Gently Bang Your Head Against The Wall Here: An Installation About The 2016 (and now the 2024) Electoral College
Note on November 6, 2024:
When I created this installation in 2017, I hoped that this project was merely historical and would never again be relevant in future elections. I am, like I imagine the majority of the visitors to this website are, overwhelmingly disgusted and horrified by the 2024 electoral college results. I am currently reconfiguring the installation using the data from this election. It is on view at my studio, Lara’s Lab, and can be seen during open hours as listed on the Contact and Events pages.
If you know of a venue that would like to host the installation, please contact me.
Gently Bang Your Head Against The Wall Here: An Installation About The 2016 Electoral College is a visualization of how the map of the electoral college results would be transformed if electoral votes were allocated within each state on a proportional, instead of a winner-take-all, basis. Data from the 2016 election was used, but the calculations will be redone to present the results of any year’s election (see note above).
The installation consists of 538 machine- and hand-stitched soft sculpture fabric lips arranged in grid that represents the U.S. presidential electoral college map. Each lip represents one electoral vote. Lips were used because they signify our ability to speak, to be free and to stand up and publicize our views, emotions, thoughts and desires.
The installation shows how the distribution of electoral votes would change if electoral votes were not awarded under a winner-take-all system in each state, but instead were awarded proportionally based on each candidate's proportion of votes in each state. For example, if a state has 10 electoral votes and Clinton got 40% of the popular vote in that state and Trump got 60% of the popular vote in that state, she would get four electoral votes and he would get six electoral votes, as opposed to the current system where he would be awarded all ten electoral votes.
To begin, 306 lips were stitched shut with red x's.
306 is the number of Trump’s electoral votes under a winner-take-all system.*
232 lips were left white without being stitched shut with red x's.
232 is the number of Clinton’s electoral votes under a winner-take-all system.*
Then, to show the changes that would result under a proportional system, the x'd lips that would change from Trump to Clinton, were unstitched with the unstitched thread left dangling from the lip.
The electoral votes that would switch from Clinton to Trump under the proportional system are shown by partially stitching the lip with red x's and leaving the needle in the fabric to show that the lip is changing from unstitched to stitched.
(*Note: 306 and 232 are the number of electoral votes allocated under a proportional system if there had not been seven faithless electors who did not select Clinton or Trump. So, there were actually only 531 electoral votes between the two candidates and why the official count was 304 for Trump and 227 for Clinton. Just FYI.)
An optional companion piece to the installation is a catharsis wall inviting viewer participation. One station is a padded section of the wall with the instructions, "Gently Bang Your Head Against The Wall Here." Another station is a pillow with the instructions to, "Put Your Face Into The Pillow And Scream." Hyperventilation bags are available for use while viewing the installation.
Installation as pictured is 20 feet wide by 6 feet high with the lips arranged into a grid of 30 columns and 18 rows. It can be installed on one wall or on two adjacent walls extending out from a corner. It can also be reconfigured to fit a specific space or broken up into mini-grids for each state. Additionally, the calculations can be redone to present the results of any year’s election (see note at the top of this page). Lips are between 4” and 7” wide and are pinned 1” away from the wall.
Recently installed in the Politically Charged exhibition at Blue Line Arts in Roseville, CA outside of Sacramento. See Sacramento News and Review article, which features a photo from this installation, here. Download the grid map handout to be used when viewing installation
Oh, and by the way . . . Clinton would have won.