This project is an entry for the competition: Chicago Torture Justice Memorials. The starting point of the design was the vision of the tortured man/woman who was looking up and seeking mercy in the eyes of the inflictors of pain. In the moment before torture, the tortured express their fragile humanity through their eyes. This expression of helplessness is innate in all humans; it’s a role everybody fears to get dealt with in life.
The installation Mirrors of Pleading Eyes is designed to make by passers aware of their own pleading look. The magnifying mirror makes the eyes the focus, and the steel grate surrounding is superimposed on this image to emphasize the ambient of captivity. The plate on the bottom has protruding shapes to address the fact that our physical comfort is easily compromised. The minimal installation is about extracting people from their everyday life and confronting them with the humanity and fragility that resides in their eyes.
”express their fragile humanity through their eyes
