Exclude Category in Archive

Hello!

How can I exclude a category in this archive file? Here is the code.

<?php get_header(); ?>
<h3 class="top_title">
        <?php if (is_category()) { ?>
              <?php single_cat_title(); ?>
        <?php } elseif( is_tag() ) { ?>
              <?php single_tag_title(); ?>
        <?php } elseif (is_day()) { ?>
              <?php the_time('F jS, Y'); ?>
        <?php } elseif (is_month()) { ?>
              <?php the_time('F, Y'); ?>
        <?php } elseif (is_year()) { ?>
              <?php the_time('Y'); ?>
        <?php } elseif (is_author()) { ?>
              Author Archive
        <?php } elseif (isset($_GET['paged']) && !empty($_GET['paged'])) { ?>
              Blog Archives
        <?php } ?>
    </h3>
<div id="content">
	<div id="content_inside">
    <?php
    global $wp_query;

    $args = array_merge( $wp_query->query, array( 'posts_per_page' => 12 ) );
    query_posts( $args );
    $x = 0;
    while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>                        

	<?php $box_type = ''; ?>
	<?php if($x == 2 || $x == 5 || $x == 8 || $x == 11 || $x == 14 || $x == 17 || $x == 20 || $x == 23 || $x == 26|| $x == 28 || $x == 31 || $x == 34 || $x == 37 || $x == 40 || $x == 43 || $x == 46 || $x == 49 || $x == 52 || $x == 55 || $x == 58 || $x == 61 || $x == 64) { ?>
		<?php $box_type .= ' home_post_box_last'; ?>
	<?php } ?>

	<?php if($x == 2 || $x == 5 || $x == 8 || $x == 11 || $x == 14 || $x == 17 || $x == 20 || $x == 23 || $x == 26|| $x == 28 || $x == 31 || $x == 34 || $x == 37 || $x == 40 || $x == 43 || $x == 46 || $x == 49 || $x == 52 || $x == 55 || $x == 58 || $x == 61 || $x == 64) { ?>
		<?php $box_type .= ' home_post_box_tablet_last'; ?>
	<?php } ?>
	    <div class="home_post_box<?php echo $box_type; ?>" onClick="location.href='<?php the_permalink(); ?>'">

		<?php the_post_thumbnail('home-image'); ?>

		<div class="home_post_text">
			<h3><?php the_title(); ?></h3>

		</div><!--//home_post_text-->
	</div><!--//home_post_box-->

	<?php if($x == 2 || $x == 5 || $x == 8 || $x == 11 || $x == 14 || $x == 17 || $x == 20 || $x == 23 || $x == 26|| $x == 28 || $x == 31 || $x == 34 || $x == 37 || $x == 40 || $x == 43 || $x == 46 || $x == 49 || $x == 52 || $x == 55 || $x == 58 || $x == 61 || $x == 64) { ?>
		<div class="desktop_clear"></div>
	<?php } ?>

	<?php if($x == 2 || $x == 5 || $x == 8 || $x == 11 || $x == 14 || $x == 17 || $x == 20 || $x == 23 || $x == 26|| $x == 28 || $x == 31 || $x == 34 || $x == 37 || $x == 40 || $x == 43 || $x == 46 || $x == 49 || $x == 52 || $x == 55 || $x == 58 || $x == 61 || $x == 64) { ?>
		<div class="tablet_clear"></div>
	<?php } ?>
    <?php $x++; ?>
    <?php endwhile; ?>            

    <div class="clear"></div>	

    </div><!--//content_inside-->

    <div class="clear"></div>
    <div class="load_more_cont">
        <div align="center"><div class="load_more_text">

        <?php

        ob_start();
	next_posts_link('<img src="' . get_bloginfo('stylesheet_directory') . '/images/loading-button.png" />');
	$buffer = ob_get_contents();
	ob_end_clean();
	if(!empty($buffer)) echo $buffer;
        ?>

        </div></div>
    </div><!--//load_more_cont-->                    

    <?php wp_reset_query(); ?>                            

</div><!--//content-->    

<?php get_footer(); ?>

I tried this code before the loop, but it breaks the archive page.
<?php query_posts('cat=-1');?>

Thank you!