Shannon Molenaar

Forensic Architecture and The Ethical Responsibility of the Viewer

What is the viewer’s ethical responsibility upon encountering, inside an art gallery, Forensic Architecture’s critical investigation of a racially motivated murder? By situating Forensic Architecture’s work inside the history of photographic journalism, which chronicles violence perpetrated by humans against other humans, I am able to interrogate this responsibility, vis-à-vis criticism by Susan Sontag, Ariella Azoulay, and Sharon Sliwinski. I argue that the viewer’s responsibility is threefold: to remember, to hold their gaze, and to uphold human rights. Using 77sqm_9:26min (2017) as a case study, I argue that the viewer fulfills these three ethical responsibilities by participating in the political action undertaken by Forensic Architecture. The viewer completes the work through watching the video, turning Forensic Architecture’s scientific studies into a social awareness that has the potential to change the world.

“This essay is a place where I begin to think through the implications of encountering contemporary art that brings injustices to humanity into the spotlight. ”