‘Untitled (Apparatus)’ by Gardar Eide Einarsson is a sculpture based on prison exercise equipment. Prison design and architecture represent 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.


Gardar Eide Einarsson: Untitled (Apparatus), 2011 / Team Gallery, New York. Images from Art Basel Miami Beach.