Merrill is interested in how material artefacts construct landscapes of difference in Israel-Palestine and Apartheid-era South Africa. Specifically, she look at how objects inscribe division (or as some people like to call them, borders) over space and, in turn, how this ontologically (re)produces our understanding of difference in that space.

Research 

Thesis title: 'The matter of difference: Exploring the affective embodiment of a differential ontology in walls'

Merrill's research aims to expose the contradiction of walls. They epitomise fixed physicality yet maintain fluidity in their meaning. A wall might be solid to one individual whilst being a gate for another. This dualism provides the basis for investigating a spatialised ontology of difference based on the understanding that material objects are the manifestation of ontology. 

PhD supervision 

 

• Principal supervisor: Andrew Brooks
• Secondary supervisor: Richard Schofield

 

Further details

See Merrill's research profile