PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
border mex-usa, 2007
"The border as laboratory, as metaphor, as excuse, as shared, recreational, didactic or simply possible space..."
"A biosphere inhabited by a community of hermit crabs- a metaphor for the migrant who is forced to change homes over and over during the search for a new home- was installed in the shadow of the dividing wall between the two countries, under the skeptical watch of the border patrol, and within reach of all those who cross the border through the "Córdova de las Americas" International Bridge.
The biosphere (a metal structure covered with polycarbonate plaques) functioned not only as a habitat for the crabs and plants from either side of the border, but also as an interactive space in which different integration dynamics took place between the inhabitants from either side of the border. These dynamics (interviews, concerts, animation workshops, luncheons, etc.), allowed for contact and exchange between groups that would normally avoid each other, such as "cholos" from either side of the border, "chicanos", families, etc. This way, the biosphere became a social laboratory, open to reflection on the construction of identity among the area's population."
