In Enclosure once the spectators have physically squeezed through the gap in the entrance barriers, they find themselves within an enclosure of prison fencing, topped with razor wire. The floor of the enclosure is covered with black tarpaulin, scattered with straw and feathers. From the row of metal containers without the fence arises the strong aroma of tar. The tarred-and-feathered reference in this piece points to a specific commentary on Northern Ireland, as does the sound track. Without such specificity, the references of Enclosure might have been too wide -to the Chilean death arena, the prison exercise yard, the concentration camp. This is an outdoor enclosure, a non-place which, by being relocated within a gallery, has become further displaced. The reinforcement for this piece came out of a visit by Masi to Ulster (he normally works many years on one piece. allowing it to grow and be modified in response to changing circumstances). The realisation of the closeness of Bogside when seen from Derry Walls, unlike its bloated scale in wide-angled film documentation, seemed intimate and moving.
In Shrine the various objects are equally legible in themselves, but add up to something much more complex and ambivalent. The curious copper-clad mansard structure raised on a plinth, preyed on by spot-lights and a surveillance camera, contains references to army nissen huts or tents (it is partly clad in black canvas) as well as suggesting a contemporary architect's project for a temporary oratory - perhaps for an airport or hospital. It is a shrine, but definitely a military shrine. Spilling out of the sarcophagus are various objects cast in bronze: like the skull pieces, their potency is undiminished by material transformation. The Japanese canteen, British World War I fieldglasses, case and field telephone, the gas mask and grenade are all obsolete relics, unable to function but redolent of conflict. Three finely-made totems in coloured and polished marble are balanced precariously within the shrine, their slightly specious air suggesting the fragile improbability of memorials.
This curious and potent assemblage was synthesised during Masi's residency at the Imperial War Museum during 1984. On his open-days he constantly found himself explaining to the visiting public that the museum is an historical institution, created by an act of parliament, to enshrine the memory and relics of participants in the first World War, the war to end all wars. Masi believes that people now misinterpret the role of this museum as in some way perpetuating militaristic values, a total reversal of the original concept. Hence Shrine with its upside down flag-pole and white flag: patriotism stood on its head. This is part of the artist's intention, but beyond that the work is open to interpretation. The parody of modern attitudes to death implicit in the polished services and sanitised spaces will affront-some, reassure others.
SHRINE
1980/84 -1987
7mx4mx4m
one large metal platform
one mansard metal structure with black canvas and sheetcopper cladding
one marble sarcophagus-like box with under strip-lighting and mirror
one video surveillance camera
one exterior halogen night-light
one tannoy loudspeaker
one upside-down flag pole
one white flag
one tape loop
one amp and compatible tape cassette deck
one video monitor
one chair
one table
three maquette monuments in various kinds of marble
eleven bronze objects with various patinas
sixteen three step high metal rostra
Notes
(1 ) Sol LeWitt. Paragraphs on Conceptual Art, Artforum, Summer 1967, pp. 79-83 (2) Jean-Francois Luotard. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge trs bu Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi, Manchester Universitu Press, 1986, p. xxiv
