San Jose Museum of Art: Love Disorder 2008

I have heard of interactive art, but he sensed my every movement. I was looking in the face of art, itself.

Just when I had found comfort in on-campus art interactions, my art education took me to the San Jose Museum of Art. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to literally experience Bruce Charlesworth’s Love Disorder 2008. Love Disorder 2008 is predicated on this visual-audio composition in order to induce psychological disturbance in its viewers.

From the piece’s location in relation to other art exhibits to the interior design of the exhibit’s space, Love Disorder 2008 draws on several artistic elements to engender the piece’s theme of “disorder.” I realized the seclusion of the room where the piece lurked. One could have easily overlooked the doorway, leading into the room, for the doorway was hidden between hanging art forms and other doorways, in which projecting images attracted people inside. On the other hand, art admirers could see only this rather dull red wall if or when they passed the doorway to Charlesworth’s work. The bright spotlight that shined on the wall enlivened the dull red paint. The isolated location and the bright lighting of this room contrasted with the surrounding social, dark movie rooms.  I wondered about the museum’s antisocial arrangement of this space, so I was drawn to the red wall.

I walked into the room to be greeted by a pair of piercing blue eyes. The dark, grave pupils belonged to a wrinkly old face that I could not seem to shake. His stare paralyzed me, commanding my attention to the point that I forgot that the face was a mere image on a projector screen. The rapid movement of his eyes prompted my discomfort and my deviation from mental order, so to speak.

Somewhat spellbound by the menacing face, I drew closer to the deceptive head shot. After moments of silent scrutiny, he opened his mouth: “Come closer.” As if he read my mind, he continues: “I know what you are thinking.” These formidable statements alerted me that something was not quite right. Once I was a few steps into the room, away from the doorway, I had entered his unstable world. The bright lighting near the door occupied little space in the rather dim room. The initial lighting was a ploy to invite curiosity, but the bare red walls entrapped me in what was now a dim, bloody-walled asylum.

From then on, the elderly face began his emotional tantrum. First, he yelled as if I was encroaching on his personal space,  “Get back!” Then, like any curious mind would do, I challenged him by invading his space even more. Then came his threats: “I’ll set your house on fire!” Once I realized that he could not hurt me, his threats did not deter me but rather encouraged me to come within a few feet of the screen. The once terrifying eyes cringed into a fit of fear and surrender. Before I fully came out of my trance, the last words that I heard were: “I can’t breathe!”

Love Disorder 2008 was effective in provoking people because the old face served to disturb people’s emotional states. Furthermore, in addition to the projector, built-in motion sensors signaled the old man’s responses to my physical proximity. According to his mood swings, the old man was a victim of his isolation and a slave to his own thoughts. Since he was trapped by his own thoughts, he tried to lure people into his world of mental disorder.