This thesis examines the Canadian immigration detention system through an immersive, interactive artwork, which questions how the state’s discourse about immigration contradicts ongoing practice. This contradiction is studied through the operative logic of preemption, Brian Massumi’s concept of “ontopower”. Employing the method of the Forensic Architecture collective in the context of Bruno Latour’s concept of dingpolitik, another goal is to explore the blurred lines between forensis, method and theoretical framework. The artwork employs the practice of Verbatim Theatre and the techniques and technologies of 360° Cinema to present the events surrounding the death in 2013 of migrant Lucia Vega Jimenez while in detention with the Canada Border Services Agency.

Keywords: Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), ontopower, migrant detention, preemption, Verbatim Theatre, 360° cinema, forensic architecture, Lucia Vega Jimenez, assemblies, dingpolitik