Video Link:
https://youtu.be/fpzPfM8C0b0https://youtu.be/fpzPfM8C0b0
N.O.W.
This performance questions the identity of figures made into statues, while paying a respect to them in a way to create meaning. Across the country we see statues of typically the upper class bureaucrat, standing on land that was once utilized by Native American tribes. It is site specific in the sense that it took place at the statute of Pedro Melendez in St. Augustine, however it uses this site to steer the viewer of questioning the identity of statutes around them. The idea of brushing off the shoes of this statute enhances the power that this figure had and continues to evoke. History books recite a narrative that sites such as Mount Rushmore are iconic landmarks in America, however they are carved into sacred land once belonged to native tribes. As a student in 2017, this performance illustrates the idea of contemporary power. The power of institutions, wealth and corporations. The power of establishing identity only for the profit of one’s self. Earning respect in our current landscape is based off of a value system that has been corrupted. Statues are permanent, worshipped symbols of power. Who was powerful, who gained respect, and who established their power. This performance questions the burdened respect that statues demand.
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