Restraint and Punishment: Responding to Crimes of the Hand (Part One_)

Since my last blog I have given myself time to contemplate what restraint is and the situations in which handcuffs are used in. They are often used as a punishment for a crime, so that they can control the criminal. I have been considering creating something that can control an individual and punish them for something that I consider a crime.

I have also looked at the hand quite closely and realised that the fingers are not addressed with handcuffs. Someone can still operate their fingers as usual. They are able to punch, pick objects up and operate a phone. This is where my idea for a type of fingercuff or finger restraint has derived from. A crime that you can commit with your fingers or hands is swearing at another individual, can I restrain someone from flipping someone else 0ff? You can get finger braces that hold broken fingers in place until they heal and I have been exploring whether a similar mechanism could be used to prevent someone from swearing.

By binding some of the fingers on your hand together I can make it extremely difficult to swear at others.

The item above manages to bind the middle finger and ring fingers together to prevent swearing. While making this restraint, I really wanted to maintain this unfinished metal aesthetic as it makes it look menacing like a medieval torture device. Not many parts of the device have been tailored for any specific individual as it is meant to always be uncomfortable no matter who wears it. The most surreal part of this piece is the fact that you could be punished or detained for flipping someone off, it is also functional as an object of law enforcement as it encourages people not provoke each other with crude hand signs.

Another useful source of inspiration for my work has been the book 'Tools Of Disobedience', which contains photos of hundreds of tools that were created by prisoners in Switzerland and were then confiscated. It is really interesting to try and interpret some of the uses of these many tools that were created in desperate conditions. I recommend checking it out if you can! You can find photos of some of the pages online.

- Samuel Sant