Aviso Público / Public Notice, 2006
From Door Cycle
Metal sign (cast aluminum relief) on galvanized iron door with hardware. Door size 198.5 x 98 x 12 cm (78 x 38½ x 4¾ in). Edition: 15, signed and numbered on separate label.
As part of the Door Cycle edition project, this work by Santiago Sierra presents a galvanized iron door onto which his powerful Door Plate has been mounted. The text on the aluminum sign lists an overwhelming and contradictory set of exclusions – barring entry to individuals ranging from “pregnant women” to “employees”, “non-English speakers” to “people with computer skills”. With this, Sierra pushes the absurdity of bureaucratic gatekeeping to its logical extreme. This edition expands on the themes of Sierra’s controversial 2003 Venice Biennale project, where access to the Spanish Pavilion was granted only to holders of a Spanish passport, and only via a side entrance. Here, however, the door stands alone as a sculptural object, one that embodies the physical and psychological thresholds imposed by systems of authority. With biting irony and minimalist clarity, Aviso Público / Public Notice confronts viewers with the mechanisms by which access is regulated – not only in galleries or national pavilions, but across society at large.
