A Milligram of Justice

Personal Project:
Object and Movement Design

Laws control us, we are labelled by our skin pigment. Injustice produces insecurities and fears. This project visualized the reality of social inequality based on personal experience, addressing a serious problem through an ornamental object—a mobile—functioning as a tool to stimulate pleasance and entertainment. The peaceful movement of the mobile turns a brutal situation into movement of silence.

During the process of making the mobile balance I sensed a parallel between this simple challenge and the concerns faced by those seeking balance in their own lives. One milligram of acrylic can make a big difference. The attempt to strike a balance in this mobile is as sensitive as that faced by a national leader who tries to satisfy all of his citizens. Human classification and races are categorized through different materials, colors, positions, and gestures. However, all these elements appear as part of a single creation: human beings confronted with a myriad of social divisions.

These figures, though diverse in color and position, are unified in their lack of control. Choice of material plays a part in this precarious balancing act. Chipboard figures hang opposite of a single transparent acrylic piece. We see the metaphoric “weight” of an individual’s race in the eyes of the justice system manifested visually.