Manteno Hospital, 2008 - 2011

This exhibition includes an extensive database of decommissioned hospitals across the United States. The installation consists of an interactive, projected map and 12 large-format photographs from 4"x 5" color negatives scanned and printed on archival pigment paper, 40"x 50" with an edition of 5.

In the realm of institutional confinement, the architecture of control manifests in myriad forms, each reflective of the historical epoch from which it emerges. Under the guise of constructing an idealized urban space—a utopia purged of the so-called "wandering mad"—the mental hospital has evolved into a spatial entity that primarily serves the interests of the state rather than the individuals. This work constitutes a pivotal component of my broader research agenda, which delves into the intricate discourse surrounding the political implications of governing institutionalized medical facilities. Specifically, the project scrutinizes the adoption of particular modes of governmentality and treatment protocols for mental illness, which are deeply embedded in the value systems of hospitals in the Midwest.

These institutions' spatial organization and architectural design are imbued with symbolic and associative markers that are immediately identifiable. These edifices serve as repositories of symbolic resonance, predicated on mechanisms of surveillance, observation, and the medicalized representation of mental illness, thereby shaping public perceptions of the institutionalized individual.

Confinement, as a mechanism of social regulation, remains a profoundly polarized concept within psychiatric discourse. From the padded cell to the halfway house, the specter of alienation and anxiety looms large, perpetuating social and individual estrangement as a condition marginalized by cultural norms.

Drawing inspiration from Michel Foucault's seminal work, "Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason," it is worth noting that "in the very place where madness had been laid to rest, in the homogenous space of unreason, an obscure, slow, barely formulated transformation was taking place." Although initially subtle, this transformation eventually problematizes the notion of confinement, revealing the complex interplay between societal fears and the evolving definitions of madness. Foucault's insights illuminate the intricate dynamics that have historically shaped and continue to shape the institutional landscapes of mental health, offering a critical lens through which to interrogate these spaces' ethical and political dimensions.

Archival Images from Research on the Project

During the fours years of research on this project, a massive archive of historic images was created. Below are some of those images. At its core this research documents and reveals the nation-states inability to integrate patients with mental illness into society, and the ineptitude within medical fields to find appropriate therapeutic and restorative modalities of treatment. 

The institutional critique of insanity has undergone countless manifestations over centuries. From the leprosarium to the penal facility and the sanitarium, these structures have remained models of resistance, favoring a carceral system of disciplinary extremes that often drive the individual into social immobility. Michel Foucault’s intimation that the spatial nature of these institutions changes in tandem with the socio-political values of the society they are designed for, still rings true. These spatial practices, of treating insanity separately to other health conditions are deeply, philosophically embedded. Different forms of institutional exclusion are now so entrenched that we have come to accept the distance between ourselves and the mentally ill as an ambiguous void over which we have no control.