Forensics

Derived from the Latin forensis, the word forensics refers to the forum and designates the practice of making an argument by using objects before a professional, political or legal gathering. Cabinet issue 43, with a special section on Forensics edited by Eyal Weizman, features Weizman on the changing role of forensics following the discovery of the body of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele; Lawrence abu-Hamdan on the use by the British police of minute shifts in electrical signatures to precisely date recorded phone conversations; an interview with legendary forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow; and artist projects by Hito Steyerl and Fareed Armaly. Elsewhere in the issue: Rachel Berwick on zugunruhe, a term coined in the 1950s to describe the phenomenon of nighttime restlessness of birds about to migrate; D. Graham Burnett and Sal Randolph’s guide to identifying paper shredder patterns in order to reassemble destroyed documents; an artist project by Amie Siegel; and much more.