THE WEIGHT OF ABSENCE
2024
10' x 20' wall installation
Drywall, adhesive dust bags, drilled holes
The Weight of Absence converts a ten-by-twenty-foot wall into both medium and witness. Through systematic drilling, Vanity Project punctures the surface, transforming architecture into a field of impact. Beneath each incision, adhesive dust bags collect the displaced matter. What is typically lost is gathered, suspended, made legible. The wall no longer performs as a neutral boundary. It becomes a site where force is enacted and held in view.
Set against the ongoing violence in Gaza, the work reflects on the lasting impact of Israeli government policies that enforce displacement, destruction, and denial. Palestinian lives fractured by conflict, rendered stateless, held in limbo, and denied recognition and basic human rights. The drilled scars etched into the wall evoke the relentlessness of this violence, inflicted on both people and landscapes, turning the surface into an archive of destruction and a site of shared memory.
The Weight of Absence rejects the illusion of erasure. What is removed through force, neglect, or denial does not disappear. It lingers, unresolved and inescapable, urging us to confront our collective responsibility for what is taken and what remains, shaping the spaces and histories we inhabit.
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This work is grounded in a deep respect for humanity and honors the historical struggles and resilience of Jewish people. The critique addresses the policies of the Israeli government that prioritize territorial expansion over the human rights of Palestinians and Israeli Bedouins. We emphasize and further underscore the crucial distinction between a nation's government and its citizens, while advocating for a just and equitable future for all.
