Azure Grant

August 4, 2017

Ellis Bartholomeus gave a talk at QS17 that is a definite “must watch.”

We all accumulate physical scars throughout our lives. My own history consists of scrapes from trees, kitchen burns and a misadventure with liquid nitrogen. Ellis has taken a quantitative and thoughtful look at the form and meaning of her scars. At left, is a map of decades’ worth of Ellis’ scars. In her talk, she walks through that history and the way she turned it into data, which allowed novel findings, such as, if she added the lengths of her scars, the total is over a meter.

We often spend our time trying to appear and feel unworn by our years, covering them with clothing or makeup and ignoring the memories they represent. While Ellis embraces the past, she discusses the frustration associated with the limitations imposed by her injuries. Still, she uses her scars as a visual reminder to appreciate her own history and resilience.

You may watch the entire talk at her project’s page.