THIS TWO-PANEL PORTRAIT DEPICTS A FORMER RESTAURANT CO-WORKER BALANCING A HEAPING TRAY OF DIRTY DISHES ON THE LEFT AND THE AMERICAN FLAG ON THE RIGHT. THIS WORK STEMS FROM MY EARLY EXPERIENCES AS A RECENTLY ARRIVED VENEZUELAN ARTIST IN NEW YORK CITY, WITHOUT A FAMILY, A STABLE INCOME, OR PERMANENT HOUSING – ONE OF COUNTLESS IMMIGRANTS STRUGGLING TO MAKE A LIVING IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY, FOR MINIMAL PAY AND WITHOUT LEGAL PROTECTIONS. TO UNDERSCORE THE DIGNITY OF UNDERPAID IMMIGRANT LABOR, I NOD TO THE GERMAN PHOTOGRAPHER AUGUST SANDER AND HIS MAGNUM OPUS, PEOPLE OF THE 20TH CENTURY, A SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS HE MADE BETWEEN THE 1920S AND 1950S THAT SOUGHT TO DOCUMENT EVERYDAY PEOPLE THROUGH THE LENS OF THEIR PROFESSIONS.
THIS SCULPTURAL PIECE HONORS JOHNNY, A FORMER CO-WORKER AT A NEW YORK BAKERY WHERE I WORKED SHORTLY AFTER ARRIVING IN THE UNITED STATES FROM VENEZUELA. ORIGINALLY FROM MEXICO AND A NATIVE NAHUATL SPEAKER, JOHNNY WAS PAID LESS THAN THE REST OF US, IN PART BECAUSE OF HIS INABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH OR SPANISH. AMONG OTHER TASKS, ALL OF WHICH HE PERFORMED WITH GREAT DILIGENCE, JOHNNY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SILVERWARE. ALTHOUGH I WAS SUDDENLY FIRED FROM THE BAKERY AND NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN, THE SOUND GENERATED BY CLASHING SILVERWARE AS HE CLEANED IT STAYED WITH ME EVER SINCE. FEATURING A METAL DOOR, MAGNETS, AND FORKS, THIS INTERACTIVE SCULPTURE EVOKES THAT SOUND IN REMEMBRANCE OF JOHNNY’S STOIC DEDICATION TO HIS POORLY PAID LABOR.
EMBROIDERY TAPESTRY
THIS INTERACTIVE INSTALLATION ADDRESSES THE PERILOUS JOURNEY ACROSS CENTRAL AMERICA UNDERTAKEN BY COUNTLESS MIGRANTS IN SEARCH OF THE AMERICAN DREAM. THE NAME OF THIS WORK REFERENCES A NETWORK OF NORTHBOUND FREIGHT TRAINS ATOP WHICH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS TRY TO MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE USA EVERY YEAR, RISKING THEIR LIVES AS THEY SEEK TO AVOID DETENTION AND REPATRIATION BY AUTHORITIES. THE INSTALLATION HAS TWO COMPONENTS: A CARTOGRAPHIC, HAND-EMBROIDERED TAPESTRY ILLUSTRATING THE JOURNEY AND ITS MANY DANGERS, AND A SHUFFLEBOARD FOR TWO PLAYERS REPRODUCING THE IMAGE DEPICTED IN THE TAPESTRY. SPECTATORS CAN CHOOSE TO PLAY THE ROLE OF A MIGRANT TRYING TO REACH THE USA ATOP THE DEADLY TRAIN, OR THAT OF A BORDER PATROL AGENT TRYING TO PREVENT IT BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
INTERACTIVE SHUFFLEBOARD
SHUFFLEBOARD: WOOD, METAL, ACRYLIC, FABRIC AND PLASTIC
EMBROIDERY TAPESTRY
CONSISTS OF AN ASCENDING, LADDERLIKE ARRANGEMENT OF SOAP BARS BRANDED “HISPANO” THAT ELICITS A PARTICULAR OLFACTORY MEMORY FOR PEOPLE OF HISPANIC DESCENT, THUS SUGGESTING A LINK BETWEEN THE MODERN AMERICAN NARRATIVE OF UPWARD MOBILITY AND THE LATIN AMERICAN COLONIAL MYTH OF EL DORADO, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY DIGGING INTO THE DESIRE TO CLIMB AND REACH THE SLIPPERY AMERICAN DREAM AT ALL COSTS.
THIS INTERACTIVE SCULPTURE ADDRESSES THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN IMMIGRATION, INCARCERATION, AND CORPORATE CAPITALISM IN THE USA, WHERE POWERFUL INTERESTS ARE INVESTED IN CRIMINALIZING UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS. RESEMBLING STRENGTH TESTERS AT FUNFAIRS OR AMUSEMENT PARKS, THE PIECE LURES UNSUSPECTING SPECTATORS TO TEST THEIR STRENGTH AND WIN AN EDITION POSTCARD AS A PRIZE.
THE FIGURES SHOWN IN THE SCULPTURE REFERENCE PROFITS BY COMPANIES RUNNING PRIVATE PRISONS, WHERE THEY SUBCONTRACT THE UNPAID LABOR OF THE PREDOMINANTLY AFRICAN AMERICAN OR LATINX INMATE POPULATION TO SUCH WELL-KNOWN CORPORATIONS AS HEWLETT PACKARD, VICTORIA'S SECRET, OR FACEBOOK. SINCE MOST SPECTATORS WILL PLAY THE GAME JUST FOR FUN, WITHOUT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DATA DISPLAYED ON THE SCULPTURE, IT IS ONLY AFTER THEY WIN THE PRIZE AND READ THE TEXT ON THE POSTCARD'S VERSO THAT THEY REALIZE THEY TOO HAVE BENEFITTED FROM THE ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION OF INCARCERATED MIGRANTS.
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THE INTERVENTION OF OVER THREE HUNDRED POSTCARDS ANNOUNCING THE 2015 WHITNEY MUSEUM GRAND OPENING OF ITS $422 MILLION DOLLAR BUILDING WITH "YOU CAN SEE AMERICA FROM HERE" PRINTED ON THE POSTCARDS. I CREATED A GRID CONTINUOUSLY REPEATING THE QUOTE "YOU CAN SEE AMERICA FROM HERE." REPLACING THE IMAGE OF THE NEW BUILDING WITH A MIRROR THAT REFLECTS THE VISAGE OF ALL OF THE POSSIBILITIES THAT AMERICA CAN CONTAIN.
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Over 1.2 million Americans have been shot in the past decade, millions more have witnessed gun violence firsthand, and hundreds of millions—nearly every American—will know at least one victim of gun violence in their lifetime. 36,000 Americans are killed by guns each year—an average of 100 per day https://lawcenter.giffords.org/facts/gun-violence-statistics/