Gardar Eide Einarsson: Untitled (Apparatus), 2011. Art Public, Art Basel Miami Beach

Gardar Eide Einarsson’s spray-painted steel sculpture that was on display within the framework of Art Basel Miami Beach’s Art Public section both relates to prison exercise equipment as well as to the concept of Minimalist sculpture. Placed on the beach near Collins Park, the beach-goers soon realized how to use it, as shown in this video.

More Art Basel Miami Beach 2011 Art Public videos: A Sermon On Art History by Theaster Gates and The Black Monks of Mississippi; Glenn Kaino: Levitating the Fair (The flying Merchant Ship). Coming soon: Jen DeNike: Iemanjá (performance).

Gardar Eide Einarsson: Untitled (Apparatus), 2011. Art Public, Art Basel Miami Beach 2011. December 4, 2011.

> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.

‘Untitled (Apparatus)’ by Gardar Eide Einarsson is a sculpture based on prison exercise equipment. Prison design and architecture repre- sent to the artists a zero state of design, where all traditional design considerations are jettisoned in favor of a design that exclusively seeks to prevent certain behaviors, generally focusing on not lending itself to the infliction of bodily harm. In this, it shares similarities with generic outdoor furniture of the kind found in city parks across the United States and the world. The sculpture has a strong visual affinity to Minimalist sculpture and shares Minimalism’s preoccupation with the relationship between sculpture and the body of the spectator. The sculpture in this case could possibly be used as a way to actually transform the body through exercise. This again relates back to the problematic relationship between the body and theories of discipline and control as effected through exercise and the shaping of the body, relevant in a city with a strong beach culture. (press, Art Basel Miami Beach)

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