TED2009
Aimee Mullins: My 12 pairs of legs
Aimee Mullins og hendes 12 par ben
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Sportskvinden, skuespilleren og aktivisten Aimee Mullins fortæller om sine kunstige ben -- hun har tolv fantastiske par -- og de superkræfter de giver hende: hurtighed, skønhed, 15 centimeter ekstra i højden... Hun omdefinerer ganske simpelt hvad en krop kan være.
Aimee Mullins - Athlete and actor
A record-breaker at the Paralympic Games in 1996, Aimee Mullins has built a career as a model, actor and advocate for women, sports and the next generation of prosthetics. Full bio
A record-breaker at the Paralympic Games in 1996, Aimee Mullins has built a career as a model, actor and advocate for women, sports and the next generation of prosthetics. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I was speaking to a group of about 300 kids,
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Jeg talte til en gruppe med rundt regnet 300 børn,
00:15
ages six to eight, at a children's museum,
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i alderen seks til otte på et museum for børn,
00:17
and I brought with me a bag full of legs,
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og jeg havde en taske fuld af ben med,
00:21
similar to the kinds of things you see up here,
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af samme slags som I ser heroppe,
00:23
and had them laid out on a table for the kids.
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jeg lagde dem ud på et bord foran børnene.
00:25
And, from my experience, you know, kids are naturally curious
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Og min erfaring, I ved, har børn en naturlig nysgerrighed
00:29
about what they don't know, or don't understand,
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om det de ikke ved, eller ikke forstår,
00:31
or is foreign to them.
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eller det der er nyt for dem.
00:33
They only learn to be frightened of those differences
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De lærer først at være bange for de forskelle
00:35
when an adult influences them to behave that way,
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når en voksen får dem til at opføre sig på den måde,
00:38
and maybe censors that natural curiosity,
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og måske standser denne naturlige nysgerrighed,
00:41
or you know, reins in the question-asking
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eller I ved, tøjler spørgelysten
00:44
in the hopes of them being polite little kids.
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i håbet om at de er høflige små børn.
00:46
So I just pictured a first grade teacher out in the lobby
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Så jeg forestillede mig en lærer i første klasse ude i forhallen
00:50
with these unruly kids, saying, "Now, whatever you do,
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med disse livlige børn, der siger "Hør, hvad end i gør,
00:53
don't stare at her legs."
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så lad være med at stirre på hendes ben."
00:55
But, of course, that's the point.
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Men selvfølgelig, var det pointen.
00:57
That's why I was there, I wanted to invite them to look and explore.
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Det var derfor jeg var der, for jeg ønskede at få dem til at kigge og udforske.
01:00
So I made a deal with the adults
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Så jeg lavede en aftale med de voksne.
01:04
that the kids could come in without any adults for two minutes
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så børnene kunne komme ind uden de voksne i to minutter,
01:07
on their own.
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på egen hånd.
01:09
The doors open, the kids descend on this table of legs,
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Dørene åbnes, børnene flokkes om bordet med ben,
01:13
and they are poking and prodding, and they're wiggling toes,
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og de rører og skubber, og de vrikker med tæerne,
01:16
and they're trying to put their full weight on the sprinting leg
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og de prøver at bruge hele deres vægt på sprinter-benet.
01:18
to see what happens with that.
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for at se, hvad der sker ved det.
01:20
And I said, "Kids, really quickly --
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Og jeg siger, "Børn, hurtigt --
01:22
I woke up this morning, I decided I wanted to be able to jump over a house --
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Jeg vågnede i morges, og jeg besluttede at jeg ville være i stand til at hoppe over et hus --
01:26
nothing too big, two or three stories --
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ikke noget stort, kun to eller tre etager --
01:28
but, if you could think of any animal, any superhero, any cartoon character,
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men, hvis I kunne komme i tanke om et dyr, en superhelt eller en tegneseriefigur,
01:33
anything you can dream up right now,
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alt hvad I kan finde på lige nu,
01:35
what kind of legs would you build me?"
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hvilken slags ben ville I så lave til mig?"
01:37
And immediately a voice shouted, "Kangaroo!"
