21g (2003)
21g (2003) consisted of more than 92 white shirt collars, each ripped from the main body of a man’s shirt. Each fragment weighs 21 g, the mythical decline in body weight at the precise moment of death. Each represents a young Irish male, aged 15–23 years of age, who died by suicide in 2003.
21g (2003) was the genesis for the Lived Lives project. This work originated from a discourse between gender and cloth, which extended into the domain of medical research, seeking to articulate the often silent presence of youth suicide in Ireland. It is a social probe, questioning the reliability of official statistics around suicide in Ireland.
While statistics of death are informative on a measurable level, in another sense they are actually incomprehensible because they cannot be emotionally absorbed. 21g (2003) consisted of more than 92 white shirt collars, each ripped from the main body of a man’s shirt. Each fragment weighs 21 g, the mythical decline in body weight at the precise moment of death. Each represents a young Irish male, aged 15–23 years of age, who died by suicide in 2003. The placement of the fragments at different heights suggests an absent wearer, and collectively, the presence of an absent community.
Visually seductive, the work calls upon all the senses and invites the viewer into a three-dimensional space, demanding more than a distanced set of eyes or a singular position. This work adjust and adapts to site, transforming 2D data into a 3D aesthetic experience. Being present within the work, the space becomes psychologically absorptive; the viewer can fully experience its multiple layers and become aware of it's disturbing content. Through its materiality, 21g(2003) became a conduit to the people who it represented in their absence. Importantly it was cloth, its tactility and ‘memory’ as much as its presentation and form in space that provided that pathway.
