Conflicted Phonemes
2012
A large wall-mounted vinyl print with accompanying A4 sheets in which Lawrence Abu Hamdan visualizes and interrogates how speech sounds—phonemes—are analyzed, disputed, and used as evidence.
A striking cobalt-blue diagram fills the wall with regimented rows of dots, lines, and symbolic notation like a technical ledger, while a linear row of small A4 prints on a shelf reads like intimate case files to be examined up close.
By turning forensic phonetics into a graphic installation, it exposes how seemingly objective methods of listening and classification can determine asylum and justice, expanding art’s role in forensic and political inquiry.
Medium
Vinyl wall print, nine A4 sized vinyl prints, and nine stacks of printed A4 paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 105 x 81" (266.7 x 205.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Fund for the Twenty-First Century
Accession
201.2014
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
