Swipe: airports, borders and fences

The aim of swipe: airports, borders and fences was to present a range of issues related to notions of loss of identity and displacement. It is built on concepts that were initially explored in Highway of Shame, but has extended them into two crucial domains; the space of the personal and the space of the public. The work is seeking to investigate the implications of diaspora and the breaking down of safe, describable forms of identification as a process that creates alienation. There are many cases where the condition of social displacement may occur in terms of social relations. For instance, a change of residence and community often triggers feelings of isolation and lack of security in a previously affirmed sense of self.

On a political level, a contemporary example of this dissolution of identity can be found in the practice of incarcerating boat people in detention camps. By law, these people are denied the right to be citizens, are referred to by number (much like the Nazi camps), and are not allowed to access services in the community. In addition to these strictures, there are policies in place that forbid journalists to photograph asylum seekers in detention as it may humanise them. This was documented on the ABC television show Media Watch, 7 July 2002, citing the DIMIA guidelines: ‘…will not photograph/film … people in detention …in a way that may be identifiable; noting that pixelling/blurring of faces is not sufficient.’

swipe : airports, borders and fences seeks to pursue the notion of lack of identity and alienation. The challenge is how does one articulate such a position without being merely descriptive? This work is largely autobiographical, as this seems to be the most ethical way of engaging with this topic.