Mary Behr, a Hoboken resident since 1990, doesn’t like calling attention to her disability, but her art represents her physicality reborn.
After escaping the aches and pains of arthritis, which she had suffered since the tender age of 12, Behr lent her newfound mobility to her piece “Move!” – a new media work that she created for her thesis at Parsons the New School for Design in Manhattan.
“My piece was a response to my reanimation,” says Behr, who had artificial joints implanted, two in her knees and one in her hip, about nine years ago.
Though Behr is no longer disabled, her piece is part of “Renascence,” an exhibit of new media works by artists sharing their experiences of living with disabilities, which is on display at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery in Manhattan through March 16.
A ‘Bionic’ woman
“When I first got arthritis, they [said], ‘A lot of people outgrow it in their 20s,’ and that came and went, and I hadn’t outgrown it,” Behr says, explaining that attempts to ignore it didn’t make the unbelievable pain go away. “I needed new knees – it’s kind of a gruesome decision to make, but I couldn’t walk! But now, I run around and have a great time. I’m bionic now – there’s no stopping me,” she laughs.
When Behr got her artificial implants, she loved them, though she didn’t realize how simple things like going through the metal detector would become such an ordeal. Some security workers listened to her forewarning that her metal implants would set off the machine, but some, she says, would keep her at the security checkpoint for quite some time.
Behr says that the invasive process made her uncomfortable, just as her disability had, but while studying art and technology at Parsons, she used what she learned about design and physical computing to channel her experience into work that would translate her love of free movement into a marriage of material and machine.
“I wanted to change the process of interacting with a metal detector, so I built a piece that has a metal detector in it, and when you walk up to it, if you have artificial joints, it senses the metal, and the microprocessors make the motors move,” Behr explains, adding that any metal will trigger the sensor and activate her new media piece, “Move!”
The “zen-like” and “origami-esque” folded paper acts as a delicate yet strong skin for the motors inside that respond to metals on passersby, or lacking that, viewers can use a strap fitted with metal that is part of the display.
“I was kind of going for something organic,” says Behr, of the white paper. “And if you watch it long enough, you kind of prescribe movements to it.”
The sometimes awkward movement of “Move!” is something Behr knows too well, and she admits that her disability has always made her uncomfortable.
“It was always something I tried to ignore, focusing instead on more exciting and interesting things, because it was nothing but endless pain. And nobody likes a complainer. But obviously, it’s an important aspect of why I made this installation, and I know I must talk about it. The opportunity to educate and inform people about the disease must outweigh my personal discomfort. And happily, magically, miraculously, my arthritis seems to be in remission now, and my artificial joints rock, so I am reanimated and can now make up for lost time!”
What it means to ‘Move!’
“When I first took my first physical computing class, we were looking at all these sensors,” Behr says, explaining that it made her curious. “How would a project work where only a few people could make it work? Would that be successful? Would people who could make it work be annoyed?”
Behr’s “Move!” has not annoyed anyone – in fact, reactions have been really positive.
“People seem to get it,” says Behr. “We’re trained not to touch art. You look at a painting and you have real thoughts, but you’re not allowed to physically interact with it.”
This is why she says that viewers walk up to it and aren’t quite sure what they’re supposed to do – but with art that reacts to its audience, it’s easy and interesting to discover how it works.
“It’ll react to your keys,” says Behr, whose piece is accompanied by a wall text explanation.
The three motors inside are triggered by the metal sensor, and run in a 30-second sequence.
This example of new media art is based on physical computing, “which is when you use sensors to enable the user to interact with more than just your hands,” Behr explains, adding, “It’s different interaction. The Clapper is physical computing, but it has no artistic element.”
Colleen Macklin, chair of Parsons Department of Communication Design and Technology, was one of Behr’s advisors, and she hopes that people will go to experience Behr’s piece.
“She would use technology to make visible problems that she has,” Macklin says. “It really talked about the intersection of the body, technology, and identity.”
Macklin says they’re very proud of Behr at Parsons, and she thinks “Move!” will surprise and intrigue a lot of its viewers.
“I think that she really did a beautiful job of bringing together the world of art and design.”
For more information about Mary Behr or to see video of her piece “Move!” visit her Web site at www.marybehr.com. The exhibit runs through March 16, for more information on “Renascence,” visit www.vsarts.org/renascence. Comments can be sent to Mpaul@hudsonreporter.com.