The title of the work, Hot Spot III, is taken from the term ‘hot spot’, which refers to a place of military or civil unrest. Critics and art-lovers have said that the sculpture shows the world as an entire political hot spot and presents the world as a danger zone (highlighted with the red neon lights). Hatoum herself said that her intention with the piece was to show that spots of political unrest, conflicts and war are not particular to certain areas or countries, but affect the world as a whole (YouTube). The colour red has traditionally been associated with danger and heat. I think that if Hatoum had chosen to use a different colour light, the work probably would have had a different mood. The red light and the buzzing sound that emit from the sculpture impose on the viewer, creating energy between the spectator and the work. The grid of stainless steel (another trope that is recurrent in her work) made to represent the globe is like a cage, a trap. I do not think there has ever been, nor will ever be a moment of global peace. Perhaps the cage is showing that the world is trapped in conflict, that somewhere in the world there are tensions. (...)

https://lucywritersplatform.com/2020/05/29/postcards-in-isolation-7-mona-hatoum-hot-spot-iii-2009/  (31.08.2022)