“THE TRANSITION FROM DICTATORSHIP TO DEMOCRACY CORRESPONDS TO THE IMAGE THAT DISAPPEARS IN THE PRINTMAKING PROCESSES (ETCHING) AND THEN REAPPEARS (PRINTED ON THE PAPER). MY WORK CALLS TO THE NEED FOR A SEARCH FOR JUSTICE AND TRUTH, WHICH BY NO MEANS IS FINITE OR TERMINAL, BUT RATHER AN INITIATIVE THAT EXISTS IN AND WITH TIME."
COLONIA DIGNIDAD / DYSTOPIC UTOPIA [2018] © All rights reserved
This project is in collaboration with the National Archive of Chile, the Association of Memory and Human Rights of Colonia Dignidad and current lawyer of the case, Winfried Hempel
Edition Size: unique
Medium: kinetic steel sculptural book, handmade hinges
Dimensions: 15 x15 x 2 (closed), opens to varied dimensions and shapes
Binding Type: steel handmade box with felt
Medium:Installation with Kinetic metal sculpture and metal box (30 x 30 inches extended),4 channel audio piece using oral history archives from a member of Colonia Dignidad, 13.5 minutes,(translated into English and Spanish),3 hour endurance performance, 15 minutes video edition of endurance performance, research documentation composed of: drawings, notes, photographs, prints, and xeroxes.
Colonia Dignidad (1961-1997) was an infamous yet ‘secret’ commune in southern Chile that was operated as a torture center by former German Nazi military officers and the Chilean DINA (National Intelligence Directorate) of the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990) and with the knowledge and collaboration of American intelligence agencies and government officials. Members and leadership of the Colonia Dignidad committed multiple crimes against humanity, including torture, execution, and child abuse. Today the various criminal cases remain primarily unprosecuted and unresolved, due to the lack of political will, unresolved issues of legal jurisdiction, statute of limitations, the death of most of the principal offenders and the questionable legal status of the Colonia Dignidad which had been recently re-incorporated as an autonomous agricultural production center and renamed Villa Baviera.
Exhibited at:
The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA, Solo show, 2023
Matucana 100, Santiago, Chile, 2023
LAartShow, DIVERSEartLA with The Musuem of the Americas I AMA, Los Angeles, CA, 2021
Center for Book Arts, Solo show, New York City, 2019
Animal Gallery, Solo show, Santiago, Chile, 2019
The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA, Solo show, 2019
Artists Space, with Whitney Musuem ISP, New York City, 2018