Htein Lin
A Show of Hands, 2013-present
Surgical plaster and multimedia installation
Size variable
Copyright The Artist
A Show of Hands (ongoing, 2013–), and his 2017 art-film account of the project, Htein Lin explores the physical and metaphysical beauty of the outstretched hand and its embodiment of...
A Show of Hands (ongoing, 2013–), and his 2017 art-film account of the project, Htein Lin explores the physical and metaphysical beauty of the outstretched hand and its embodiment of grace in the face of injustice. The large-scale participative initiative involves released political prisoners who, sitting for Htein Lin, provide their hands and forearms for the artist to cast in plaster. Once released from its living arm, each white plaster arm-cast is displayed on a shelf accompanied by a label providing the name, sentence length, and incarceration dates and location of its contributor “Project no 425; ko Kyaw Swar Swe; section 5(J); Sentence: 7 Years; Arrested 20 Aug 1998; Released 18, November 2005; Imprisoned at Insein”. A Show of Hands is a monumental and ever-expanding installation, comprising a flexible number of cast hands, that whether a few, or hundreds, embodies the volunteer castee’s personal agency. Reaching up to the heavens, pure white, with fingers extended, each hand speaks of resilience taming the dark.
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