Vincenzo Fiore Marrese

Reorder power structures

Abstract

Is it possible to change the rules of a game through the same game’s rules? Playing, you cannot break the rules. But if you are allowed to change the rules, you can easily break the rules by rule. And if someone disagrees, you can always say that’s the rule. Part of my art workflow implies, generally, the reading of academic papers around my topics. One of the most pertinent papers on my research interest for this artwork is “Law against the Rule of Law: Assaulting Democracy” by Ivan Ermakoff [note 1]. This text inspired me with the title of the piece [note 2]. The text is around this question, «How do authoritarian contenders use the law to dismantle democratic institutions?» [note 3]. In my artwork, I don’t have the aim to show skills. I work on the edge of the ordinary, changing meanings and merging direct reference to the topic of the artwork (like the barricade tape) with some more related to the intuition (the sunflower not yet unpacked) or more elusive (the x-rays).

Notes

1. Ermakoff, Ivan. 2020. "Law against the rule of law: Assaulting Democracy," Journal of Law and Society, 47(3) back to the text
2. Idem, p. S184, «A structural usage of law for authoritarian purposes reorders the power structure through the reallocation of decisional rights.» back to the text
3. Idem, p. S165 back to the text