Matthew Higgins
The concept of being imprisoned is forbidding and daunting, evoking a solemn response from individuals. I have always been fascinated by prison life, troubled by the cold surroundings and the steel bars that men must live behind for years at a time. The environment they are forced into removes basic human rights and access to any amenities. When forced into an 8’ x 8’ cell for 22 hours a day, prisoners’ minds will explore alternate ways of protecting themselves or settling an argument. For most lifers the concept of killing someone is actually appealing, as the power they would acquire would far outweigh the punishment of added years in prison. The challenge however is to create a weapon to kill. Access to conventional objects are extremely limited therefore it is up to the prisoner to create a deadly weapon out of the mundane items in their cell: toothbrushes, mugs, threads, glass, plastic, anything that can be sharpened against the wall of their concrete cell.
