14+1: 14 Minutes of Fame and 1 to Keep

Playing at Bare Life: Dadara, the State, and Homo Sacer

“It does not matter…that the killing of homo sacer can be considered less than homicide, and the killing of the sovereign as more than homicide; what is essential is that in neither case does the killing of a man constitute an offense of homicide.”                                                                                     Giorgio Agamben

In between, within, and without Dadara’s Checkpoint Dreamyourtopia, there is the body of homo sacer: the bare life of the border crosser, non-citizen, refugee, prisoner, torture victim, death row inmate, other and dialectical necessity of the full-fledged citizen.  In contrast to man as citizen, we have before us man as bare life:  that which can be spent with impunity – life extinguished without homicide because it is deemed outside of the law and thus without value.  Built in Dallas and installed and performed at Burning Man in Nevada 2008, Checkpoint Dreamyourtopia is a human-scaled game board at Centraltrak that calls upon art lovers and fun seekers, interpolating them into role-playing ventures.  In nuce, the script goes something like this: “Hey you!  You there…immigrant, I am guard, not alien-other, and you are not guard.  I am subject and you are object.”   We the people become we the players, sometimes alien and homo sacer, sometimes guard and legal citizen, but all crossing the borders of identity inherited by pre-given structures. read the rest »

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Critical Craft and Craft Criticism

Propelled by the D.I.Y. (Do-It-Yourself) lifestyle and culture, aspects of craft are everywhere, speaking volumes about contemporary times and culture. Craft is a skill or the act of making depending on the definition, but can also be interpreted as the handmade details that are becoming more commonplace. These details can been found in fashion, graphics, and architecture and contemporary art. Craft and D.I.Y. could be a response to the onslaught of technological advances, which have consumed and connected the world and day-to-day experience. Anything handmade creates a distinct diversion to the monotony of mass produced items and Internet technologies.  The handmade is becoming an imprimatur – its own label – of something distinct, critical, and conceptual.  Many magazines and websites provide instructions and inspire artful ways of living. But more and more, artists are incorporating traditional aspects of craft in their own work. read the rest »

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