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2,501
Mar 25, 2012 3:59:42 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 25, 2012 3:59:42 GMT
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2,501
Mar 25, 2012 18:36:59 GMT
Post by nycgirl on Mar 25, 2012 18:36:59 GMT
It must be sad to see them go after having them around for so long. It'd be nice if they could stay but I suppose they take up way too much room. Do you know where they're going to end up?
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2,501
Mar 25, 2012 20:13:18 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 25, 2012 20:13:18 GMT
Oh, it's a pedestrian street -- there's plenty of room for the little migrantes. It's been kind of cool coming out of a building or walking along yakking to someone and finding myself suddenly in the midst of a group of them. I suppose the work might lose its impact with time, but I really enjoyed having them there. I took this as I exited the pasta/pizza restaurant on that corner. It's not much of a picture, but it may capture a little bit of the artist's intent. Do you know Auden's poem, Musee des Beaux Arts? About suffering they were never wrong, The old Masters: how well they understood Its human position: how it takes place While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along ... how everything turns away Quite leisurely from the disaster ...Did you do the panorama? It's pretty cool. Kimby asked the same question about their final destination. I've searched & searched, but don't know any more than I did when I first made the thread.
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2,501
Mar 25, 2012 21:25:36 GMT
Post by nycgirl on Mar 25, 2012 21:25:36 GMT
Yeah, I checked out the panorama. It's really neat.
I hope the migrants find a good home. I know it would take a tremendous amount of space to store them, but I can't imagine the artist would destroy his work. Maybe he can sell a few.
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2,501
Mar 26, 2012 5:00:42 GMT
Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2012 5:00:42 GMT
The fact that they don't stay forever makes them more special. And of course little by little they would have deteriorated. I'm sure they'll find a new place to visit, but I can imagine how a city hesitates before allowing this sort of thing.
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2,501
Apr 5, 2012 3:06:52 GMT
Post by Kimby on Apr 5, 2012 3:06:52 GMT
Might be appropriate to dig a mass grave and pile them in. Very evocative.
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2,501
Apr 5, 2012 14:38:32 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 5, 2012 14:38:32 GMT
Kimby, that idea really has possibilities, macabre as it is.
The original stories about this undertaking (no pun intended) is that the figures would all be installed somewhere in the desert near the US. It's odd that I can't find any updates on that.
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2,501
Apr 5, 2012 16:22:34 GMT
Post by Kimby on Apr 5, 2012 16:22:34 GMT
Thanks bixa, I worried that you might take it the wrong way, when I was really thinking more the symbolism of a mass burial, rather than a way to get rid of a pile of art that I may or may not like.
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2,501
Apr 5, 2012 19:05:36 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 5, 2012 19:05:36 GMT
No, believe me, I got it. I used to live up there on the Texas side of the border, quite near where all those bodies were found buried on a ranch near Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Quite often I went over to Matamoros just to have tacos or buy sweet bread or have my shoes fixed or something. Guess those days are gone.
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2,501
Jul 25, 2013 12:28:36 GMT
Post by htmb on Jul 25, 2013 12:28:36 GMT
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2,501
Jul 25, 2013 12:33:37 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2013 12:33:37 GMT
We will all be "uninstalled" sooner or later.
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2,501
Jul 28, 2013 21:25:01 GMT
Post by nycgirl on Jul 28, 2013 21:25:01 GMT
That's such awful news.
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2,501
Sept 21, 2013 1:12:00 GMT
Post by questa on Sept 21, 2013 1:12:00 GMT
Oh...Wow! I see these statues in a completely different light. We in Australia are being whipped up into a lather by the media and politicians about the "invasion" of refugees from the war torn countries to our North West. Both sides of politics have set up camps on islands that are not part of Australian Territory for people arriving in small boats. Many have drowned in their attempt for freedom from persecution. The official policy is to de-humanize these asylum seekers. No photos of faces or use of names allowed. They are usually referred to as "illegal migrants" even though nearly 100% are found to be genuine refugees. So when I saw these statues I didn't see your migrants leaving, but saw our refugees arriving. Portrayed as grotesque and down-trodden but somehow threatening our comfortable way of life. So... once again...Wow!
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2,501
Sept 25, 2013 0:25:51 GMT
Post by lagatta on Sept 25, 2013 0:25:51 GMT
When I saw the uninstalled migrantes, it made me think of massacres in Guatemala and Acteal, Chiapas.
I'm so sorry Alejandro Santiago died so young.
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2,501
Sept 25, 2013 5:07:54 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 25, 2013 5:07:54 GMT
Hello all & sorry for the late answer. I think it attests to the power of the work that we all felt some response upon hearing of the artist's death. Thanks for the article, NYCGirl! LaGatta, I understand how you'd think of that. Kimby touched on something tragically similar, when she talked about burying the statues in the desert. Questa, you make excellent points. Also, when you say The official policy is to de-humanize these asylum seekers. ... when I saw these statues I didn't see your migrants leaving, but saw our refugees arriving. Portrayed as grotesque and down-trodden but somehow threatening our comfortable way of life., you hit exactly on how I, as a US citizen, felt seeing the statues: At some point, you really start seeing the figures as individuals --feeling their isolation even when they clump together and sensing their trepidation as they peer out at regular citizens going about their lives. ... I used a lot of pictures in this thread because I was trying to show the cumulative impact of being among the figures. My take on it was that the initially perceived ugliness, especially en masse, makes us want to look away, rendering the group featureless. This would mirror the effect that migrant workers might have on a settled population, i.e, they're too different from us, but they're all alike, just a featureless mass come to do our menial jobs. ... wandering among the groups, feeling big and healthy and rich by comparison to the scared little outsiders, we inevitably began looking into the faces of individual figures and seeing our shared spark of humanity shining out of their clay eyes. However, this is from my point of view as a citizen of the world to which the migrants went. There's that whole other dimension of what it means to the artist who comes from the same town as the migrants represented. Looking back through the thread, it's most interesting how each of us had similar reactions, as many of us come from countries that people migrate or flee to: This plaza looks like the perfect place for the statues because there's so much wide, open space. Still, the statues look like they're taking over, don't they? They are initially grotesque aren't they? but as you spend a bit more time looking at them they do have a haunting quality about them. I think that the more of them you see, the more you identify with them. How remarkable. And I like them far more than I thought I would initially.
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2,501
Sept 25, 2013 14:18:45 GMT
Post by lagatta on Sept 25, 2013 14:18:45 GMT
Yes, I kept reading about the artist and the installation at Indigenous culture sites (some articles at "Indian Country") and La Jornada of course.
I didn't find them at all repulsive at first, but just some of the rather-too-common art brut or primitivism. You do have to see the group and how they are installed in public places to understand their impact.
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