"Swept Aside"

Swept Aside is an installation which confronts participants with the barrier imposed by a wheelchair. The piece confronts viewer's with issue's of accessibility or more often than that, the lack of. Because my work deals with aesthetics of accessibility, it is essential for me to make my work accessible to people with a range of different abilities. Most people are aware of the need for improved access to public places, but accessibility is generally defined in terms of accommodating physical barriers. In art galleries and museums, for example, access is generally addressed in the limited terms of a ramp, wheelchair accessible toilets, or at the very most, a touch-tour for the visually impaired. How well the aesthetics of accessibility is actually understood, as well as the relevance of disability issues to art? The term 'access' itself must be clarified to include conceptual, intellectual, and multi-sensory access as well as physical access.
The media employed to create the installation include several large scale brooms that are strung together with clear fishing line to create a physical barrier. These brooms 10 feet tall and very tactile, each broom has a different Braille statement and description on them. The brooms are placed to surround a florescent green wheelchair. In the center of the installation is the wheelchair chained to a large bolder and partially buried in one ton of gravel swept to a pile. The color green of the chair is symbolic of the envy I feel everyday.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• wexner
• center
• art
• installation
• wheelchair
• jon
• berge
• disability