Deflateable and Sound Installation
Pandemic. Lockdown. The world holds its breath. People are on their own. Families crammed together in tight spaces. No way out, no protection. Worlds collide. Opinions differ. People locked in small apartments with their already violent partners or parents. No escape, no help. The connection to the outside world has been cut off. The abusers sleep in the same bed or in the room next door, and no longer even leave for work. The victims are completely at their mercy. They cannot go out. They cannot leave. Where are they supposed to go?
Video conferences in the home office. No one sees behind the scenes. They are neatly dressed, he behaves, or he is also in a video conference. What options do they have now? They can’t talk to anyone, he is always listening. They can’t ask for help, because he would know immediately and punish them even more for it. “You belong to me!” he says. “You belong to no one else!” he lives.
In 2020, the Canadian Women’s Foundation made an emergency signal for domestic violence known. The corresponding hand movement consists of three consecutive gestures and can be used inconspicuously during a visual contact. The spatial installation entangle. deflate touches the senses and directs the viewer’s attention to the issue. Its significance is made comprehensible on various levels. Each digital copy of a real hand forms an enclave, connected to all others by the irregular alternation between air and vacuum. This allows a communal foundation for solidarity to emerge.