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Og med det samme råbte en stemme, "Kænguru!"
01:40
"No, no, no! Should be a frog!"
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"Nej, nej, nej! Det skal være en frø!"
01:42
"No. It should be Go Go Gadget!"
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"Nej. Det skal være Go Go Gadget!"
01:44
"No, no, no! It should be the Incredibles."
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"Nej, nej, nej! Det skal være De Utrolige."
01:46
And other things that I don't -- aren't familiar with.
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Og andre ting jeg ikke -- kender til.
01:49
And then, one eight-year-old said,
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Og så var der en otteårig, der sagde,
01:51
"Hey, why wouldn't you want to fly too?"
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"Hej, hvorfor ville du ikke kunne flyve også?"
01:56
And the whole room, including me, was like, "Yeah."
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Og alle i rummet, inklusiv mig, sagde bare, "Yeah."
01:59
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
02:01
And just like that, I went from being a woman
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Og med ét, gik jeg fra at være en kvinde,
02:04
that these kids would have been trained to see as "disabled"
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som disse børn ville være blevet trænet til at se som en "handicappet",
02:08
to somebody that had potential that their bodies didn't have yet.
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til at være en der havde en krop, der kunne gøre noget deres ikke kunne endnu.
02:13
Somebody that might even be super-abled.
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En, der endda kunne få superkræfter.
02:15
Interesting.
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Interessant.
02:17
So some of you actually saw me at TED, 11 years ago.
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Nogen af jer så mig faktisk til TED for 11 år siden,
02:22
And there's been a lot of talk about how life-changing this conference is
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og der har været meget snak om hvor livsændrende denne konference er
02:26
for both speakers and attendees, and I am no exception.
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for både talere og tilhører, og jeg er ikke nogen undtagelse.
02:30
TED literally was the launch pad to the next decade of my life's exploration.
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TED var bogstaveligt talt affyringsrampen for det næste årti af udforskningen af mit liv.
02:36
At the time, the legs I presented were groundbreaking in prosthetics.
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På det tidspunkt var de ben jeg fremviste et gennembrud i proteser.
02:41
I had woven carbon fiber sprinting legs
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Jeg havde vævede kulfibersprinterben
02:43
modeled after the hind leg of a cheetah,
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modellerede efter bagbenene på en gepard,
02:45
which you may have seen on stage yesterday.
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som I måske så på scenen i går.
02:47
And also these very life-like, intrinsically painted silicone legs.
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Og disse meget livagtige, naturligt farvede silikone ben.
02:53
So at the time, it was my opportunity to put a call out
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Så på det tidspunkt fik jeg muligheden for at give et opråb
02:57
to innovators outside the traditional medical prosthetic community
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til opfindere uden for den normale kreds af fremstillere af medicinske proteser
03:01
to come bring their talent to the science and to the art
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til at bruge deres talenter på den videnskab og kunstart
03:05
of building legs.
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det er at bygge ben.
03:07
So that we can stop compartmentalizing form, function and aesthetic,
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Så vi kan holde op med at opdele form, funktion og æstetik
03:12
and assigning them different values.
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og i stedet tildele dem andre værdier.
03:14
Well, lucky for me, a lot of people answered that call.
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Men, heldigvis for mig var der mange, der svarede på mit opråb.
03:18
And the journey started, funny enough, with a TED conference attendee --
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Og rejsen starede, sjovt nok, med en deltager til en TED konference.
03:23
Chee Pearlman, who hopefully is in the audience somewhere today.
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Chee Pearlman, som forhåbentlig er et sted blandt publikum i dag.
03:26
She was the editor then of a magazine called ID,
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Hun var dengang redaktør af tidsskriftet ID,
03:29
and she gave me a cover story.
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og hun gav mig en forsidehistorie.
03:32
This started an incredible journey.
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Det var starten på en fantastisk rejse.
03:35
Curious encounters were happening to me at the time;
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Spændende møder kom til mig i den tid;
03:37
I'd been accepting numerous invitations to speak
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Jeg havde accepteret utallige invitationer til at lave præsentationer
03:40
on the design of the cheetah legs around the world.
