No this is not a Sontaran from Dr. Who without the armour, this is ‘Graham’ – the only man on earth with the physical attributes necessary to survive a car crash.
‘Graham’ is the latest effort of the the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) of Victoria, Australia, to educate the public about road safety.
The sculpture -made from fibreglass, silicone, resin and human hair- was created by Melbourne artist Patricia Piccinini along with Melbourne Hospital trauma surgeon, Christian Kenfield, to demonstrate how ill-equipped the human body is to fight against the forces of a collision on the road.
As reported by the Daily Mirror, Kenfield said:
The head has a much bigger skull so it acts like a bicycle helmet. Graham actually has no neck, he has no cervical spine that can be fractured in a whiplash injury.
These ribs are super ribs absorbing much more of the force.
Visitors to the State Library of Victoria will have access to Graham until August 8 and, using immersive augmented reality technology, will be able to look under the skin of the sculpture to learn more about his unique physiological features.
TACPiccinini added:
He’s not patronising, he’s not imposing, he’s open to us and the eyes are where the work is. It’s where you can really connect with him and empathize.
If he was aggressive or belligerent or sort of patronizing we wouldn’t be able to do that. He’s very Australian, I think.
It is hoped that Graham will prove an eye-opener for road users, promoting that if you aren’t of his body type then don’t take any risks which increase the chances of a car crash – Graham would live, you probably wouldn’t.
