|
La Conquista by Ariadna Capasso Memory and Oblivion is one of the chapters in a book on Latin America 1 ; Human Rights and Literature is a class given at the University of Colorado. Both of these focus on the Latin American experience. The Latin American experience has been the subject of one too many scholarly discussions. Rather than replaying the dynamics of power which strategically limits the rhetoric to the results, I have decided to talk about the causes of human rights abuses in Latin America. In La Conquista I have focused on Western expansionism and its consequences. I have used the European takeover of American cultures as a point of reference. In my work I wanted to create a space that questioned both the universality and the rightness of Western expansion. I tried to encompass the presence of different worldviews, of realities that are not my own and that are not the one that surround me, and of views that are independent from the West. In my quest for a voice, I was fearful of repeating the pattern of colonial appropriations that commonly arises from the use of both European and (native) American influences. But, who else would be more entitled to these inclusions? Traditionally, collective identities in so-called Latin America have been molded after the structure of the European nation states. 2 The forced selective identification with these has been concomitant with the drive to efface the aboriginal cultural heritage. A way to partially disarticulate the colonial legacy, to revert the subsequent omissions from our collective imaginary and, as Mignolo suggests, to “move the locus of enunciation from the first to the third world,” 3 is to accept our hybrid past as crucial to the formation of our non-hybrid identity. Twenty thousand years of accumulated life experiences should not be overshadowed by a meager five hundred. 4 I believed it necessary to revive the influence of other cosmologies hidden by forceful occupation. A recollection of our millenary history would endow Latin Americans with a significant amount of symbolic capital, which, as the reservations in regards to value and independence evidenced in many writings seem to indicate, is lacking. It is imperative to include in our rhetoric, not only what can be learned from ancestral history (a grandiose past), but, also to draw from the ever-decreasing groups that continue to be guided by non-western precepts. This is the only way to confront the paralysis arising from the defacement of all other cultural, social and political options. One of the tools used to justify expansion and the effacement of the “Other” has been the hypocritical idea of “wrong” and “right. ” Righteousness. A few making decisions in the name of “the people, ” a system denominated democracy. A few utilizing their power to destroy countless cultures in the name of some Good. Destruction of the environment, while advocating its protection. Exploitation, when advocating equality. War, when advocating peace. Intolerance, when advocating openness. Religion. Religion to consume. Faith as a tool of destruction, as a tool of persecution, as a tool of intolerance, much like the religion of consumerism today. Excuses. Justification of well being and abundant commodities supported on the suffering backs of millions. Threats. Threats of hell, war, and destruction if the system is not upheld by those for whom it is not convenient. Peppered with the promise of heaven, “los últimos serán los primeros”, “bienaventurados los pobres”, or the promise of riches…it's not very different. The same underlying greed that continually fires the unending conquest and expansion… In my work I wanted to reflect on the hypocrisy present in the Western worldview. A view that always presents the bad against the good: one that in its essence seeks to eradicate and suffocate the different. The lies of an ever-growing empire underlie every supposedly independent phrase. La Conquista is a space of subversion, of saying no; I don't believe it! It is a space of resistance. The Historical PresentThe concept of “conquest” has been the driving force behind much of human history. Parallels can be drawn between the expansionist campaigns of the past and our present deeds. Seeing the corridor that extends from Boulder to Denver, for example, it would seem that our community seeks to pave every square inch of territory. The drive to “conquer” nature, “civilize” our planet and homogenize its inhabitants is very present. The relationship of these diverse histories is of a symbiotic nature. The Conquest's historical interval serves to accentuate the repetition of history and the continuation of unequal power dynamics. Concomitantly, the contemporary and familiar help to elucidate the historical dimension, thus facilitating the understanding of the distant through modern parallels. I am as aware of the dangers of utilizing elements from the past, as I am of the imperious necessity to do so. Sarlo expresses it well “ …transforming the past into something insubstantial poses a great risk, except within the realm of mini-skirts and bell-bottoms. ” Instead, she reminds us of the importance of establishing meaningful connections with the past. 5 The Other, the Self, and the SignI cannot comprehend a cosmology different from my own; I cannot imagine a system radically different from the one that surrounds me. But, I was born in a land where other systems have existed, and my re-appropriation of the natural element, symbolized by corn is necessary to recuperate some of the lost cultural heritage, that belongs, if not in my blood, then within the land. The interplay of similar power dynamics (which echo the Mayan's study of quotidian events in search of patterns 6 ) repeated throughout history, and that include my own ancestral past and present, makes revisions imperative. The corn made into sign to be recontextualized ad infinitum, resonates with Derrida's economy of death: “By the movement of its drift/derivation the emancipation of the sign constitutes in return the desire of presence. ” 7 In my work, the corn carries with it a trace of the power struggles and serves as the ultimate embodiment of a land fertilized with blood. The actions and the psyche of the individual are marked by the knowledge of inescapable death. True understanding of artistic endeavours can be drawn from this premise. Creative production embodies the will to perpetuate the self by projecting it into the future. The egocentric self wishes to affect its surroundings and imprint them with an ideology that represents it. This is ever more evident during what is called situación límite: a situation of tension, when the well being of the human being is threatened. Recounting his imprisonment in German concentration camps, Primo Levi states: “ …I begin to remember for the others. For those who did not return but did everything to leave a trace. ” 8 A paradox is born from the unfixed essence of the sign, which derives its meaning from external factors, floating in an ever-changing universe, and that is re-interpreted according to different parameters. Whereas the creator's intentions are to project into the future and to leave an imprint of his/her message, the nature of the sign itself, as is translated and re-translated looses the speaker's primal intentions. 