The Cicely & Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award 2006

Tiffany Parbs

Artist statement

gesture has been constructed in direct response to increasing levels of enforced restriction. When worn, it obstructs motion, restricting the flowing movement of the hand into a series of disjointed, unwieldy formations. Poses have been documented from behind to demonstrate the mechanics involved in each gesture and highlight the effects different contractions impose on blood flow to the fingers. This piece has been created to represent the cumbersome nature of early medical prosthetic devices, and draws particular reference to public medieval torture devices know as gibbets. Gibbets, full body cages, were hung from prominent local village vantage points as deterrents for defying the governing authority and committing crimes against the state.