2020 WHERE LAND AND SEA MELT INTO SKY
Where Land and Sea Melt Into Sky
60 copies
Design and concept by Felipe Mujica and Johanna Unzueta
Silkscreen cover printing by Felipe Mujica
Digital color pages by DocuCopies.com
Texts by Valerie Smith and Javier Téllez
Risograph printing and binding by Keegan Cooke, The Circadian Press, Brooklyn NY
January 2020
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The book was conceived as a complement to the exhibition at PROXYCO Gallery, New York. Besides having texts by Valerie Smith and Javier Téllez and a section with color images of the show the concept/structure of the book is to juxtapose the show with images in BW about the political manifestations in Chile that began on October 18 of 2019. This radical and national-wide movement began as a response to a Subway fare hike in Santiago. Led by high school students it quickly turned into the largest grassroots movement since the return to democracy after Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973-1990). Politically dormant for many years, people started occupying streets, public spaces, and public transport. Organized by social media, the movement was so strong that it became the dominant day-to-day discussion topic between families, friends, and even between people who didn’t know each other – casual political street conversations became normal. It also paralyzed the country in terms of its economy and the one political victory it has obtained so far is the promise of a referendum to change or maintain the country’s constitution, which was created during Pinochet’s dictatorship and that structurally favors the role of the market over the active participation of the state regarding social and economical issues (it is a Neo-Liberal constitution). The root of the discussion is the right of working-class people, students, and seniors of a more just and equal distribution of wealth, to the right to “live in dignity”. The uprising only took a forced pause due to the Corona Virus Pandemic. The book then tries to create a dialogue between two realities, New York and the artist’s participation in the city and its art-world, with the current moment in Chile, the place of origin. What happens in both places simultaneously concerns both artists, creating a virtual bridge between two realities, two contexts, two histories, and two possible futures. The duality of immigrants is the same, being a house painter, a gardener, a construction worker, or an artist.
Black and white images of political manifestations in Santiago de Chile are courtesy of Nicolas Mujica. Color images are courtesy of PROXYCO Gallery and Zack Hayman.
Published on the occasion of the exhibition:
Where Land and Sea Melt Into Sky
PROXYCO Gallery, New York
November 23, 2019 – January 19, 2020
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