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om designet af gepard-benene overalt i verden.
03:43
And people would come up to me after the conference, after my talk,
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Folk kom op til mig efter konferencen, efter min præsentation,
03:46
men and women.
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mænd og kvinder.
03:48
And the conversation would go something like this,
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Og samtalen ville gå noget i stil med dette,
03:50
"You know Aimee, you're very attractive.
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"Du ved Aimee, du er meget attraktiv.
03:54
You don't look disabled."
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Du ser ikke handicappet ud."
03:56
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
03:57
I thought, "Well, that's amazing,
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Jeg tænkte, "Det var da utroligt
03:59
because I don't feel disabled."
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for jeg føler mig ikke handicappet."
04:01
And it really opened my eyes to this conversation
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Og det åbnede virkeligt mine øjne for denne samtale
04:06
that could be explored, about beauty.
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som kunne udforskes om skønhed.
04:08
What does a beautiful woman have to look like?
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Hvordan skal en smuk kvinde se ud?
04:11
What is a sexy body?
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Hvad er en sexet krop?
04:13
And interestingly, from an identity standpoint,
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Og mest interessant set fra spørgsmålet om identitet,
04:15
what does it mean to have a disability?
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hvad vil det sige at have et handicap?
04:18
I mean, people -- Pamela Anderson has more prosthetic in her body than I do.
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Jeg mener -- Pamela Anderson har flere proteser i sin krop end jeg har.
04:21
Nobody calls her disabled.
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Ingen kalder hende handicappet.
04:23
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
04:29
So this magazine, through the hands of graphic designer Peter Saville,
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Så dette tidsskrift, sendt videre af grafisk designer Peter Saville,
04:33
went to fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and photographer Nick Knight,
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nåede frem til modedesigneren Alexander McQueen og fotograf Nick Knight,
04:38
who were also interested in exploring that conversation.
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som også var interesseret i at udforske dette emne.
04:40
So, three months after TED I found myself on a plane
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Så, tre måneder efter TED befandt jeg mig i et fly
04:43
to London, doing my first fashion shoot,
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til London for at lave mine første modefotos,
04:48
which resulted in this cover --
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som resulterede i denne forside --
04:49
"Fashion-able"?
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modeagtigt?
04:52
Three months after that, I did my first runway show for Alexander McQueen
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Tre måneder efter det, gik jeg for første gang i et modeshow for Alexander McQueen
04:56
on a pair of hand-carved wooden legs made from solid ash.
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på et par håndlavede ben af træ lavet af massiv ask.
05:01
Nobody knew -- everyone thought they were wooden boots.
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Ingen vidste det -- alle troede det var støvler af træ.
05:04
Actually, I have them on stage with me:
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Faktisk har jeg dem her på scenen med mig:
05:07
grapevines, magnolias -- truly stunning.
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Drueklaser, magnoliaer, i sandhed betagende.
05:12
Poetry matters.
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Poesi betyder noget.
05:15
Poetry is what elevates the banal and neglected object
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Poesi er det, der løfter en banal og overset ting
05:20
to a realm of art.
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og gør det til kunst.
05:22
It can transform the thing that might have made people fearful
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Det kan ændre den ting, der ellers kunne skabe frygt hos folk
05:28
into something that invites them to look,
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og gør den til noget, der inviterer folk til at kigge
05:30
and look a little longer,
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og til at kigge lidt længere
05:33
and maybe even understand.
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og måske endda til at forstå.
05:35
I learned this firsthand with my next adventure.
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Jeg lærte det på første hånd i mit næste eventyr.
05:39
The artist Matthew Barney, in his film opus called the "The Cremaster Cycle."
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Kunstneren Matthew Barnet i sin filmopus "The Cremaster Cycle."
05:43
This is where it really hit home for me --
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Det var her, det virkelig slog mig,
05:46
that my legs could be wearable sculpture.
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at mine ben kunne være kunst man kan have på.
05:48
And even at this point, I started to move away from the need to replicate human-ness
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Og på det tidspunkt begyndte jeg at bevæge mig væk fra trangen til at genskabe det menneskelige
05:55
as the only aesthetic ideal.
