Encounter Lab
Asya Birsel and Robert Selim Hill
The all-wind gravedigger
“Well… the sea does what it wants. They may have all died together,
on the same day or night, but the sea probably spat them out in
disorder… The sea is like that…You know, my problem is plastic
sheeting… I never have enough for all the corpses…”
from an interview with Lesbos gravedigger.
Our 4-meter-tall installation depicts Charon, the mythological
ferryman of souls, abandoning his duty. The materials—discarded
rubber, plastic bags, ropes, metal rods—are remnants of human excess.
As a towering reminder of systemic cruelty in the global north, our
installation hangs lifeless, unable to endure the burden of humanity’s
failures. Our piece demands accountability from European states, who
turn their backs on their own responsibility, blindly building more
walls and prisons. How much weight can our world bear before it too
collapses under the strain?
