The Fear project
An in-progress installation exploring fear as a common ground through which we can connect and relate to one another.
To be exhibited at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie in June 2023
The Fear Project will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie in Grande Prairie, AB in June of 2023
The most recent eye drawing of a participant in The Fear Project. Graphite on paper. Timelapse video below!
The Inspiration
After moving from the United States back to Alberta, where politics felt just as divisive, I realized how ineffectively I often communicated with individuals whose opinions contradicted my own, at least when it came to issues that I considered important or frightening.
In wondering how to have more productive conversations on polarizing topics, I became interested in the ways that fear can both divide and unite us. Politically, even when fear is used to bring us together, it is usually to unite one group against another, causing us to put up walls, despise, and attack each other.
Conversely, expressing our vulnerabilities and fears can allow us to recognize ourselves in each other; to experience genuine connection, empathy and the sense that we are not alone. I began wondering how fear can be used to unite opposing groups in a positive way rather than a negative one. This is the basis for my installation tentatively titled ‘The Fear Project’.
The Installation
The Fear Project is an installation combining community participation, sculpture, drawing, sound, and written text.
It involves my asking participants to share a deep fear with me, which, with their permission, I record them whispering. Some choose to discuss a single fear, while others list several. Additionally, I draw an eye of each participant: eyes are incredibly unique, yet universal, quite similar to our fears – none of which are entirely unique, yet they feel incredibly personal and poignant.
I aim to have over 200 people participate in this project. The collection of eye drawings will be displayed on the inside of a dome-like structure that viewers may enter. The dome consists of two halves, designed to look as though they could be coming together to form a whole, or coming apart. Within the dome will be several audio speakers playing recordings of the whispered fears, allowing the viewer to stand in the centre of the structure and be immersed in collective whispers, or to approach a single speaker and listen to an individual fear whispered to them. The fears will also be hand-written on the outside of the dome, so that individuals may choose to read rather than listen to them. (To preserve anonymity, the written fear will be on a separate plane than the corresponding eye drawing.)
I am interested in the overlapping fears that will arise, and speculate that if we examine the roots of our fears, we will find that we have many of them in common, despite the vast differences in our personalities, beliefs, values, and backgrounds. This work is meant to feel extremely personal yet anonymous, its goal being for the audience to experience empathy and connection: to see oneself in another person, and to feel less alone in experiencing one’s fears. I hope to ultimately transform our collective fears into a common ground through which we can connect and relate to one another.
Most recent eye drawings
Graphite on paper, June 2021.
Graphite on paper, June 2021.
(more)
Eye drawings of recent participants
There will be over 200 eye drawings in this installation, drawn using graphite pencils.
eye drawing timelapse videos
Please check back soon for more eye drawing timelapse videos!
1-minute eye drawing timelapse video