Expressing identity with aesthetic prosthetics

I've always been really interested in merging the imagination with reality I like optical illusions and I like tricking the eye with what's real and what's not I studied special effects and back in 2001 at the University of Arts in London seemed like a good starting point for me and there I learned how to cast body parts I learnt how to make and set wigs and also sculpt and apply prosthetics once I was given an assignment and that was to make something Harry got given a needle bunch of hair and some transparent lace could hardly see her and so my nearest target was my four year old cousin so he soon became complete with chest and armpit hair and I like this image because yeah it's almost believable and also he was yeah he was really not up for this at all it's a really pinning down and yeah so soon after graduating I found a much more powerful way to to trick the eye and that wasn't in the medium of movies but in the medium of human bodies real-life medical patients and soon after graduating I got a job at a medical company sculpting realistic looking prosthetic limbs there I learnt how to make fingers partial hands partial feet liners which is the interface between the socket and the artificial limb full arm and leg covers so the prosthetist would be the person who would make the socket and fit the componentry but I would make the that outer outer skin I remember making 11 fingers for 3 people with the same surname at one time and thinking what the hell it's the story behind this and also all the other I made you know I wouldn't I'd rarely get to meet my patients and you know tenderly making this job that they're gonna accept as part of their own body and I was always really curious very occasionally I would get to meet the patient and it would be really rewarding seeing my work being worn but also hearing their feedback and losing a limb can be alienating and disempowering especially under traumatic circumstances and and for the patient's they would say that actually seeing your body complete again as nature intended and gives a sense of you know self-confidence body balance and most of all and most importantly control but not everybody feels this way and I was there for eight years and our hours of work I I met other amputees and they say well actually Sophie I don't feel like that I don't really you know I don't see see my limb in that way it's a medical device it is what it is why should I feel that I need to blend back into society yeah just I'm just true to what it is and so really made me think you know what would I do what if I was an amputee would I have something realistic looking or keep it you know bare structure or maybe I'd do something a little bit different maybe I'd personalize it in some other way now my the imagination and reality really kind of kicked in for me when I met four year old Pollyanna Pollyanna is playful imaginative and she really brought you into a world of make-believe with her and every year I'd make her a realistic LED cover and she wants something a little bit different it started off with her favorite cartoon which is a Peppa Pig I don't know whether you've got that over here and this she had all these little pigs riding bicycles and eating ice creams around the top of her leg and then another year she had pictures of her family and friends all embedded in the in the mid and all all around her leg and she would interact with her leg and and so would all have you know family and friends would be like hey Pollyanna when am I gonna feature on your leg and you know what you're gonna have next time and so I could see there's something really interesting happening and you know this was for her you know it wasn't something that she had to do every year it turned into something that she wanted to do every year and so from rehabilitation point of view I thought this this is really powerful this is last time I saw her I hadn't even finished I hadn't even given her the leg and this is what she drew for me said Sophie this is what I want from my legs next leg I'd like a leg with loads of drawers in it I'd like a spare drawer at the top and I'd like another drawer for cut like pens stickers one for rubbers for now so no that's an eraser by the way bunch of pencils and that's okay that's cool so I pretty started made me think well if I could make some really truly alternative looking limbs there must be some people out there that would really you know make perhaps see their limit in a different way maybe like an accessory or like you know they turn into like a walking piece of art and and if no one wanted it then I'd make them anyway and then it would create some kind of dialogue about human body and difference and celebration and so I thought well I'm gonna set up the alternative limb projects which is what I did and three years ago and I still make realistic limb covers but and I get to meet all my clients but I very occasionally make an alternative one now I need to define someone who shared the vision and that's when I told the internet and I found Victoria modesta who's performing and she's a singer and a performing artist and this is the first leg that I made for her now she or left leg cover should say and she she was born with the withered leg and she had countless operations and bullying after bullying at school she just found that actually you know this legs not getting me anywhere I'm gonna have a voluntary amputation and she has never looked back now this is the first piece that I made for her and I was really curious to know how it felt wearing this and she said to me Sophie it makes me feel totally unique and it gives me a sense of mutant human in the best way possible so that's pretty cool so simultaneously she happens to be rehearsing for par in the Paralympic closing ceremony now they were just going to get her to kind of have her usual leg which is shaped her you know the same as her other and no one would be the wiser that she was an amputee but she said hang on a minute this is all about difference and and you know celebration of that and and actually the slogan I think for the for the Paralympics in 2012 was meet the superhumans so she said hang on her I know this girl right and she can make this leg really cool and so they're okay right so I came on board and and soon her leg was encrusted with crystals and there were chunks taken out with shards and and it became quite a spectacle now now she's working on a short film and which includes a like a glossy black faceted or how do I describe it glossy black faceted shards points of a leg and then there's another one which has been Chrome's and it's got like a white bone running running down the front and this really lights up so it's got lights inside and a clear case on the outside which is shaped to her leg but it doesn't have to be just a standalone sculpture or a walking piece of art it could be a space to be used in a combination of ways so this is an arm that was made and this has got secret compartment a compass a watch a magnifying glass couple of knives a bit dodgy and a telescopic magnet and I ask other people you know what would you have a few if you know you've had a you could have an alternative limb and all sorts of ideas come to mind I you know you could have like a slick device in place of an arm with off which has this office equipment or like a leg that you could flip up and use you know a keyboard like a white wireless keyboard all sorts of things and you know giving talks at schools as well but just like it it soon becomes like a competition as to how much you can get how many gadgets and gizmos you can get in your limb now this is Veronica Veronica and this is the first time Veronica war has wore a skirt since her accident and four years ago in a well she was cycling and she collided with a lorry and she's got an intelligent leg and was the componentry allows her to power up steps and and she wanted to be true to what it was so rather than covering it in foam she opted for something slick and sexy and futuristic so it's got a secret compartment and metal knee plate from kneeling a flip at the back so she can still charge the leg and in the knee it looks like a turbine engine this is my favorite limb that was created for Ryan ex-military and he lost his leg in an ie D and this he wanted something organic striking and futuristic also and so he said actually I really want to see my foot again there Sophie so if you can make my toes look realistic so I took hairs from the back of his neck and made his toes look really hairy like the others and and he's got like these removable muscle plates that clip on and off now it gives me great pleasure to welcome a lady that just happens to be here in San Francisco this is one of my clients Louise Bruton and so I'd like to I think the audience here would probably like to know what inspired you to get an alternative looking limb well this October will be the 10th anniversary of having my leg amputated and in the last 10 years no one has ever thought that my prosthetic leg was real so I finally come around to the thinking that if no one's gonna believe it's real make it seem totally surreal think so and and also what's your experience so far with wearing in fact I think you've got a name for the leg yeah I call her Priscilla after the Queen of the desert and she has been having a great time with my regular leg I've always noticed that people will look at it in a curious way but they'd never ask any questions but now with Priscilla they want to know everything about her so she's given me something that I last years ago so with Priscilla I've reclaimed the leg I lost 10 years ago thanks Louise and I think you know people like Louise are transforming the public perception of of amputees and giving other amputees as well greater confidence about expressing their difference in positive ways and that's something that's not defined by absence but I think transformation Thank You Louise

Channel: TEDMED

Views: 12,217

Rating: 4.8612719 out of 5

Keywords: Sophie de Oliveira Barata, Posthetics, Alternative Limb Project, TEDMED

Id: e2qrU8Tzoec

Length: 12min 47sec (767 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 31 2015