Unforgetting as Caring: Braille n' Speak, FTM issue no. 45 and Zenith Hearing Aid

How to unforget a past? In this video artwork and letter of appreciation writing series we consider artefacts from disability and trans* hirstories (not his, but a gender neutral "hir") that address what happens when reaching back in time and finding resonant experiences and experiences that are difficult to hold inside of trans* and disabled archives. By writing letters of appreciation to these archival community based publications and technologies that (sometimes) made access we hold community and access making work tenderly alongside the difficulty of ableisms and audisms that structure why some assistive technologies have been made in the first place.

Stills

This still from the video work Unforgetting as Caring combines multiple shots of access technologies made from orange plastic-like fabric: An AAC device with small buttons showing graphics for communication modes such as 'agreement' or 'Stop', a Braille n' Speak handheld computer, and a hearing aid. There are all placed on a grey plastic surface, and the hands of a white person are engaging with them. On the right side, cut outs from two clocks are layered on top of the scene, one of them a regular wall clock, one of them a PET crip time clock. A digital grid background extends in the distance, namespace is suggested by the X Y axis that stretch out in this still, which is a video from MELT. On the left side of the image many hands work on a wooden surface, assembling different technologies. The innards of the Braille N’ Speak are being modeled out of clay, and the innards of the Zenith Hearing Aid are being constructed out of reflective and absorptive papers. On the right side of the still are two clocks, one with two hands pointing at about 20:43, another shaped like an egg timer, mid turn. Captions on the bottom of the screen read 'simultaneously'. A warm brown background holds multiple reflections of sewing machines stitching a plastic - like fabric. This is a still from a video by MELT. Four views of a sewing machine depict different hands stitching fabric together - making simulations of artifacts from disabled and trans archival hirstory. On the right side of the still is one clock, whose hands are being pushed around by a human hand - currently pointing at 17:15. Captions on the bottom of the screen read 'your role in techno science hirstory'. A fused plastic background merged with a digital grid rests in the background with a simulation of a Zenith Hearing Aid from 1949 sitting atop this background. This is a still from a video by MELT. Many cables weave above the battery pack, they look messy. In the foreground five round clocks are being pushed by a finger, moving the time - each are frozen in time at a different moment. A still from the video work Unforgetting as Caring is focused on a pair of contact lenses made from clay that sit within a casing sewn from orange plastic-like fabric. On the grey plastic surface underneath some other objects are placed, but they are blurry and partial. In the front, two clocks, one of them a grey clock that usually hangs on walls, and an hourglass-like clock made from a PET-bottle are shown with hands moving them. Many plastic, wooden and digital elements dance across the frame, which is a still from a video from MELT. On the right side of the still are two clocks, one with two hands pointing at about 14:24, and another shaped like an egg timer, mid turn. In the background of the image are two contact lenses made from clay filling almost the entire frame of the shot, with a plastic bag in the front holding pieces of fabric and getting filled to the brim with scraps. Captions on the bottom of the screen read 'With much love'.

Discourse

group exhibition: Curves of Inquiry, Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam, NL