Disabled people have long been experts at staying at home, and getting creative with new ways to stay in community with one another. At the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, many of us were wondering how we could maintain the sense of intimacy and connection that we get from gathering in crip arts spaces. Out of this desire, Crip Times was born: a new interview podcast series produced and hosted by Yousef Kadoura, Kayla Besse, and Kristina McMullin. Crip Times is a project of Bodies in Translation and Tangled Art + Disability and hosted on Andrew Gurza’s Wheels on the Ground podcast network.

Crip Times Episode 8: The Shannon Finnegan Episode
“I’d rather be sitting. Sit if you agree.”
Have you ever thought of alt-text as poetry? What about lounging as a form of protest? This week, Kayla and Kristina are joined by Shannon Finnegan, a multidisciplinary artist making work about accessibility and disability culture. The conversation begins with Shannon sharing the importance of centering other disabled artists and thinkers in their work, and how interdependence can be an aesthetic approach.
We speak about the presence (or absence) of alt text in institutions and our personal practices, with a focus on Shannon’s “Alt Text as Poetry” project, how embracing their own access needs for the first time led to prioritizing the disability experience in their work, and how the work of access is everyone’s responsibility. We speak about disability art as a rejection of hostile architecture, through some of Shannon’s activist artwork: “Anti Stairs Club Lounge.”
We move into how rest, care, and humour show up both in our process and practice. We end our conversation with a desire for more spaces for crip communities to form, and as always, we spoke about JOY!
For a full transcript of this episode, as well as helpful links and key quotes, click here.
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Crip Times Episode 8: The Shannon Finnegan Episode
Have you ever thought of alt-text as poetry? What about lounging as a form of protest? This week, Kayla and Kristina are joined by Shannon