HALF-LIFE | A Forensics of Plain Sight, (2019–2022)

HALF LIFE (A Forensics of Plain Sight) –––A series of large-scale composite “building site portraits” of former prison sites from the Civil War (1936–1939) and Dictatorship (1939–1975) in Madrid, Spain. They remain unmarked regarding their former use as prisons and torture sites under the Dictatorship. Each building site is photographed forensically to produce black and white photo fragments—documents—which are pieced together through installation to create the composite and fragmented assemblage or “site portrait.” The project addresses the seen and unseen; a subjective sense of cultural haunting and problems of translation; and how we live our everyday lives in which the past is inscribed in the present. Daly occupies the position of outsider and witness in this site-responsive project, created while living in Madrid, Spain in Fall/Winter of 2018 and Spring/Summer 2019. This work is to be produced for both exhibition and publication as a book. Each of the “site portrait” installation works will be in the range of 50-200 lineal feet and 10-20 feet tall. © Ann Burke Daly 2020 images/writing