UN DÍA COMO HOY
(A DAY LIKE TODAY)
video
00:10:14
Through experimental audiovisual poetics, Un día como hoy reflects on the lack of trust in record-keeping that validates the consideration of the subjective testimonial as truth, since fact and fiction are blurred even through “official” standards. The video is taking the lived experience of a person that capitalist society does not deem as extraordinary and claims an epic existence, consequentially acknowledging that constructed hierarchical structures have skewed our perceptions, and what is real is what is felt.
Yvonne, my grandmother, was part of the non-consensual clinical trials in Puerto Rico of the first US birth control pills and forced sterilization in the 1950s. It is a historical reminder of our current moment, as evidenced by the recent news of the forced sterilization of immigrant women by ICE.
(A DAY LIKE TODAY)
video
00:10:14
Through experimental audiovisual poetics, Un día como hoy reflects on the lack of trust in record-keeping that validates the consideration of the subjective testimonial as truth, since fact and fiction are blurred even through “official” standards. The video is taking the lived experience of a person that capitalist society does not deem as extraordinary and claims an epic existence, consequentially acknowledging that constructed hierarchical structures have skewed our perceptions, and what is real is what is felt.
Yvonne, my grandmother, was part of the non-consensual clinical trials in Puerto Rico of the first US birth control pills and forced sterilization in the 1950s. It is a historical reminder of our current moment, as evidenced by the recent news of the forced sterilization of immigrant women by ICE.
installation at Smack Mellon for the group exhibition, Bound Up Together: On the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment, curated by: Rachel Gugelberger
video, sandbags, shipping palettes, and four framed digital prints
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*Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
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*Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
video, sandbags, shipping palettes, and four framed digital prints
*Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
*Image courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photo by Etienne Frossard.
Miss Porto Rico
framed digital print (found Polaroid and film photograph)
20” x 25”
Although Puerto Rico has no voting rights in the US government, in terms of Congress, Senate, or even voting for the President, the US “graciously” permitted the island to represent itself in the global events such as the Olympics and Miss Universe. With 5 Miss Universe’s, Puerto Rico is in 3rd after the US and Venezuela with the most wins, reinforcing the stereotype of the female Puerto Rican beauty, but more importantly the breeding of women to fit into that stereotype.
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“these dogs are born with the instinctive urge to heel”
framed digital print (eggshell membrane and fronds on a Polaroid)
20” x 28”
In the 1950s and 60s, many Puerto Rican women were subjected to forced sterilization by the U.S. government because of both eugenics and an increasing demand in the workforce. This image is a 1960s Polaroid of my grandmother. She was unbeknownst of her own participation in the study for anti-contraceptive Pill, Enovid, a pill that was tested by American doctors, a pill that was taken by women that could not read English on the form they trustingly signed without understanding the risks, a pill that eventually provoked cardiac arrests on many Puerto Rican women.
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Ombligo
framed digital print (Polaroid)
20” x 24”
“Ombligo” means bellybutton. The bellybutton in the mirror is mine. The mirror and the rest of the things are my grandmothers’. She told me that every time she looks into that little mirror she sees my bellybutton amongst her stuff. The Polaroid was an attempt at becoming part of her daily routine.
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American Winter Coat
framed digital print (eggshell membrane on a Polaroid)
16” x 20”
This is a 1960s Polaroid of my grandmother. The eggshell membrane placed over her body performs many roles. It comes from an unfertilized egg that you buy from a mass produced factory farm or grocery store, and directly alludes to the unfertilized egg that most females shed monthly. The membrane becomes a symbol for uterine walls and acts as a fragile protective layer over the womb. It resembles a winter coat, a useless article of clothing in the tropics.
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installation at Das Schaufenster
video, books, fake plants, butter yellow walls
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framed digital print (found Polaroid and film photograph)
20” x 25”
Although Puerto Rico has no voting rights in the US government, in terms of Congress, Senate, or even voting for the President, the US “graciously” permitted the island to represent itself in the global events such as the Olympics and Miss Universe. With 5 Miss Universe’s, Puerto Rico is in 3rd after the US and Venezuela with the most wins, reinforcing the stereotype of the female Puerto Rican beauty, but more importantly the breeding of women to fit into that stereotype.
“these dogs are born with the instinctive urge to heel”
framed digital print (eggshell membrane and fronds on a Polaroid)
20” x 28”
In the 1950s and 60s, many Puerto Rican women were subjected to forced sterilization by the U.S. government because of both eugenics and an increasing demand in the workforce. This image is a 1960s Polaroid of my grandmother. She was unbeknownst of her own participation in the study for anti-contraceptive Pill, Enovid, a pill that was tested by American doctors, a pill that was taken by women that could not read English on the form they trustingly signed without understanding the risks, a pill that eventually provoked cardiac arrests on many Puerto Rican women.
Ombligo
framed digital print (Polaroid)
20” x 24”
“Ombligo” means bellybutton. The bellybutton in the mirror is mine. The mirror and the rest of the things are my grandmothers’. She told me that every time she looks into that little mirror she sees my bellybutton amongst her stuff. The Polaroid was an attempt at becoming part of her daily routine.
American Winter Coat
framed digital print (eggshell membrane on a Polaroid)
16” x 20”
This is a 1960s Polaroid of my grandmother. The eggshell membrane placed over her body performs many roles. It comes from an unfertilized egg that you buy from a mass produced factory farm or grocery store, and directly alludes to the unfertilized egg that most females shed monthly. The membrane becomes a symbol for uterine walls and acts as a fragile protective layer over the womb. It resembles a winter coat, a useless article of clothing in the tropics.
installation at Das Schaufenster
video, books, fake plants, butter yellow walls
