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Last June, I crippled myself—stupidly. Descending a staircase while reading, I missed a step, fell badly, and ruptured my quadricep. It had to be sewn back together. I came out of a brace several months later, wobbly—the muscle had withered. I’m still recuperating. I find it hard to climb stairs and to get in and out of cars, and will for a while. I thought my injury would make me feel special (in a bad way), but it had the reverse effect (I feel common). Having barely noticed them before, I became attuned to all those around me with leg issues—we are legion! Now, at every street corner, I see crutches, braces, moon boots, and prosthetic legs. I bear witness to varieties of limps and staggers, hops and hobbles. I’ve become quite the connoisseur. I’m reminded of Martin Creed’s video You Return Work No. 1701 (2013), which shows people with distinct walking disabilities, all happy to be filmed, crossing a Manhattan street one by one, as we hear the artist sing his song, ‘You Return’. The last, a man, presumably out of his wheelchair, pulls himself across the road, backwards, with two gloved hands. I first saw the video before my accident. Now I appreciate it in a new way. Take a look.
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[IMAGE: Martin Creed Work No. 1701 2013]
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