Welcome to our Latest Issue: Disability Justice, Technology & Access! - immerse.news

A adjacent up of Alice Sheppard and Laurel Lawson suspended successful the air, arms outstretched and clasping each other’s hands. Photo credits: Robbie Sweeny/Kinetic Light, pulled from Laurel Lawson’s portion for Immerse

This wintertime contented centers disablement innovation successful documentary and emerging tech — presenting perspectives from artists, activists, scholars and technologists astatine the vanguard of storytelling and disablement justice. It’s inspired by existing efforts from our collaborators astatine the Access and Disability Innovation Working Group astatine MIT Open Doc Lab and Co-Creation Studio.

Lightning talks from artists, technologists, curators and scholars hosted by the moving radical provided a jumping disconnected constituent for reflection for the Immerse editorial collective. The work typically engages emergent exertion forms that historically person not accommodated disabled artists and audiences. One of our contented pieces successful particular, an interrogation with Sacha Wares, the manager of the IDFA award-winning Museum of Austerity (2021), is straight inspired by 1 of the talks successful the moving group’s symposium.

With this issue, we purpose to stock learnings that inspired us, lessons learned successful the instauration and accumulation of creation that centers access, that recognizes disabled radical successful the wholeness of their experiences, crossed the galore spectrums and intersections of identity. We besides privation to stock the harsh realities, the impacts of entree initiatives that autumn short, enacting alteration that is unsustainable and harmful.

I inquire our readers, creatives crossed the spectrum of engaging with (or possibly persisting through) conversations astir disablement and entree successful their time to day, to see these pieces with an unfastened mind. Allow yourself forgiveness, clip to “be.” In keeping with the tone of galore of these pieces, beryllium with the feelings of resonance, acknowledgement and discomfort, and perpetrate yourself to learning and unlearning successful the ways you can.

Some of these are stories of originative workarounds and “finessing,” of breaking isolated and manipulating systems successful spot to ideate caller realities. These stories talk of frustration, of triumph and of not lone wishing for a caller presumption quo, but detailing the steps needed to get there. Others telephone retired ableist bullsh*t similar they spot it, similar Leora Fridman’s critique of Apple’s The Greatest (2022) the newest disablement advertisement that she argues falls abbreviated successful nuance and representation. And don’t miss Aubrie Lee’s gripping effort explaining however exertion that could beryllium enabling her arsenic a wheelchair idiosyncratic and self-proclaimed “cyborg” alternatively sets her back.

Our writers present america to a scope of cutting-edge accessible tech — immoderate of which, similar Dylan Fox’s speculative fabrication portion connected being unsighted successful 2040, hasn’t yet been invented. From Laurel Lawson, dancer, choreographer and engineer, we get an instauration to Protactile and the imaginable of haptic tech to revolutionize disabled creation and performing arts spaces. In their Zoom campfire chat, Chris Hainsworth and Harshadha Balasumbrian of Blind Burners reflect connected their collective’s challenges successful making a virtual world (VR) acquisition accessible for unsighted and visually impaired creators and audiences — nether the clip crunch of Burning Man 2021.

Beyond the baseline of entree (which we proceed to stress arsenic a indispensable precondition of showcasing work), this contented besides features ways of exhibiting and cultivating originative experiences that are intimate, intentional and trauma-informed. In her interrogation with seeley quest, multisensory creator Salima Punjani presents a plethora of ways of structuring attraction into creation practice, spanning everything from heartbeat biodata to bubble baths. Artist-scholar Dr. Frank Mondelli grapples with questions astir what it means to halfway Deaf, hard of proceeding and disabled perspectives successful their subversive re-imagining of the proceeding exam — surfacing questions astir however to plan not lone for a Deaf and/or disabled audience, but for a hearing, able-bodied 1 arsenic well.

Now, I americium arrogant to contiguous perspectives from folks who bash the day-to-day enactment of capableness building, existing some successful solidarity and successful allyship successful bid to make a much just, accessible world. As a first-time exertion (from commencement to finish), I consciousness grateful for galore things: the organizing efforts, triumphs and trials of activists specified arsenic Stacey Park Milbern, Alice Wong, Mia Mingus and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha that person uplifted disablement justness to the visibility we spot today. The grace, sheer endowment and patience of each the contributors. The information that we are capable to enactment this contented into the world. The labour of emotion that Immerse is for our editorial corporate — galore claps to subordinate exertion Omar El-Sabrout, joining for this issue.

Issue Featured Stories:

For our stories successful elemental text, please notation to our linked Archives page.

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Immerse is an inaugural of the MIT Open DocLab and Dot Connector Studio, and receives backing from Just Films | Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Gotham Film & Media Institute is our fiscal sponsor. Learn much here. We are committed to exploring and showcasing emerging nonfiction projects that propulsion the boundaries of media and tackle issues of societal justness — and trust connected friends similar you to prolong ourselves and grow. Join america by making a acquisition today.