Chaos Patrol

At birth, a person is given a name, citizenship, and a personal identification code, determined by their country of birth and their parents’ nationality. They become a citizen whose actions are guided and constrained by various customs and laws. In order to maintain justice and order in relations between members of society, the state has appointed law enforcers. These are among the few to whom state power has entrusted the right to use force. Perhaps it is the silent threat of this force that explains why even an innocent citizen may feel fear or discomfort, rather than safety, when encountering someone in uniform. But does a truly innocent citizen even exist?

Flo Kasearu is a creator who moves seamlessly between different media and contexts. Yet within this versatility, several core themes remain constant, among them questions of power, home, and the sense of security. In Chaos Patrol, staged and filmed in Germany, performers dressed in uniforms designed by Flo were sent out to patrol the city. In Graz, Austria, where the work was first presented, order is maintained not only by the police but also by municipal wardens appointed by the city government, meaning that order in the urban space is under multiple layers of surveillance. In the artist’s video, the officers with their comical headgear patrol chaos itself – a chaos they ceaselessly conjure around them as they wave their ribbons.

Flo’s work is often noted for its sense of humour. By distorting the uniform, it becomes ridiculous – after all, one cannot fear what is not intimidating. At the same time, chaos and order go together like yin and yang. Any kind of order can only ever be temporary. Perhaps here humour is confused with a childlike candor that asks: excuse me, but what exactly do you think you are guarding here?