Growing Rhizomatically: Disability Studies, the Art Gallery and the Consortium

Abstract

In this essay, we propose that the Deleuzoguattarian rhizome offers a map and metaphor for the field of disability studies, especially as it develops outside the boundaries of a defined program or curriculum. As an example of rhizomatic growth, we discuss a series of events in the Philadelphia area in fall 2012 that focused on disability studies and disability arts and culture, including an art exhibition entitled What Can A Body Do? and a scholarly residency sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Women’s Studies Consortium. We suggest that the art gallery offers a generative space for the growth of disability studies, disability aesthetics, and new models of access, and we emphasize the importance of cross-institutional collaboration in the development of disability studies not only as a field but as a field of energy.

Keywords: rhizome, Deleuze and Guattari, art gallery, contemporary art, curator, access, audio description, multisensory, collaboration, consortium, disability aesthetics, What Can A Body Do?