The physical pieces are presented as artifacts, each preserving a specific moment from the dispute — the intangibility of words made real. As Mann writes via e-mail, “The argument, though recognizable due to American Beauty, has an everyday familiarity that everyone has had experience with in their own rights.”
     Mann directed the animation (produced by Chris Labrooy) and later created the Cross-fire series in its real, physical forms. The pieces were rapid prototyped and then recreated in their parent material. “This was a technical achievement,” according to Mann, “as the pieces were born from an animation that does not care about fabrication rules”.