This project explores visibility at borders, that is, the people and their surroundings that are permitted to be seen. Borders strategically alter, limit and in many cases, fully exclude vantage points beyond border edges. This blurring of visibility and accessibility shapes most contemporary border politics, reflecting a gaze driven by self-interest and identity. These ideas shaped my exploration into visibility along borders through the use of mirrors. Using a back-painting technique on 5mm acrylic, I created a series of mirrored surfaces, some incorporating colour, to highlight and compare levels of definition between the mirrored edges and borders visible limits.

Zane Miller’s Two-way Protocols as well as Mirrors by Jenny Nordberg served as case studies that effectively utilised mirrors to distort viewers perception. Both works highlight the limit of mirrored surfaces in contrast to the limitlessness of their surroundings, further denoting the divide. This highlights the distortion of what is visible through a designed obstacle or border; how often, how much and how far one can see are all at the discretion of the border.

The lengths to which borders are manipulated to maintain, or rather enforce, divides were among the most compelling aspects of our research. Group dialogue regarding how politics, geographic landmarks, and racial background influence the type and degree of borders informed the exploration of my design. I chose to introduce a progression of colour on the clear, un-mirrored stretches of acrylic to highlight the difficulty of seeing beyond certain borders. Viewers are meant to experience each part of the series differently, as they see themselves and their surroundings move in and out of focus at varying degrees of definition.

The theme of critical refusal is evident in how each piece in the series was made. Using spray paint does not lend itself to perfectly crisp borders or edges. There are drips, spills, and mists of pigment deposited at different heights and distances with every spray. The material imperfections are where the interest and connection lie. There is no single way for borders to be made or viewed. Rather, each has a specific need that can only be met by allowing visibility to either side of the divide.