Reconstructing Art and Evidence: Forensic Architecture in Institutional Settings

Forensic Architecture (FA) is a London-based multidisciplinary research collective and human rights agency that uses digital modeling, architectural and spatial analysis, and open-sourced images to investigate and present visual evidence of human rights violations committed by state governments, militaries, and corporations. The team of architects, software developers, filmmakers, investigative journalists, scientists, and lawyers, collaborates with civil society groups, witnesses, and victims to establish a counternarrative in the service of human rights and social justice, exhibiting their investigations in institutional settings as varied as legal courts and parliamentary tribunals, citizen assemblies, mass media, universities, and art museums. My research focuses on FA’s critical reception within these institutional settings and questions how the evidentiary and aesthetic nature of such exhibitions impact the viewer’s experience, specifically within the space of the art institution. Comparing three FA exhibitions—The Long Duration of a Split-Second at the 2018 Turner Prize (London), Triple-Chaser at the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 2019 Biennial (New York City), and Forensic Architecture: Hacia una Estética Investigativa (2017) at the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (Mexico City)—I ask how the categories of “art” and “evidence” are upended, broadened, or otherwise transformed through the interaction between FA’s particular aesthetics and the museum spaces in which FA often exhibits projects. What are the social responsibilities of “art” in the face of human rights crises? How does the institutional setting impact the public’s aesthetic experience and understanding of human rights violations?