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som det eneste skønhedsideal.
05:57
So we made what people lovingly referred to as glass legs
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Så vi lavede det som folk på kærlig vis kaldte glasben
06:01
even though they're actually optically clear polyurethane,
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og det selvom det faktisk er gennemsigtig polyurethan,
06:05
a.k.a. bowling ball material.
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dvs. materialet fra bowlingkugler.
06:07
Heavy!
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Tungt!
06:08
Then we made these legs that are cast in soil
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Så lavede vi disse ben som er støbt i muld
06:10
with a potato root system growing in them, and beetroots out the top,
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med en kartoffels rodsystem, der vokser i dem, og rødbeder, der kommer ud i toppen,
06:14
and a very lovely brass toe.
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Og en skøn tå af messing.
06:16
That's a good close-up of that one.
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Det er et godt nærbillede af den.
06:18
Then another character was a half-woman, half-cheetah --
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Den anden figur var halv kvinde og og halv gepard --
06:20
a little homage to my life as an athlete.
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en lille hyldest til mit liv som atlet.
06:22
14 hours of prosthetic make-up
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14 timers protese-make-up
06:25
to get into a creature that had articulated paws,
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for at blive til en skabning, der havde bevægelige poter
06:29
claws and a tail that whipped around,
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kløer og en hale, der piskede rundt,
06:33
like a gecko.
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som en gecko.
06:35
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
06:37
And then another pair of legs we collaborated on were these --
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Og et andet par ben vi samarbejdede om var disse...
06:41
look like jellyfish legs,
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ligner ben af vandmænd.
06:43
also polyurethane.
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Også i polyurethan.
06:45
And the only purpose that these legs can serve,
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Og det eneste formål de ben kan opfylde,
06:48
outside the context of the film,
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udenfor filmens verden,
06:51
is to provoke the senses and ignite the imagination.
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er at provokere sanserne og starte fantasien.
06:54
So whimsy matters.
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Så det fjollede betyder noget.
06:57
Today, I have over a dozen pair of prosthetic legs
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I dag har jeg over et dusin par kunstige ben
07:03
that various people have made for me,
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som forskellige mennesker har lavet til mig,
07:05
and with them I have different negotiations of the terrain under my feet,
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og med dem har jeg mulighed for at bevæge mig over forskellige former for terræn.
07:09
and I can change my height --
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Og jeg kan ændre min højde --
07:11
I have a variable of five different heights.
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Jeg kan variere min højde på fem niveauer.
07:13
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
07:15
Today, I'm 6'1".
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I dag er jeg 1,85
07:17
And I had these legs made a little over a year ago
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Og jeg fik lavet disse ben for lidt over et år siden
07:20
at Dorset Orthopedic in England
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på Dorset Orthopaedic i England
07:22
and when I brought them home to Manhattan,
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og da jeg tog dem med hjem til Manhattan
07:24
my first night out on the town, I went to a very fancy party.
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og var ude i byen den første aften, gik jeg til en meget smart fest.
07:26
And a girl was there who has known me for years
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Og en pige var der, som har kendt mig i årevis
07:29
at my normal 5'8".
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ved min normale højde på 1,73.
07:31
Her mouth dropped open when she saw me,
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Hun tabte underkæben, da hun så mig,
07:33
and she went, "But you're so tall!"
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og hun sagde, "Men hvor er du høj!"
07:36
And I said, "I know. Isn't it fun?"
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Og jeg sagde, "Jeg ved det. Er det ikke sjovt?"
07:38
I mean, it's a little bit like wearing stilts on stilts,
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I ved, det er lidt som at stå på stylter med stylter på,
07:40
but I have an entirely new relationship to door jams
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men jeg har et helt nyt forhold til dørkarme
07:43
that I never expected I would ever have.
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som jeg aldrig forventede jeg ville have.
07:45
And I was having fun with it.
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Og jeg havde det sjovt med det.
07:48
And she looked at me,
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Og hun kiggede på mig,
07:50
and she said, "But, Aimee, that's not fair."
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og så sagde hun, "Men Aimee, det er ikke retfærdigt."
