Where does one draw the line drawn between “able bodied” and “disabled”? Find out as Hugh Herr, MIT professor, researcher, and inventor, presents Merging Man and Machine at The Wolfsonian–Florida International University on Friday, April 16 at 7pm.
As director of the Biomechatronics Group at The MIT Media Lab and a double amputee himself, Herr is leading the race to merge the human body and the machine, forever changing how we think about human capability in the process. In this talk Herr will introduce new research initiatives soon to benefit us all. Some of these advancements include: the development of smart prostheses that emulate and even exceed the capabilities of biological limbs, such as the first battery-powered ankle-foot prosthesis which provides amputees with a more natural gait; social-emotional prostheses for persons with autism; and even robots that monitor and protect the health of children and the elderly.
Hugh Herr: Merging Man and Machine is presented in conjunction with the recent opening of Advertising for Health, an installation on view at The Wolfsonian that explores nearly a century of advertising for medicine, pharmacy, and public health. The installation features rare advertisements, printed ephemera, and posters from a recent gift by William H. Helfand, a recognized author and print collector. Together with a selection of printed materials and objects from a rarely-exhibited segment of The Wolfsonian’s collection, these works reflect, through their design strategies, changing ideas about health in the Americas and Europe between the late nineteenth century and the Second World War. The objects on view also encourage reflection on the “pursuit of health” in the present by conveying the lively history underlying issues that remain current today.
The public talk takes place in the auditorium of The Wolfsonian and is free for Wolfsonian members, members of the Florida International University community and students, and $10 for all others. For more information, please contact 305.535.2644 or lydia@thewolf.fiu.edu.
Advertising for Health and related public programs are sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
About Hugh Herr
Prior to working at the MIT Media Lab, Herr was assistant professor at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School. He has served on research review panels including the National Institute of Health, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. His work has been featured by various national and international media, including Scientific American Frontiers, Technology Review, National Geographic, and the History Channel.
About The Wolfsonian–Florida International University
The Wolfsonian is a museum, library, and research center that uses objects to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design, to explore what it means to be modern, and to tell the story of social, historical, and technological changes that have transformed our world. The collections comprise approximately 120,000 objects from the period of 1885 to 1945—the height of the Industrial Revolution to the end of the Second World War—in a variety of media including furniture; industrial-design objects; works in glass, ceramics, and metal; rare books; periodicals; ephemera; works on paper; paintings; textiles; and medals.
The Wolfsonian is located at 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL. Admission is $7 for adults; $5 for seniors, students, and children age 6 -12; and free for Wolfsonian members, State University System
of Florida staff and students with ID, and children under six. The museum is open Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday from noon-6pm; Thursday and Friday from noon-9pm; and is closed on Wednesday. Contact us at 305.531.1001 or visit us online at www.wolfsonian.org for further information.
The Wolfsonian receives ongoing support from The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; the William J. and Tina Rosenberg Foundation; Continental Airlines, the Official Airline of The Wolfsonian–FIU; Bacardi USA, Inc.; and Arrowood Vineyards & Winery.