The key, encased in ice, represents the duality associated with perceptions of state mental institutions. The work can be interpreted such that the key embodies freedom from the asylums, only to be held as the ice is melted and the patient is freed. On the other than, the key can represent safety. When the ice melts, the patient's world is unlocked to the overwhelming discomforts of the outside world.
As the project melts, the memory of the ice is present in the liquid water, indicative of the state change capabilities of the human memory.
The installation is based on a photograph by Christopher Payne, featured in "Asylum". The photo is of a patient's poem, written a basement wall in an asylum.
Below is a series of photographs of the project changing state, taken over the course of a 7 hour period.
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