Video installation of 4 audio + video channels
Variable dimensions
18.00"
2015
Variable dimensions
18.00"
2015
This project was commissioned by the Biennial of the Americas (2015), the resulting video installation of 4 audio and video channels was installed inside the Denver International Airport. A collaborative project was carried out with students belonging to the JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) militarized program, to carry out a performance through the northwest suburbs of the city, adjacent to the airport. Two series of flags and several drawings were produced in parallel.
The project investigates the deep interference that the North American army has had in the history of this area, transforming the landscape and the fate of the people who have inhabited it. Alluding to the compositional structure of a musical, it addresses the issue of how young migrants -mostly Latinos- use the army as a survival strategy to achieve social integration.
The video installation shows this group of young people in rhythmic martial choreography through a walk from the past to the future, represented by the ruins of the old airport, until they reach the new airport. On their pilgrimage they cross the two neighborhoods where they live -Mountbello and Green Valley Ranch- adjacent to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Refuge -now an ecological reserve, before the largest chemical weapons arsenal the United States has ever had in its history. In this arsenal, which in the 1980s was considered the most polluted place on the planet, legendary chemical weapons of mass extinction were produced, such as napalm, sarin and mustard gas. After universal pressure to shut it down, the government decided to bury all the chemicals in vaults and transform the area into an “ecological preserve” by inserting flora and fauna on the site, where Denver families now hang out. The video installation shows, with historical footage provided by the army, part of the dismantling of the arsenal in the 1980s, interspersed with the choreography of young people in the city's historic ruins.
The project investigates the deep interference that the North American army has had in the history of this area, transforming the landscape and the fate of the people who have inhabited it. Alluding to the compositional structure of a musical, it addresses the issue of how young migrants -mostly Latinos- use the army as a survival strategy to achieve social integration.
The video installation shows this group of young people in rhythmic martial choreography through a walk from the past to the future, represented by the ruins of the old airport, until they reach the new airport. On their pilgrimage they cross the two neighborhoods where they live -Mountbello and Green Valley Ranch- adjacent to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Refuge -now an ecological reserve, before the largest chemical weapons arsenal the United States has ever had in its history. In this arsenal, which in the 1980s was considered the most polluted place on the planet, legendary chemical weapons of mass extinction were produced, such as napalm, sarin and mustard gas. After universal pressure to shut it down, the government decided to bury all the chemicals in vaults and transform the area into an “ecological preserve” by inserting flora and fauna on the site, where Denver families now hang out. The video installation shows, with historical footage provided by the army, part of the dismantling of the arsenal in the 1980s, interspersed with the choreography of young people in the city's historic ruins.
*Última versión del video I AM THE FUTURE
Video instalación de 3 canales
19:12"
2020
*Latest version of the video I AM THE FUTURE
3 channel video & audio installation
19:12"
2020
Vista de la instalación, Museo Amparo, Puebla, México, 2020
Installation view, Amparo Museum, Puebla, México, 2020
Stills del video,2015
Vista de la video instalación, Aeropuerto Internacional de Denver (DIA), Colorado, 2015
Installation view at Denver International Airport (DIA), Colorado, 2015
Boceto para las banderas, que muestra la selección de colores y valores escogidos por los integrantes
Detalle del storyboard para la filmación
Serie de dibujos. Tinta sobre fotocopia, 42 x 91 cm, 2015.
Muestra los valores escogidos por los jóvenes, sobre una imagen del aeropuerto de Denver.