This sculpture uses cards that are stacked in piles embodying the catastrophic number of Syrian casualties. The pile of almost 10,000 cards holds an accurate number of circles which represents the accurate number of deaths that occurred up until the date of this exhibition.
On the first side of each card, there are circles, representing 54 of the 470,000 Syrians who died as a result of the Syrian crisis. However, There is one circle on this side of the card that is highlighted in red without a label. On the opposite side of the card, the red circle stands alone, identifying the name of the Syrian it represents. This side of the card contains a more detailed story of the person’s death told through a paragraph that ends mid–sentence, acting as a metaphor for that their lives ended abruptly.
The cards are stacked in piles, inviting viewers to come closer and interact with information about this crisis in a way they are not able to when simply viewing it through a screen. The viewers are encouraged to take a card with them. The more people interact with the pile, the more messy it becomes, which is another aim of the installation–a metaphor for the messiness of war. The pile of cards also acts as a miniature representation of a city within Syria. As time passes and more people get involved and interact with it, the city slowly starts to fade away and crumble–one card at a time.
