This is Hot Spot (2006) a sculpture by Mona Hatoum. Hot Spot questions our conception of boundaries and borders. Taking the form of a caged globe, Hatoum highlights in red neon the outlines of the land forms of our planet, but not the borders. The title, “hot spot” brings in contemporary news cycles as they report on sites of conflict and unrest as global “hot spots”. The red neon brings to mind the image of a world on fire. It brings us to question what or where is considered dangerous, presenting the entire globe as a danger zone. The title and form can evoke notions of climate change, war, border tensions, and other global emergencies. 

Hot Spot forces viewers to think about the future of our planet and our own individual involvement in it. We are all affected and all implicit in the state of our current world and the potentials of its future. 

About the Artist

Mona Hatoum (b. 1952) is a Palestinian artist living in London. She was born in Lebanon, but was denied a Lebanese identity card and was thus forced into exile in London in 1975. She explores a variety of subjects through an array of materials. She often engages sculptural works that speak to politics—particularly around Palestine and the Middle East, on gender and the domestic sphere, and on difference. 

This is Acoustic Sound Blankets (2017), a series of wearable textile sculptures by Baseera Khan. These blankets are wearable with a hole in the front for your face or head to come through. These pieces are reminiscent of the Burqa, but with a much thicker material, lending them a more protective nature. Thinking about wearing these blankets, one can feel the weight and the comfort that would come with wearing these. The material is intended for soundproofing, and submerging yourself inside it may feel like a sensory deprivation tank. It also may lead one to think of the politics of dress, particularly as it applies to Muslim bodies. 

About the Artist

Baseera Khan (b. 1980) is an American artist of Indian-Afghani descent. They are best known for using a variety of mediums to explore the body, particularly the Muslim-American body. 

This is An Argument (2022), a painting by Louis Fratino. The painting presents two lovers in the aftermath of an argument. In the foreground, we see one figure, asleep on the bed, while in the very back, his lover, asleep on the couch. Fratino structures the painting as framed by an interior window, one that allows us to see both figures, as well as represent the limbo the two are experiencing after their fight. Though they can see each other and are not completely closed off, there is still a barrier that stands between them. 

Despite not knowing these subjects, one cannot help but feel affected by the image. The warm, intimate lighting is contrasted by the clear divide. One assumes that they will make up, but we don’t know for sure.

About the Artist

Louis Fratino (b. 1993) is an American artist who works primarily in figurative painting. Fratino is a gay man who uses his art to represent the unseen, the interiors, and the private lives of himself and the men he interacts with. He is considered to be part of a wave of artists reimagining the male gaze through a queer lens.