Incommunicado 1993

Curator: Mona Hatoum's chilling sculpture, "Incommunicado," held in the Tate Collection, immediately strikes me as bleak. That cold steel... Editor: Yes, the industrial materials are key to understanding Hatoum's intent. The transformation of a cot into a cage, made of stark metal, speaks volumes about institutional control. Curator: Absolutely. It evokes potent images of infancy and imprisonment, suggesting isolation. The bars are evocative. Editor: It's also about the labor of care, the contrast between its promise and the cold, hard reality of production. The manufacturing process and its sociopolitical implications are as important as its imagery. Curator: I agree, and the visual language of confinement, the bars, the coldness—it powerfully conveys a sense of vulnerability. Editor: Seeing the piece in relation to global manufacturing makes the work about more than just infant care. Curator: A very powerful symbolic association, I think. Editor: A definite interrogation of commodity and care.