9 Human psyche is such that even with the certainty that the signs we create will be recreated through interpretations, and at the risk of complete obliteration, we persist in their creation, and, if possible, reproduction and dissemination. We accept that the sign's meaning will be influenced by the immediate context and by its historical circumstances. 10 A sign's success is measured by the extent of its influence, which grows through its dissemination (or projection in Bryson's terms 11 ), even if the sign's meaning is completely emptied in the process. A poignant example is that of Meireles who reflects on the significance of the eighties revival of sixties conceptual art which copied vacuous form without content. 12 Yet, there is something attractive, a drive to create connections. It is perhaps the hope of finding others that can re-utilize the sign in ways that resonate with the original intention, in ways that lead to an actualization or re-adaptation of the sign to the present and in different situations, that is behind the proliferation of signifiers. A belief in the persistence of the essence must be what makes it worth the labor, even as something is effaced in this continuous translation. It is this trust in the power of the re-elaboration of the material 13 that motivates the creative process. The ScreenIndependent of the artist, reality, and thus the context of the sign, is represented, analyzed, perceived and experienced, not directly, but through the screen. The re-translating opaque screen obviates, summarizes, and de-contextualizes the sign, thus shaping memories and collective identities. The screen reinterprets reality, washes the bloodied hands and shows them clean again. The sign, which according to Derrida, is of a “testamentary essence” 14 metamorphoses in the transmission. The quality of the sign is not degraded from generation to generation, but instead takes up new meanings and significations. The screen acts as a mask. The “mask of America” 15 acts as a filter that lets through the European cultural heritage while obliterating the history of the land and silencing the extant different lifestyles. Thus, excluding them from the American collective imaginary. The screen acts as a metaphor for the processes that impose silence upon those who suffer. This same censorship glorifies those who benefit from such repression. The omnipresent gaze is the persistent social memory that keeps resistance alive and creates new ways of reading history. Once in a while, the aseptic modern view of the world is punctured by voices that assert other truths. The InvisibleThe issue of invisibility, exemplified in the hidden corn, is essential to my work; it refers to the invisible status of many populations in the world market due to preconceptions drawn from tendentious statistics. These are the populations that do not impact, that have been forgotten by, the public sphere. That which is not seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched does not exist within the scientific and objective modern reality. Invisibility and otherness facilitate systematic exclusion from the socio-political framework. 16 In the art world too, the perceived origin of the originator of the work, as well as the place of its creation, has a powerful impact on the fate (inclusion/exclusion) of the work within the canon and its dissemination. The GazeFrom the silenced signs, those condemned to oblivion, arises the scar of the (collective) unconscious. 17 The repressed and the disappeared are the voices of the unconscious, the ones that are watching through the omnipresent gaze. The voice of the land reaches us through the most valuable legacy: that of the nourishing corn, the corn as a symbol of Nature violated and reborn. MethodologyThe development of La Conquista has been a long process of collaboration. Our concern with the relativity of value systems (or of any system: “A system is nothing more than the subordination of all aspects of the universe to any one of them” says Borges 18 ) and with the present repercussions of our past led to extensive dialogues with writer Nora César and composer Damián Keller. These were eventually synthesized and expressed aesthetically. As a result, César wrote the text “El Regreso” which was read by the author. The recording of the text was sent to Keller who created a ten-minute composition entitled “The Trade/Oro por Baratijas. ” I later used the sound as a template to edit the video's images. The dialogue that took, and continues to take, place during these collaborations is, for me, the most enriching experience during the process of art making. I believe this dialogue does not end when the work is presented but continues on as other members add their ideas and interpretations, and thus, become active participants in the installation. Visitors to La Conquista are confronted by a wall of oil drums (two stacked rows, with eleven drums each). These drums are commonly utilized to contain a variety of biohazards. The drums may or may not contain corn kernels. At any rate, the grains in sealed drums are invisible to the visitor. Instead, behind the wall is a large screen. The screen is partially obstructed by the drums and can only be seen in its entirety by walking around them. Once on the other side of the wall, the participant finds that he/she is too close to the screen. Furthermore, because of the position of the projector and our acquired prejudice against