There can be little doubt that our way of life is very different from the conditions out bodies have evolved to live in. But how exactly would we look if our bodies were instead designed to survive today’s dangers? The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and Melbourne based artist Patricia Piccinini have the answer…or part of it, at least, in the form of the strapping Graham.
Meet Graham. He has no neck, so he can’t break it. His flat face and boar-like head protect his face and eyes, he has airbags between his ribs and his knees bend in any direction. But why would anyone do this? Graham is an interactive sculpture developed by a trauma surgeon, a crash investigation expert and a Melbourne artist as part of Towards Zero, a Victorian road safety campaign. And according to the TAC, this strapping gentleman is perfectly adapted to survive one specific scenario — car crashes.
“People can survive running at full pace into a wall, but when you’re talking about collisions involving vehicles, the speeds are faster, the forces are greater, and the chances of survival are much slimmer,” said TAC CEO Joe Calafiore.
“Cars have evolved a lot faster than humans, and Graham helps us understand why we need to improve every aspect of our roads system to protect ourselves from our own mistakes.”
Graham will be on display at the State Library of Victoria until the 8th of August, before touring the rest of Australia. If for some reason you don’t want to go to the land down under, fret not; you can view Graham in his full 360-degree silicone, fibreglass, resin and human hair splendor online.
And I gotta say, after looking him over for a few minutes, I’m kinda glad I’m not crash-proof.