Recovering hand silicone dressing wire cube + flu 22 December 09
The dentist said his dieing mother believed “illness is weakness”. In medical terms, he said, she had waited far too long for any treatment to be effective. My mother and the dentist’s mother might agree about illness, that there’s no time for it, that one gets on with things and does not complain. Continue reading
No progress post therapy, crushed hand, no progress + wire cube 15.12.09
There is an expectation that vision, practice and concentrated effort will yield results. No one at hospital had said, “We’re aiming to get your fingers as fully functioning as possible”. The medics did say the road to recovery would be long and painful, two years and a lot of work. But even at this early stage, with full concentration and effort, there was no change. The fingers remained motionless. The therapist’s gage registered no change in degrees of movement passive or active.
Bad news no good news Drawing no movement Don't panic or despair 15.12.09
No dressing injured hand + wire cube 3 December 2009
I admire the photographer’s portrait work. Although I knew his portraits were truthful and poetic, I did not like what I saw in the portrait he made last summer of the two of us, more specifically of me. But the truth was there in the face revealing all the marks of that hour, day, summer and year: the ravages of summer flu, long hours, worry about frail parents and aging. It was an honest, but not a pretty picture until I saw the hands. He had captured a surprising poetry in the hands: calm and graceful, beautiful and relaxed, hands with my father’s long fingers and my mother’s delicacy. They are hands that revealed none of what the face spoke. They are hands that no longer exist. Continue reading
crushed hand pins out new dressing + wire 1 Dec 2009
Professionals in all walks of life anticipate problems, set protocol and adapt to change. The professionals at British Petroleum may have anticipated the recent oil leak in the Gulf. They probably knew that things could go wrong in the world of oil and nature and machines. In spite of their planning, it’s unlikely the scale of the disaster was predicted. In any event, no protocol was in place and their attitude toward the accident seemed casual. Continue reading