Ventilators and gelatin as disabled assemblage : reimagining the intimacy between disabled people and assistive technology

Assistive technology mediates the relationship between disabled and able-bodied lives. Recognizing the varied definitions and uses of technology, this thesis uses the phrase “assistive technology” to reimagine and reconceptualize the relationship between disabled people and their technology. Conjuring the idea of “support” or “aid,” an examination of assistive technology invites dialogue on relationships of both interdependence and mutual exchange. In this thesis, while assistive technology is used to encompass a wide range of technological mediums, particular attention is given to the intimate everyday uses of technology by disabled people. In closely reading ventilators and gelatin as forms of assistive technology, the chapters of this thesis explore and reimagine socially approved bodily relations to and with technology. To examine assistive technology, this thesis begins at the level of the intimate, that is the quotidian spaces of care, treatment, and disabled life. I engage with two artifacts of visual culture; public discourses of ventilators in the Covid-19 pandemic and the “bio-shrine” gelatinous sculptures of artist Sharona Franklin. Specifically, the experiences of Michael Hickson and Sharona Franklin—two disabled people with varied experiences navigating ableism—are united in their intimate relationship with assistive technology. I ask, how does critical disability studies conceptualize technology? What materials, components, relationships, modes of labour, and forms of mediation are encompassed by the category “assistive technology”? And lastly, what are the potentials born from embracing our intimacy with technology? To consider these questions, I posit the framework of disabled assemblage which envisions the trans-corporeality of disabled life. Chapter 2 engages with the implications of the interwoven projects of ableism and racism on disabled life by considering the genealogies of scientific thought and technological development. Chapter 3 contributes to discourses of disability, aesthetics, and materiality by positing gelatin as a form of assistive technology. Through the framework of disabled assemblage, this thesis identifies not only the implications of redefining conceptions of assistive technology, but also the importance of examining assistive technology within critical disability studies. Arts, Faculty ofEnglish, Department ofGraduat