About this site

“Not only do physically disabled people have experiences which are not available to the able-bodied, they are in a better position to transcend cultural mythologies about the body, because they cannot do things the able-bodied feel they must do in order to be happy, ‘normal,’ and sane. . . If disabled people were truly heard, an explosion of knowledge of the human body and psyche would take place.”

—Susan Wendell, The Rejected Body

“Art only exercises its critical duty with regard to technology from the moment when it shifts its challenges.”

—Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics

Abler is a think-space about art, design and adaptive technologies. Here you’ll find links to artwork that may be thought of as “adaptive” in both explicit and implicit ways: work that uses tools, instruments, proxies, cyborgs, or other extensive machinery to augment the way we live. I’m interested in adaptation for practical purposes—creating greater options for the literal challenges that disabilities present. I’m also interested in adaptation in a metaphorical or speculative sense: tools, real or imagined, that make visible the less-apparent, but no less human, challenges we encounter.

Here you’ll also find conversations with artists, relevant book discussion, and a “re-blog” of selected finds from around the web. In its broadest sense, of course, a theme of “adaptation” could encompass nearly anything. But I hope that this gathering will be both focused and generative, pointing toward more questions, new areas of research, and yet-to-be-imagined ways of creating communities that thrive: how we define norms and differences, how we add to or alter our daily experiences, whether and how we choose to enhance or eliminate aspects of life as we now know it.

In keeping with the site mission, I’ve provided readable image descriptions at the bottom of each post for greater accessibility; if there are other tools out there that can maximize accessibility, send suggestions my way.

Abler also houses my recent and ongoing projects: studio-based, collaborative, public, and otherwise. You can read more about my work, and how Abler functions as part of it, on my bio page. I’d love to hear from you—

Sara Hendren, Cambridge, Mass., 2009

contact: sarahendren at gmail