The installation Euromaze shows the member states of the European Union as geopolitical outlines, interpenetrating and supporting each other in fragile and chaotic relationships. The difficulty of journeying physically or visually through the mazelike structure is meant to evoke the movement of migrating and transient populations as they negotiate their way through the political, economic and cultural complexity of Europe in search of higher wages and a better standard of life. The provisional nature of the Euromaze is echoed in its construction consisting of sections visibly bolted together that can be collapsed into short lengths for transport and then reassembled elsewhere.

The Euromaze is a result of my interest in “leaky margins”, that is, the breakdown of geographic and geopolitical boundaries and the many forces, largely those of globalization, that cause borders to shift or dissipate. The term “leaky margins” was originally coined by British scientist Peter Russell in The Global Brain to describe the porosity of cell membranes which allow substances to pass between interior and exterior. Used as a metaphor, it refers to the extraordinary mobility in recent history of people, goods, resources and ideas across geopolitical boundaries. The works I create are visual analogies of this unfettered movement and seek to highlight some of its positive and negative consequences.