PROPERTY OF THE STATE
Gallery 5. Powers
Edwin Miguel Jimeno Tarazona
2010
Performance
Dimensions 90 x 60 each
The work presents two contrasting ways of understanding the State and its obligations. On one hand, the phrase “The State owns you” questions the extent of state power over the bodies of citizens and the way in which legal systems regulate individual freedoms. On the other, it suggests that citizens are part of the State and should hold it accountable for its actions or omissions. Through a neon light and a brief message, the artist poses a sharp critique of the ambiguity surrounding the role of the State in guaranteeing the fundamental rights set out in the Constitution, especially those in Article 2, which refers to its essential aims.
