union, 2016, Emergency survival blanket, Flagpole. Dimensions variable.

union addresses a global crisis defined by rising political, racial, and religious tensions that increasingly push societies toward the pursuit of exclusionary homogeneity. Taking the form of a signal flag, the piece is constructed from an emergency survival blanket—an industrially mass-produced object designed to preserve body heat in extreme conditions. The blanket’s metallic gold and silver surface has become a hauntingly evocative emblem, frequently appearing in media imagery of the global refugee crisis as the only protection granted to countless displaced individuals. This duality—the dazzling, almost celebratory allure of the material juxtaposed with its association with absolute human vulnerability—embodies a striking moral contradiction. By reimagining this ubiquitous survival tool as a flag, the work invites reflection on the precarious nature of belonging, the reality of displacement, and the shared human quest for survival and dignity.