Melbourne-based artist and sculptor Patricia Piccinini created the super human to launch a road safety campaign. The sculpture, named Graham, is part of the Victorian Government’s new road safety campaign. They have created Graham to draw attention to just how fragile the human form is.
Graham is the result of months of research by a leading trauma surgeon and a car crash investigator. As the human brain and neck are highly vulnerable to injury during a crash, Graham was designed to have an exaggeratedly reinforced skull and no neck at all.
The body of Graham could easily withstand a high-speed crash. Here are some of the unique features of Graham’s body that help him survive a car crash:
- Graham’s s huge chest and extra nipples are meant to mimic airbags and protect his rib cage.
- The padded chest with airbags in between each rib protects his heart.
- The absence of a neck rules out broken bones and whiplash.
- His flat and fatty face is designed to protect his nose and ears.
- The skin of Graham is made thicker and tougher for shielding and reducing abrasions and road rash
- The legs are made strong to allow him to jump out of the way of oncoming cars
- His knees can bend in all directions to protect his legs from breaking when hit by a vehicle.
Dr. Patricia Ayoung-Chee, an assistant professor of surgery at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, said, “You can look at it and laugh it off because it’s sort of ridiculous. Or it can make the general public realize that as much as cars have become safer, we’re still vulnerable. So maybe it’ll encourage some people to have safer driving practices.”
She added, “It’s a very interesting way to approach a problem and make it more relatable to the nonmedical public.”