07:52
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
07:55
(Applause)
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(Klapsalver)
07:57
And the incredible thing was she really meant it.
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Og det utrolige var at hun virkelig mente det.
08:01
It's not fair that you can change your height,
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Det er ikke retfærdigt at man kan ændre sin højde
08:03
as you want it.
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når man vil.
08:05
And that's when I knew --
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Og da var det jeg vidste --
08:07
that's when I knew that the conversation with society
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det var der jeg viste, at samtalen med samfundet
08:10
has changed profoundly
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helt har ændret sig
08:12
in this last decade.
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i det sidste årti.
08:14
It is no longer a conversation about overcoming deficiency.
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Det er ikke længere en samtale om at overkomme mangler.
08:19
It's a conversation about augmentation.
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Det er en samtale om forøgelse.
08:21
It's a conversation about potential.
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Det er en samtale om potentiale.
08:25
A prosthetic limb doesn't represent the need to replace loss anymore.
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Et kunstigt lem behøver ikke længere handle om at erstatte et tab mere.
08:30
It can stand as a symbol that the wearer
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Det kan stå som et symbol på at brugeren
08:33
has the power to create whatever it is that they want to create
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har magten til at skabe hvad end det er de har lyst til at skabe
08:36
in that space.
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på den plads.
08:38
So people that society once considered to be disabled
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Så de mennesker samfundet engang så som handicappede
08:41
can now become the architects of their own identities
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kan nu blive arkitekterne af sine egne identiteter
08:46
and indeed continue to change those identities
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og fortsætte med at ændre de identiteter
08:48
by designing their bodies
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ved at designe sin krop
08:50
from a place of empowerment.
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udfra en magtposition.
08:53
And what is exciting to me so much right now
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Og det der er så spændende for mig lige nu
08:58
is that by combining cutting-edge technology --
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er at ved at forene den nyeste teknologi --
09:02
robotics, bionics --
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robotteknologi, bioteknik --
09:04
with the age-old poetry,
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med god gammeldags poesi,
09:06
we are moving closer to understanding our collective humanity.
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bevæger vi os tættere på at forstå vores fælles menneskelighed.
09:12
I think that if we want to discover the full potential
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Jeg tror, at hvis vi ønsker at opdage vores fulde potentiale
09:17
in our humanity,
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i vores menneskelighed,
09:19
we need to celebrate those heartbreaking strengths
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bliver vi nødt til at fejre de hjerteskærende styrker
09:23
and those glorious disabilities that we all have.
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og de storslåede skavanker vi alle har.
09:26
I think of Shakespeare's Shylock:
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Jeg tænker på Shakespeare's Shylock:
09:29
"If you prick us, do we not bleed,
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"Hvis du stikker os, bløder vi så ikke,
09:33
and if you tickle us, do we not laugh?"
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og hvis du kilder os, griner vi så ikke?"
09:36
It is our humanity,
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Det er vores menneskelighed
09:39
and all the potential within it,
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og al det potentiale der følger med
09:41
that makes us beautiful.
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som gør os smukke.
09:44
Thank you.
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Tusind tak.
09:45
(Applause)
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(Klapsalver)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Aimee Mullins - Athlete and actorA record-breaker at the Paralympic Games in 1996, Aimee Mullins has built a career as a model, actor and advocate for women, sports and the next generation of prosthetics.
Why you should listen
Aimee Mullins was born without fibular bones, and had both of her legs amputated below the knee when she was an infant. She learned to walk on prosthetics, then to run -- competing at the national and international level as a champion sprinter, and setting world records at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta. At Georgetown, where she double-majored in history and diplomacy, she became the first double amputee to compete in NCAA Division 1 track and field.
After school, Mullins did some modeling -- including a legendary runway show for Alexander McQueen -- and then turned to acting, appearing as the Leopard Queen in Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle. In 2008 she was the official Ambassador for the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival.
She's a passionate advocate for a new kind of thinking about prosthetics, and recently mentioned to an interviewer that she's been looking closely at MIT's in-development powered robotic ankle, "which I fully plan on having."
Aimee Mullins | Speaker | TED.com