Throughout this class I have explored many socio-political issues that I care about and want to bring attention to. There are so many, and every project thus far has allowed me to advocate and be an activist for that specific issue. This is something I hope to continue long after this class, as there are so issues one can be an activist for.
For my final project I am continuing my advocacy for the children at the border and immigrant communities. As an immigrant myself this is a subject I am familiar with and want to explore other peoples experiences as immigrants, and create advocacy around their challenges to better be able to help them. I have been inspired by many artists throughout our readings, Coco Fusco being one of the very first with his project “Couple in a Cage” which was performative and sculptural piece. Coco Fusco quotes on this project, "The memory of an ethnographic filmmaker's gaze; haunted me for years, to the point where I began to wonder if I had become paranoid. Those are the moments where I am glad that there are real bars there, those are also the times when even though I know I can get out of the cage, I can never quite escape". This project inspired me for the obvious reason of children being in cages at the border, but also because these children face so many other challenges that even when out of the physical cage they will have to overcome a societal cage of obstacles and injustices.
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| "Couple in a Cage" by Coco Fusco (1992-1993) |
Rubén Ortiz-Torres from the Interventionist is another inspiring artist his work predominantly focuses on the Chicano experience and has produced many photographs, paintings, hats, trucks and even leaf blowers as media to investigate signature materials and images of this cultural experience. “For Rubén Ortiz-Torres yard work is emblematic of the situation of Mexican immigrants in California. To be specific, it is a specific site of connection between cultures. A culturally recognized part of the informal economy in Southern California is the labor produced by Mexican immigrants who either blow leaves; mow lawns or clips hedges to make a living. In Garden of Earthly Delights, Ortiz-Torres has reworked a piece of vernacular machinery, the lawnmower, by using Chicano low-rider aesthetics: hydraulics, flashy paint, and shining chrome. This small shift provides room to view this work in a very different, possibly resistant, manner.” He has also produced a series of baseball hats that, through the rearrangement of their insignias, produce new, culturally charged meanings.
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| "Garden of Earthly Delights" Garden Tools by Rubén Ortiz-Torres |
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| "Garden of Earthly Delights" Lawn Mower by Rubén Ortiz-Torres |
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| Cap collection with culturally charged icons by Rubén Ortiz-Torres |
Other artist that have inspired my final project include Badger & Winters and Fenton communications who launched #NoKidsinCages over the summer of 2019 in collaboration with RAICES, an organization that provides legal and social services to immigrant communities in Texas. This was a public art activism project across New York City to call attention to the treatment of children at our border, and to urge people to pressure their representatives to pass the Keep Families Together Act (H.R. 541). In the early morning hours of June 12, guerilla marketing teams were deployed to install life-size cages, with models of children sleeping in them, in 24 different locations throughout the city designed to maximize attention. Locations included the fronts of the NY Times and Fox News buildings, city landmarks, and highly trafficked areas in multiple boroughs. The installations provided a multi-sensory experience, featuring real audio of conversations and sounds that take place in the border detention centers.
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| Badger & Winters in collaboration with RAICES #NoKidsinCages (2019) |
Along with the artist and organizations above, there are some instagram accounts that I follow, and have found to be quite inspiring. One is, Color a la Mexicana ( Color to the Mexican) they are a bilingual account with the stated goal to empower Mexican communities, and create social/cultural awareness through art, activism, & culture. They produce striking clothing and stickers to bring attention to migrant issues.
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| Abolish ICE cap by @ColoralaMexicana |
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| Ni de Aqui Ni de Alla Top by @ColoralaMexicana |
Lastly Chronicles of Nursing, an instagram account started by a Registered Nurse has inspired me to pursue this issue further, and post graduation I have decided that I want to begin travel nursing and aim to get an assignment providing medical care to the unaccompanied children at the border. I feel that this will place me a position to experience the situation closer and formulate better solutions to help this community.
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| Post by RN Beatris creator of @ChroniclesofNursing |
It’s incredible how art can truly expose the many shortcomings of the world. Activism through art creates a pathway for anyone, and everyone, educated or not to be a participant, to be exposed to issues they may have never paid mind to. Political activism can be isolating and exclude those not aware of the issue but art is so approachable, it invites curiosity and allows for individuals who otherwise may not get involved to ponder issues, express their concerns, worries, fears, and values.
https://www.instagram.com/coloralamexicana/
https://www.raicestexas.org/arts-and-culture/dontlookaway-nokidsincages/
https://www.migrantjusticeplatform.org
https://www.unhcr.org/innovation/7-art-initiatives-that-are-transforming-the-lives-of-refugees/
https://www.pri.org/stories/2003-09-27/garden-earthly-delights
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