They Died by the Border. Art Students Hope to Bring Them Back

Lucy Rizzo

March 7, 2018

Forensics

Current Event #18

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/arts/design/new-york-academy-of-art-arizona-border.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%20Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection

Brown, Patricia Leigh. “They Died by the Border. Art Students Hope to Bring Them Back.”The New York Times , www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/arts/design/new-york-academy-of-art-arizona-border.html?rref.

I read the article “They Died by the Border. Art Students Hope to Bring Them Back,” from the New York Times this week. The remains of eight migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico were found last summer in the Arizona desserts. The bodies were identified and scattered by scavenging vouchers and other predators. Students at the New York Academy of Art are working alongside forensic artist Joe Mullins to reconstruct the faces of these missing individuals for families to claim and identify. Forensic Anthropologist Bruce Anderson, explained to New York Times reporters the importance of forensic artist work in identifying missing people in the reconstruction of an individual’s face based on characteristics of the skull. “To a trained eye, the complex structure of the human skull offers a blueprint to the facial features of the deceased. “A skull is the foundation an individual’s face is built on,” said Mr. Mullins, 47. “It’s like a house for your face.” The class than begins identifying specific characteristics of each skull differentiating one from the other; including scars, tissue depth, nose arch, chin, and earlobes. These are what build the foundation of the multiple layers of clay that are cut to create the unique faces of these unidentified migrants. By rebuilding an individual face scientific accuracy in understanding the built of muscle and soft tissue require many different layers of clay to create the perfected shape. The balance between scientific accuracy and artistic skill continues to remain debated in the forensic world but their results are unlike any others. These students give unidentified remains to have their stories told and not be a lost identity.

I chose this article based on its influence of art in the forensic field. It is something that really interests me given my involvements in fine arts as well as interest in learning about forensic science. I thought that this article was extremely well written and shed much needed light on a situation that is silenced in our country. Since 2001 nearly 2,800 migrant remains have been discovered in the Pilma County of Arizona and nearly 1,000 individuals are still left unidentified. It is a chilling story to hear the tales of those who do survive the dessert crossing and it is an issue that still occurs today despite government efforts to close the Mexican American borders. I wish that the article had included a story about one of these border crossing stories, however the included stories about remains found not in the dessert but a few miles from their work space in Queens, NY. The article could easily have included a story of a survivor however it was not the point of the article to tell the stories, but to tell the story of how students are restoring their identities.

After reviewing and reading the article I learned a lot, not only about forensic work but also different fields of art work. I am always interested in learning something new about how art can impact and help society and this was just another article enlightening me on the importance art truly plays in people’s lives. I would strongly recommend for someone to read this article and further research arts impact in fields or studies that interest oneself.