Our Silences: San Diego, California, USA.

https://vimeo.com/119105281

After remaining two years out of public, Our Silences was presented for the first time in the American Union in January 2015, with the support of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The city of San Diego was chosen as the first exhibition venue. The title of the exhibition and the proximity of this city to the border that separates both nations represented a good opportunity to reflect on issues such as migration and the treatment given to people who try to cross the enormous barrier that they face every day. America part and the conception of it. It was the first installation of monumental public art presented by a Mexican sculptor in the city, a situation that accompanied our project everywhere, except in Mexico.

Until November 2011 Our silences had been presented in eleven cities, had been witnessed in the public space by hundreds of thousands of people physically and many more in another type of public space: the media and the internet. The sculptures were installed in the Ruocco Park, located in one of the main avenues of the tourist corridor of the Port, Seaport Village.

In a city with a strong military presence, the works were located in an area where there is also the famous monumental sculpture The Unconditional Surrender, and where there is a permanent exhibition of historic ships of the American Navy; among them the museum-carrier aircraft USS Midway. This huge vessel was the largest in the world until 1955 and, before being withdrawn after 47 years of service, participated in the mobilization of Vietnam and served as flagship in the Persian Gulf, during Operation Desert Storm. Anchored in the Pacific Ocean, the spectacular warship, and the tasks that in the past executed, were observed from the coast by half of the silent Guardians. The other five looked towards the south of the continent, where the busiest border of the planet is located: migrants with and without documents, agricultural workers and manufacturers that help to sustain the fabulous American economy from their base, smugglers of licit and illicit goods and a great number of people attracted by the hypnotic song of the American dream, who are struggling to enter a country that assimilates the same that confronts them with an insurmountable wall and where they can not always say what they think.

Nuestros Silencios San Diego

https://vimeo.com/119105281

En la Unión Americana, la ciudad de San Diego fue elegida como la primera sede de exhibición que Nuestros silencios. Se trata de la primera instalación de arte público monumental presentada por un escultor mexicano en la ciudad. Los colosos de Rivelino fueron instalados en el Ruocco Park, ubicado en una de las principales avenidas del corredor turístico del Puerto, en Seaport Village, una de las zonas más dinámicas de la zona central de la urbe.

Las obras se localizan en un área donde también se encuentra la célebre escultura monumental The Unconditional Surrender, y donde hay una exposición permanente de barcos históricos de la armada norteamericana, entre los que se encuentra el museo-portaviones USS Midway. Esta enorme embarcación fue la más grande del mundo hasta 1955 y, antes de ser retirada tras 47 años de servicio, participó en la movilización de Vietnam y fungió como buque insignia en el Golfo Pérsico, durante la operación Tormenta del Desierto. Anclado en el Océano Pacífico, el espectacular navío de guerra, y las tareas que en el pasado ejecutó, son observados desde la costa por la mitad de los guardianes silentes.

Los otros cinco miran hacia el sur del continente, donde encuentran la frontera más transitada del planeta: migrantes con y sin documentos, trabajadores agrícolas y manufactureros que ayudan a sostener desde su base la fabulosa economía estadounidense, contrabandistas de mercancías lícitas e ilícitas y un gran número de personas atraídas por el hipnótico canto del sueño americano luchan por entrar a un país que lo mismo los asimila que los enfrenta a un muro infranqueable. No siempre pueden decir lo que piensan.