crossing in front of the beam, (a feeling of shame before the gaze?) the participant tends to either stand or sit towards the sides of the projection (getting a sideways view). There is no perfect (comfortable) position to view the video. The image is always distorted. The positioning of the elements in the installation and the presence of non-art materials in the gallery setting are a surprise factor and put the visitor in a state of alertness. A space in which the visitor is more flexible and willing to imagine a "different" world and to ultimately question his/her upheld value system is created. In La Conquista I have created an installation that situates the subject in a space of discomfort. I have worked from the premise of developing a ritual space whose coordinates lead to a questioning of the accepted value system and its resulting injustices. I wish the visitor to perceive physically, at first, on a basic and instinctive level, through his/her movements, the system's imbalances. The projection screen acts as our mediated reality. That is, reality as is re-translated today to most people, the reality of the television screen and the computer monitor. There is an increasing distancing from nature in our society. Nature is re-interpreted, edited and presented to us by the media. Or again, nature is conquered and adapted for human use and consumption. On the other hand, the fast editing and the abstract, yet iconic, images create a state of questioning: these are not the usual images seen in the media. The relationship drum-screen-corn leads to an awareness of the obstacles to seeing (knowing) the “whole picture. ” The visitor is exposed to different views of the installation in the process of moving around it. The element of invisibility breaks with the conception that there is one perfect, all-encompassing, truth. The visitor should feel slightly threatened and humbled by his/her limitations, which parallel real life dynamics. The videoThe video is structured in three parts. Similar types of images are used in all three, but the variation in their spatio-temporal arrangement modifies their meaning. Silence and/or slow moving images are pauses in the video that can be used by the participant to catch his/her breath, make sense of the images, prepare for the next part or elect to leave. Some of the repeating symbolic images are: the corn, sometimes in the form of grains, falling or in drums, others on the cob or in the field. Crosses: falling abstractly or branded on the body, consumed by fire or flowing in the water. The sky as heaven: at times sheltering, at times threatening. The relationship of animals to “civilization”: from a running squirrel to processed meat. I have based the structure of the video on some precepts of Mesoamerican philosophies. Of course, my closest possible approximation was to base it on western interpretations of these. The Aztecs conceived of the land as extending in six directions, each associated with a specific color and trait: East, yellow, fertility; North, red, barrenness; West, blue, adversity; South, Region of Thorns (suffering), white; center, (connecting heaven and earth) navel, black. 19 I used this mapping of the world as a metaphor to present and problematize current political divisions. In the Aztec conception, the East was at the top. A multidirectional approach to filming and editing was used in order to denaturalize our perception of the world's orientation, as depicted in Western maps (North at the top). Water in a fountain moving from left to right, and corn “falling” from bottom to top, are examples of the above. The four natural elements, earth, water, fire and air, were used as leitmotifs to represent the forces of nature and as a reminder of the limitations of human force. Red is a prevalent color in the video. Red is a reminder of the suffering of the inhabitants of the land, as well as of the ambiguous state of the pre-Hispanic cultures, partially effaced, partially recalled, within the prevalent (Western? European?) collective identity. But, red also signifies fertility and re-birth. It was my intention to trace a continuity between the past and the present. The dynamic of power that necessitates expendable lives is still being played out, or should I say re-played? And the work starts to live…I have noticed that art viewers will dedicate only a few moments to each piece in an exhibition. It is my belief that this casual glance is not conducive to a deep understanding of the ideas that originally motivated the work. The audience remains detached from the artist's world. Since no exchange takes place, the viewing of art is a fruitless process. In general, artwork is expected to be a “visual bite” - the visual equivalent of a “sound bite. ” This mode of viewing is equivalent to the mode in which we watch TV. Art that seeks to entertain empties the ritual of viewing and showing art. The cycle of communication is truncated because the work is not able to involve the outside world. At the same time, the artist suffers from a lack of feedback and continues to create in a vacuum, or in the best of cases for an elite few. In order to counteract this symptom of our contemporary society, I have chosen to create a space that intrigues the visitor, enticing her/him to spend more time with the piece. As I saw the audience at the opening sit before the video and watch it through several runs, I felt my goal realized. Furthermore, the dialogue about diverse issues that arose from the work, either during its viewing or afterwards, were the best reward. ConclusionAs a concluding thought, I wish to highlight the importance of collaborations as part of the creative process. I have worked extensively with other artists in the past two years. The dialogue necessary for a fruitful exchange extends beyond the artists' personal contribution to involve the audience in an active and participatory way. Thus, an interactive circle between the artists and their surroundings is closed. A project is currently underway to develop the theme of the conquest further in a continued collaboration with Keller, and possibly other artists, entitled “El Dorado. ” Within the larger theme of La Conquista, we will focus on the search for a place of riches that exemplifies the, sometimes, suicidal greed of our conquistadores. Footnotes
1 Roniger & Sznajder (1999) up |
| bibliography |