Hypervigilant

Hypervigilant
Leah Barbara Mukui Giertz

2026, Aluminium, silver wire, hooks, multimedia

Constant vigilance can develop as a response to racial discrimination and transgenerational trauma, allowing potential threats to be recognized in advance. This fight-or-flight state activates the nervous system and can lead to chronic muscle tension and bruxism. Teeth grinding occurs as a way of coping with stress during sleep, often driven by societal expectations to suppress fear or anger.

Hypervigilant addresses this suppressed anger. Aluminum teeth suspended from the ceiling form a space similar to a cage that oscillates between protection and exposure. Shaped as gong-like instruments, the oversized representation of the artist’s bite is set into vibration during a sound performance to release embodied pressure and reduce tension in the nervous system.