Plaster, metal

Dimensions variable, overall length approx. 300-350 cm

Unique

The motif of the rescuing hand is a recurring subject in cinema: one person holds the hand of another who is hanging from a window or over an abyss to prevent them from falling.
The outcome of the story varies: in Hitchcock’s film Cary Grant pulls his partner up from the edge of the cliff at Mount Rushmore, while in other cases the grip loosens and someone falls.
My work takes up this element and expands it through the idea of a human chain, in which citizens join hands in a communal act to draw attention to social grievances.

Such a clasp of two hands has been repeatedly cast in plaster from different individuals. The ends of the hands are fitted with screw hooks, allowing the individual pairs of hands to be connected. This creates a chain suspended from the ceiling.

Social cohesion resonates within the installation, as the hanging work gently oscillates in space, quietly suggesting that every chain is only as strong as its weakest link.