconceptions that had so shaped
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.52,0:02:13.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my identity when I started using a wheelchair,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.70,0:02:17.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by creating unexpected images.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.47,0:02:23.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The wheelchair became an object to paint and play with.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.69,0:02:25.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I literally started leaving
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.73,0:02:29.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,traces of my joy and freedom,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.29,0:02:31.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was exciting to see
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.24,0:02:35.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the interested and surprised responses from people.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.74,0:02:38.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It seemed to open up new perspectives,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.63,0:02:41.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and therein lay the paradigm shift.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.53,0:02:43.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It showed that an arts practice
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.60,0:02:45.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can remake one's identity
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.94,0:02:50.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and transform preconceptions by revisioning the familiar.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.73,0:02:54.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So when I began to dive, in 2005,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.64,0:02:58.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I realized scuba gear extends your range of activity
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.17,0:03:00.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in just the same way as a wheelchair does,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.83,0:03:03.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the associations attached to scuba gear
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.42,0:03:06.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are ones of excitement and adventure,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.02,0:03:09.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,completely different to people's responses to the wheelchair.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.84,0:03:12.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I thought, "I wonder what'll happen
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.99,0:03:17.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if I put the two together?" (Laughter) (Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.30,0:03:21.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the underwater wheelchair that has resulted
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.49,0:03:24.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has taken me on the most amazing journey
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.20,0:03:26.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the last seven years.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.47,0:03:29.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So to give you an idea of what that's like,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.96,0:03:32.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd like to share with you one of the outcomes
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.84,0:03:34.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from creating this spectacle,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.94,0:03:38.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and show you what an amazing journey it's taken me on.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.74,0:03:47.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music)
Dialogue: 0,0:07:08.44,0:07:15.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.24,0:07:18.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is the most amazing experience,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:18.22,0:07:21.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beyond most other things I've experienced in life.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:21.86,0:07:24.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I literally have the freedom to move
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.95,0:07:27.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in 360 degrees of space
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.59,0:07:31.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and an ecstatic experience of joy and freedom.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.35,0:07:33.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the incredibly unexpected thing
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.97,0:07:38.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that other people seem to see and feel that too.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.16,0:07:40.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their eyes literally light up,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.54,0:07:43.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they say things like, "I want one of those,"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.79,0:07:47.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or, "If you can do that, I can do anything."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.47,0:07:51.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm thinking, it's because in that moment
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.10,0:07:53.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of them seeing an object
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.65,0:07:55.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they have no frame of reference for,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.56,0:07:58.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or so transcends the frames of reference
Dialogue: 0,0:07:58.36,0:08:00.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they have with the wheelchair,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.10,0:08:03.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they have to think in a completely new way.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.14,0:08:07.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think that moment of completely new thought
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.48,0:08:09.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perhaps creates a freedom
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.98,0:08:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that spreads to the rest of other people's lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.00,0:08:17.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, this means that they're seeing
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.20,0:08:19.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the value of difference,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.55,0:08:21.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the joy it brings
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.47,0:08:25.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when instead of focusing on loss or limitation,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.29,0:08:29.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we see and discover the power and joy
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.69,0:08:34.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of seeing the world from exciting new perspectives.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:34.10,0:08:35.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, the wheelchair becomes
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.80,0:08:38.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a vehicle for transformation.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.14,0:08:41.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, I now call the underwater wheelchair "Portal,"
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.92,0:08:44.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's literally pushed me through
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.12,0:08:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into a new way of being,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.00,0:08:49.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into new dimensions and into a new level of consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.74,0:08:51.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the other thing is,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:51.28,0:08:53.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that because nobody's seen or heard
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.75,0:08:56.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of an underwater wheelchair before,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:56.25,0:08:59.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and creating this spectacle is about creating
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.09,0:09:01.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,new ways of seeing, being and knowing,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.93,0:09:04.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,now you have this concept in your mind.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.88,0:09:08.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You're all part of the artwork too.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.68,0:09:16.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)