Gallery review: States of Exception at Centraltrak

by Jake Kemp

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Exhibit at UT Dallas' Artists Residency space takes philosophical look at what it means for human life to be devalued by government actions.

Centraltrak, the University of Texas at Dallas Artists Residency, is currently running an exhibit called States of Exception in its main gallery. On Thursday, Centraltrak director and the curator of the exhibit Dr. Charissa Terranova held a walk-through and explained the conceptual foundations of the included works.

Its very name, States of Exception, comes from the title of a book Italian philopsher Giogio Agamben published in 2005. A "state of exception" is a legal or constitutional theory which basically means that in a state of emergency, the government can lift the rules of democracy in the name of "the public good." The works in the gallery all reflect this sort of sci-fi, Big Brother-esque feel.

The exhibit isn't overtly political (at least not in the partisan sense), but more so about the essence of what it means to be human and what it means to be governed. "In a declared state of emergency, you get the possibility where you are reducing the value of human life," said Terranova. "This show is an exploration of the way in which that idea of reducing human life to something less valuable than what we usually consider human life to be takes place."

The centerpiece of the exhibit is the Orwellian termed "Midi Disciplinator." The Disciplinator is a recreation of a work by Dutch artist Atelier Van Lieshout. It looks like a prison cell, but is actually a full-functioning prison camp for three individuals. Although there are no actual human figures in the pieces, visitors can go inside and maneuver around the tiny space. It houses three bunk beds, a small space for eating, and a bathroom. The wood used to create the cell is a glowing red cedar, which Terranova said was left rough and unfinished intentionally. "It needs to be able to give you splinters; it needs to be uncomfortable," she said.

The inmates work on three large logs with sharp tools to produce sawdust. This is perhaps the most interesting part of The Disciplinator. "This is not just menial labor, it is pointless menial labor," Terranova said. The point, as its name would indicate, is solely to discipline the individuals, to break down their souls. "The idea here is: What does it take to be happy? And that is not necessarily just thinking about existential happiness, but also physical happiness. This is a reduction of one person's idea what you basically need," she said.

Without question, The Disciplinator is an ominous structure that represents on the one hand what the baseline for what the body needs to survive, and on the other represents what will render the soul unable to survive.

While The Disciplinator is a perfect artistic articulation of the ideas put forth by Agamben in his writings, the rest of the exhibit strays slightly off course. A piece by Angel Cabrales (a recent recipient of an MFA from UNT) called "DIY HAZMAT: Don't Worry, Everything is Going to be Fine" portrays Cabrales' idea of what homemade HAZAT uniforms might look like. Arranged in four rows and 11 columns, the images protruding from the wall are actual HAZMAT suits that Cabrales constructed. This piece is creepy for sure, but it is more visceral than philosophical, whereas The Disciplinator manages to be both.

The final piece in the exhibit, also by Atelier Van Lieshout, consists of three smaller works, all about 2 feet wide and 6 inches tall. They are what they say they are: "Model Sanitary Unit with Dolls," "Model Sleep Unit with Dolls," and "Shower Unit with Dolls." These are similar to The Disciplinator in that they represent the reduction of human lives to something similar to cattle, herded to wash time, sleep time, and dinner time. However, the absence of the "pointless work" element, which I found to be the most thoughtful aspect of The Disciplinator, made these pieces look very tame.

States of Exception is not the most aesthetically pleasing exhibit, but it doesn't try to be. Rather, the aesthetics have a goal in mind, and particularly in the case of the centerpiece, this goal is achieved in a profound way. "One of the things I want people to walk away from this show with is that we all must remind ourselves everyday what it means to be human," said Terranova. "This is apolitical. We are all here, and we're all guilty."

The gallery is open until January 29, 2010. More information can be found at www.centraltrak.org.

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