“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."
THE-RIGHT-TO-KNOW (room Artist book installation), 2017
Medium: Charcoal paintings on plastic, silkscreen
Dimensions: 20.0 in W x 30.0 in H x 2.2 in D (closed) / 51 cms W x 76 cms H x 6 cms D (closed)
Pages: 1.079 (the missing to this date)
Binding Type: Loose pages in a portfolio box + printed handkerchief
“The-right-to-know” is an artist's book of an installation of the same name that refers to the military dictatorship that took place in Chile between 1973 and 1990, in which the US government of that time had a direct participation. The work is based on information taken from the declassified documents provided by the National Security Archive within its Chile Project, which began in the late 1990s following the detention of dictator Pinochet in London accused of crimes against humanity. The identities of the disappeared-detainees fill the Omi International Art Center’s studio floor, creating a mapping of Chileans portraits and blank spaces. The portraits are the “memory available” (i.e) persecuted people that relatives and reports have managed to share so far in alphabetical order. The book, made of shipping cardboard, saves the complete installation wrapped in written handkerchiefs to be reinstalled as many time as needed, with the flexibility to be shared in public spaces, as a memorial, as an invitation to reflect on the political history of a country which still cannot exercise its right to know.