This is the second part of the 'ATTENTION' sculpture. It is a giant red arm that has a pointing finger and represents a second way of attracting attention in American Sign Language.
This large red arm is pointing towards Milan. The Milan Conference is the abbreviated name for ‘The Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf’ which took place in 1880 in Milan, Italy.
The participants at the conference debated whether oral education should replace sign language for Deaf people. 164 people attended from different countries such as the UK, USA, and France, but only one participant at the conference was Deaf.
Although there were attendees who argued in favour of sign language, the majority voted in favour of oral education. The aftermath of the conference saw the systemic suppression of sign language and the decline of sign language users around the world.
The arm slowly inflates and deflates on a timer and the sound you can hear is the fan that is blowing air into the arm. An area on the back of the gallery wall looks as if it has been worn away by the pointing finger. This symbolizes the ongoing need to advocate for Deaf rights and inclusion. When the arm is deflated it represents the exhaustion of constantly needing to do this.