Beyond the Barricade; The Tate recreates an antiwar protest. But is it art?

Byline: Carla Power

A sign posted beside tate Britain's Duveen Galleries warns: "State Britain contains images of human suffering which some visitors may find distressing." That's putting it mildly; the installation includes pictures of bombed Afghan babies, of the corpses of Iraqi toddlers and of children with stumps for limbs. They're part of a 40-meter-long barricade of pain, cobbled from banners and painted signs--BABY KILLERS, YOU LIE/KIDS DIE/BLIAR--teddy bears, crosses, caricatures of Blair and Bush and a clothesline hung with bloodied shirts.

Visitors could be forgiven for believing they had stumbled upon an antiwar rally. "State Britain" (through August 27), by the British artist Mark Wallinger, is a meticulous replica of the one-man peace camp created by Brian Haw that stood outside Britain's Houses of Parliament from 2001 until last May, when police removed most of it on the ground that it violated a 2005 act banning unauthorized protests within a kilometer of Parliament Square. (Haw's still keeping his vigil, but he's confined to a three-meter-by-three-meter space.) "If a gallery's about making something visible that's been rendered invisible, this belongs in a gallery," says Wallinger.

"State Britain" is, on one level, a paean to the loneliness of long-term obsession. The work's handmade quality--the teddy bears, the armless doll, the handwritten notes supporting Haw--evokes a shrine, commemorating not just the dead of Iraq, but protest itself. Stashed behind the placards is a sleeping bag, weather-beaten umbrellas and yellowing newspapers. Supermarket bags filled with his rations of oats, noodle soups and peanuts dangle from the barricades. A large plastic jug filled with an unidentified yellow liquid--urine? brackish washing water?--is emblazoned with the words NOT FOR DRINKING. From the supplies, "it looks as though Haw's been in conflict," says Wallinger. "Camped out there, he's a bit like a soldier."

But what makes "State Britain" art as opposed to public protest? At the Tate, there was never any debate: it was art ...