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Sueño
Americano
(American Sleep/Dream) |
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| representation
of a project never realized (1999 - 2011) |
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| x200
más |
| Curator
Cristina Schiavi |
| Centro
Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires |
| 2011 |
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| Projects
that have never been carried out or that would be impossible
to realize were convoked for this show, held in connection
with Argentina's bicentennial. This project would have consisted
of replacing the sleep masks usually provided by airlines
with ones embroidered on the inside with the American flag.
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| Introduction |
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| The
proposal for this show was a challenge from the very start
- my notebook of ageing, not (yet) carried out projects is
always bursting at the seams. I chose this project because
it seemed to me to be the most impossible of the lot; as regards
the rest, I still harbor some faith that some day, somehow,
they will finally be realized. My choice was not made in terms
of it being directly related to the bicentennial or the theme
of 200 more [years]; the curatorial concept of representing
what hadn't yet been able to come into existence was in itself
already a strong commentary, and an ideal way to celebrate.
However, time flies far faster than the stipulated timelines
for cultural events, and now, as the year 2011 draws to a
close, it seems to me that the implications of Sueño americano
(American Sleep/Dream) has more to do with Argentina (and
my relationship with it) than I would have initially thought.
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| The project's
impossibility lies in the extreme restrictions developed and
implemented in the name of terrorism as a global threat, in
light of which it would be unthinkable to carry out an intervention
in an airplane without incurring grave legal consequences.
I have no interest in preparing the bait for guaranteed censorship,
and even less in causing a scandal for its own sake. What
I am interested in is articulating profound concern for a
system that eliminates the very values that it purports to
protect (represented by the catch-all American Dream), not
tooth and nail but with wildly lethal weapons and more wildly
lethal weapons, while the vast majority choose to cover their
eyes and ears, not only to the annihilation of their own rights
and future prospects but also to the abhorrent acts perpetrated
against others. This is how the sleep mask emerged as a metaphor,
along with the plane, it being a vehicle that allows one to
fly over the world instead of being a part of what happens
there. |
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| Nevertheless,
over the past several months, people have been pawing at the
veil over their eyes, and more and more people are looking
at and listening to what goes on there and in the rest of
the world, actively taking part in it all. Argentina is not
my native country; I only arrived here (from the US) in 1995.
It may be on account of having chosen rather than inherited
it that I hold it so dear, who knows. It has always made a
very strong impression on me as being a country deeply dedicated
to looking at, listening to and analyzing-no matter how prickly
and painful that may be-its past and present, looking inward
as well as to the ties that stretch beyond its boundaries.
Even in the darkest moments, people here draw on vast reservoirs
of hope. It must be rubbing off on me, because not only am
I moved by the historical moment being experienced here today,
but also have hopes that I may see the day come when my piece
Sueño americano ceases to make any sense. |
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