In their artist’s talk, Panteha Abareshi will speak about power dynamics between the able bodied and those disabled subjects they are tasked directly or indirectly to care for - navigating the notions of the “patient,” “management,” and what new forms both volatile and tender intimacy takes in the private spaces where the cripple is relegated to be “taken care of.”

note room change: INTS 1109

Panteha Abareshi's artistic practice is rooted in their existence as a chronically ill/disabled body contending with multiple medical illnesses, at the foundation of which is sickle cell zero beta thalassemia- a genetic blood disorder that causes debilitating pain and bodily deterioration, both of which increase with age. Their work explores the complexities of living within a body that is highly monitored, constantly examined, and made to feel like a specimen, critically interrogating the sick/disabled body’s place within medical institutions. In their video work and sculptural installations, Abareshi confronts the able-bodied gaze, and questions notions of consent within the dynamics of power, control and objectification between viewer and disabled body as subject.

Co-sponsored by the departments of Black Study, English, Dance, the Center for the Center for Ideas & Society, and the Health, Humanities Disability Justice Initiative.