State of Exception

This ArtPrize entry by anthropologist, Jason DeLeon, presents objects left behind in the desert along the Arizona border by undocumented migrants on their journey into the United States.  It conveys the complexity and ambiguity of these found artifacts and what they reveal in terms of transition, culture, commerce, violence and our most fundamental sense of humanity.

 A “layup,” is an area where illegal immigrants gather when they have reached the U.S. and where they will meet with those who have arranged for transportation for them. They typically have backpacks full of clothing, food, and other supplies for their long trek to or across the U.S. border. But when they arrive, they change into a clean set of clothes and leave everything else behind because there is not enough room in the packed vehicles used to transport them.