Lan Tuazon
Army Park
Architectures of Defense
Army Park
Army Park is composed of statues on horseback that exist in New York City collected into a singular monumental army facing downtown New York’s Civic Center. The drawing includes Simon Bolivar, William Tecumseh Sherman, Joan of Arc, Jose Marti, George Washington, and the Indian Hunter. Upon closer inspection, George Washington appears as a headless horseman. Perhaps it is due to the difficulty of drawing an obviously recognizable face that leads one to failure and why he here remains headless.
Army Park, 2010
Ink on paper, 33 x 42 in.Architectures of Defense
Spaces are not natural; they are socially made and are products of political and capital values. Simple as it may seem, the demarcating line that creates spaces of difference, in and out, here and there, is essentially what characterizes an exclusionary definition of an “us” and “them.” This is what imbues the abstract concept of space with social and political stakes. Architectures of Defense is a demonstration of how history, the law, and class structures are written on the physical environment. Articulations of self are fought and marked on the grounds of public space and are ultimately vestiges of our ideas of humanity, political values, and notions of rights.Architectures of Defense is a life-size sculpture resembling a skyscraper structure. Made of variable types of metal, vinyl, and wood fencing, it is entirely composed of varied spatial demarcations. Measuring four meters in height, Architectures of Defense shows social class hierarchies arranged according to height and type of fencing used to defend a royal, civic, public, and finally private spaces.
