The persiflage between the runners of the 2016 US Presidential election resembles that of two rival college fraternities - testosterone-ridden teenagers so caught up in outdoing one another, they aimlessly isolate their own representation from that of everyone else.
In her upcoming exhibition with Art Represent (dates TBC), Venezuelan artist Violette Bule will be exploring the complexities surrounding migration in the US with her signature dose of dark humour. Currently an immigrant in New York City, Bule draws on her personal experiences for inspiration, and her exhibition is set to address the treatment of migration in American society at large, particularly in the context of the forthcoming US presidential elections which has seen widespread focus on this sensitive area.
It will take the form of a funfair; complete with large-scale mechanical installations which borrow the iconography of arcade games in conjunction with imagery from the current political climate. Planned works, amongst others, include a whack-a-mole game featuring Donald Trump, live performance, video installations, photography and 'Mexican Invaders': a remodelled version of the classic 80s space shooting games in which sombreros take the place of feared UFOs.
Check out the introduction to Violette's exhibition, written by her friend and collaborator Gina Monc, below:
Rota Fortunae and the Rise of the Techno-Industrial Megastate
You arrived in the big city in the US, running away from your own country, without a penny in your pocket, and it is very likely that you'll end up in a basement washing dishes or polishing silverware (at least for a while). It is what it is. We accept our fate, but at the same time, we try to learn as quickly as possible the rules of a game that the wizards of technicolor never taught us. If you are Hispanic, you learn that you are Hispanic. If you are Eastern European, you learn that you are Eastern European, and so on. Life in the American megalopolis, like in many other big cities in the industrial world, has found ways to minimize social friction by adopting these conventions. It is through the mirror of social interaction that you figure out what these conventions are, and what your role is supposed to be.
In principle, when the American Fortuna spins her wheel, her command isn't written in stone. Hers resembles a 3-dimensional roulette, a spherical dice that responds to your desires and determines whether they are ever fulfilled. In practice, however, romantic America has to negotiate a trend that imposes its place on the globe with increasing force; the need for an automated, impersonal machine, in which it plays a fundamental role in meeting the expectations that every second carries. The growing necessity to prioritize in an administration created to punish and reward its population (legal and illegal) without losing its cool, and its competitive edge.
This playground has been created as a way to capture the crash of these ambivalent realities through the contemporary American migration phenomena, in a context of media and message saturation. Here, fiction, and some facts of life, cannibalize each other in front of your eyes. You are welcomed to step right up and take a taste of some realities, as well as the sugar coating that tries to conceal them. Enjoy your stay, try to win, prove to yourself that you can do it; experience denial at its trashiest!
The cotton candy and the popcorn will be on the house.
BY Gina Monc