Jammed
Royal College of Art, London. 2024
Yams, industrial turnstile
3 x 3 x 1.5m

Controlled Encounter: The Constriction of Open Space at The Royal College of Art Curating, London, exhibition with David Richard curated by Bingning Meng, Dahee Min, Gianmarco Gronchi, Joyce Li, Nancy Whiston, Rachel Morgan, Xinqi Li, Yuci Dai.

Rafael Pérez Evan’s work Jammed presents a striking juxtaposition between the rigidity of institutional control and an anarchic, overflowing organic pile. A turnstile, typically a symbol of controlled access and regulated movement, is overwhelmed by a profusion of vegetables, rendering it nonfunctional. This work serves as a poignant commentary on the intersections of regulation, nature, and the absurdity that arises when these systems collide.

The turnstile, a common fixture in urban environments such as subway stations, sports arenas, and corporate buildings, epitomises the mechanised regulation of human movement. It symbolises the barriers and checkpoints that individuals must navigate in their daily lives, often dictated by institutions and systems of authority. Pérez Evans employs his sculptural methodology of dumping – borrowed from devalued agricultural protesters who dump and spill their produce in the city -and jams a turnstile with a large heap of yams. Theis disruption of the turnstile’s intended purpose highlights tensions around access and the piling up of difficulties for bodies, lands and communities that are turned into surplus and are trapped between the erratic swings of state policies and regulations.

In contrast, vegetables represent growth, nourishment, and the cyclical processes of nature. Their organic, unruly presence subverts the turnstile’s rigid, metallic formality, suggesting a wilding over mechanical constraint. The overflowing vegetables   evoke an absurd piling up, challenging the obeyance to the “practical” systems that regulate our movements and lives.