TEAMOMIGORDITO (ongoing, to be adapted in Texas)
Enacted declaration of love towards unassuming landscapes — I perform, by raising party balloons that are felled by the elements once and again, a declaration of love, TE AMO MI GORDITO, in cheek, towards the US, a nation that has homed me but also othered me deeply. The futility of re-raising a declaration that will not stay standing, to me, reflects the condition of living in the US, where as much as I may intent to prove my belonging, perpetual othering is the price of existence in my homeland of southwest Ohio.
I am interested in this work as a documented performance, with poetry to be added soon, but also in response to the history of the American landscape in photography. Specifically, the “majesty” and “dominance” of the landscape as language in support of western expansion and the erasure of indigenous identity. What does it mean to love your oppressor (nation)? I fall out of love with the idea of belonging and the effort required every day.