Aimee Mullins

The video that you made us watch about Aimee Mullins has shown us that a very dull part of the human body can entirely change a person’s identity. In Aimee’s case, she can change her legs, that is, prosthetics. Aimee owns over a dozen prosthetic legs and none of them look alike. She has shown us a few of the ones she owns in her photographs to demonstrate how every single one of them can change her look. The ones she wore during the show were very realistic for at first, I did not notice that they were not her real legs. It was a black open toe stiletto that revealed red toenails. Those legs made me think of the documentary of Ron Muek that we have seen in class since it is a form of art that expresses realism. She has also shown us wooden boots that she had worn on a runway which were made up of actual wood and had very detailed carvings of vines. The other pairs of prosthetic legs she has shown the audience are metal ones that she wears when she runs, cheetah legs and legs that seem to be made out of glass. Every single pair of prosthetic legs that she owns changes her identity because when she wears her metal ‘’running legs’’ she is an athlete, when she wears her stilettos, she is very glamorous and chic, when she wears the glass prosthetics, she is edgy and unique and finally when she wears the cheetah legs, she looks wild and sensual. Therefore, they can all be considered works of art for they are entirely different, made by hand and most importantly, they express how the person who wears them feels when she puts them on. It is amazing to see how such a forgotten body part can change someone’s identity. Designs affect our day to day activity and identity because it expresses who we are or how we want to be seen by others. Designs such as clothes, jewellery and cars can give us an estimate on how one’s personality is, that is, flamboyant, conservative, edgy etc.