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Luis Manuel Peña. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

A ‘consumer’ enters a shoe shop one morning and buys a pair of shoes. For reasons which escape us —perhaps prompted by coquetry, perhaps motivated by a hidden psychological need—, the shoes he buys are two sizes smaller than just right. After wearing them for two or three days his feet of course hurt, so he takes painkillers. But he continues to wear them. Days later his feet are covered in blisters, which he treats and covers with antiseptics and sticking plasters, but he still continues to wear his newest shoes. His battered feet get worse, so he decides to see the doctor. The blisters have become infected, so the doctor prescribes antibiotics. Treatment concludes, and yet his condition worsens. He sees the podiatrist, but his feet will not improve. His wounds may eventually turn gangrenous, so the surgeon decides to amputate. The amputee undergoes rehabilitation, is fitted with a pair of prosthetic feet especially designed by pioneering experts, and not without difficulty, learns to walk again. Next a team of renowned scientists build a new pair of bionic feet for him, which they connect to his nervous system using improved artificial intelligence, so in the end he is able to move quite naturally. (more…)