The ElseSpace... a talk for anyone who has ever felt unwell | Maria Guarino | TEDxAmherst

Humans are uncomfortable with illness and disability. Maria Guarino has introduced a space for us to explore our illnesses and disabilities called the ElseSpace. This is a space where binaries like “well“ and “unwell“ do not exist and a place where it is okay to not be okay. Maria is a teacher and advisor at the Center for New Americans in Northampton, MA. She holds a masters in Hispanic Literature and graduate certificates in Advanced Feminist Studies and Film Studies. Last year, she exhibited a collaborative video essay created with local artists and friends exploring her ElseSpace at the Anchor House Gallery in Northampton, which is now forthcoming in Disability Studies Quarterly. Maria is particularly interested in the differences and intersections in spaces, and the intervention of the visual- what distinct conversations does a gallery space foster about disability vs. an academic one? Can we utilize images and videos of the body in distress as corporeal interventions, or do they stop at the line of gro