The Border is Ours: Dismantling the U.S.

– Mexico Border Wall

through Performance Art

By
Alexa Kovachevich

1
Exhibition Introduction:

The U.S.-Mexico border established by the United States in 1848 and the wall
built and militarized in the last 30 years divides families and communities. Despite the
U.S.’s reliance on Mexican labor and trade, the border wall economically disadvantages
Mexican people. Mexican cities like Tijuana and Juarez exist next to the wall and
Mexicans are acutely aware of its physical presence. Families often reunite at the wall
touching hands through gaps. The wall “exists for Mexicans” contemporary artist Ana
Teresa Fernandez declares, a simple truth which highlights the inequalities the U.S.-
owned border wall creates. In the last seven years the political symbolism of the wall
has intensified with U.S. presidents utilizing it as a campaign tool and in doing so
amplifying voices of racism and hate. But as many who live in the borderlands
recognize, the wall divides a third nation, one territory where all depend on each other.
While the border has become a fixed structure it’s really an ever-changing entity which
ceased to exist for thousands of years.
The five contemporary artists on display have worked to dismantle the symbolism
of the border by creating art directly on the wall. They physically interact with the steel
and barbed wire structure by painting it, attaching objects to it, and utilizing the airspace
above it. Their performances build community by encouraging cross-border participation
and communication. These works also draw attention to the physical presence of the
wall as the artists have developed creative solutions to use the structure for good and
connection instead of division. In the performances the wall is used for play,
communication, beauty, solidarity, and sharing. The structure becomes necessary to
create community rather than an object of division and hate. These artists change the
meaning of the wall, they give it their own meaning, and the effect of their subversions
echoes throughout the borderlands, and by way of social media, throughout the world,
serving as a protest to the U.S.’s discriminatory policies. These performances challenge
viewers to think critically about the wall’s structure, its function, its meaning, and how we
can work together to change the wall and create a better world in the future.

2
Brief History of the Border: While the border wall between the United States and
Mexico is a large presence in the world today, the concept of a boundary between the
countries is less than 200 years old1. People, goods, and knowledge have moved
across this territory for tens of thousands of years2. Today people on both sides have
family on the other and our countries rely on each other for goods and services. The
modern border and tariff laws associated with it created economic disparities between
Mexico and the U.S. and contributed to an economic crisis in Mexico 3. Mexicans can
earn eight times more in the U.S. than they do in Mexico. As Chicana author Gloria
Anzaldua poignantly describes the decision to attempt to cross the border is not much
of a choice at all: “…the choice is to stay in Mexico and starve or move north and live” 4.
Thousands of Mexicans have died attempting to cross the border5. The following is a
brief history of the border region highlighting the interdependency people have
continuously had on each other in this region since the dawn of civilization in North
America.

• 10,000 BCE – Mesoamerica is settled prior to 10,000 BCE and evidence of

formal agricultural practices show up as early as 2000 BCE6.
• 1200-1450 – The city of Paquime (also known as Casas Grandes) dominates the
region and controls a large trade network from New Mexico to Southern
Mesoamerica7.
• 1325 – The native Aztecs (who called themselves the Mexica) migrate from their
homeland, named “Aztlan”, located in the Southwest United States or Northern
Mexico and establish the city of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City)8.
o The Aztecs organize extensive trade networks stretching north 1200 miles
to the Puebloan people in the Southwestern U.S. 9.
• 1519-1521 – Spain conquers the Aztec people and later name the area “New
Spain” 10. New Spain includes Mexico, Central America, the Southern and
Central U.S. and Florida11.
• 1773 – Spanish missionaries officially divide California into Alta and Baja
allowing one order to convert people in Alta and the other order the people of
Baja12.

1
Dear
2
Sherry
3
Anzaldua
4
Anzaldua
5
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
6
Dear
7
Dear
8
Kilroy-Ewbank (Introduction to the Aztecs (Mexica))
9
Sherry
10
Wikipedia (Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire)
11
Kilroy-Ewbank (Introduction to the Spanish Viceroyalties in the Americas)
12
Dear

3
 • 1821 – Mexico gains independence from Spain. Its territory includes part of
Texas, in the state Coahuila y Tejas, and most of the Western United States13.
• 1824 – The newly independent Mexican government offers land grants to anyone
willing to immigrate to Northern Mexico in an attempt to populate the territory and
defend against Native Americans. The grants stipulate immigrants must practice
Catholicism, learn Spanish, and free all slaves, however these rules are largely
ignored, and thousands of U.S. settlers enter Mexico illegally14.
• 1846 – Continued disputes over this land lead to the start of the Mexican-
American War15.
• 1848
o The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War. The
U.S. takes half of Mexico’s territory and establishes an official “border”
between Mexico and the U.S.16.
o 100,000 Mexican citizens are left on the U.S. side. They face racism and
murder. Large farm corporations take over the area and some Mexican
families have their land taken away17.
• 1855 – The Greaser Act is passed in California allowing for continued
discrimination of Mexicans living in the U.S. Lynchings, harassment, and the
seizing of land from Mexican people continue18.
• 1900’s – U.S. companies like the Southern Pacific Railroad recruit Mexican
laborers to help extend the rail system 19.
• 1920s-30— Fears about the economy and jobs lead to forced deportations of
Mexican people (many of them American citizens). 2 million people are forced to
leave the U.S. 20.
• 1924 — The U.S. Border Patrol is created21.
• 1942 - The U.S relies on Mexican labor and creates the Bracero program to bring
Mexican workers into the U.S. seasonally for low wages22.
• 1945 – The U.S. builds the first physical fence to reduce unauthorized
migration23.
• 1965—Mexico creates the Border Industrial program to give laborers a place to
work when they return from Bracero program24. This is the start of
maquiladora factories at the border.

13
Wikipedia (Mexican Texas)
14
Wikipedia (Mexican Texas)
15
Dear
16
Dear
17
Anzaldua
18
Wikipedia (Greaser Act)
19
Blakemore
20
Blakemore
21
Dear
22
Wikipedia (Bracero Program)
23
Dear
24
Dear

4
 • 1979 – Goods created in maquiladora factories make up ¼ of Mexico’s exports25.
• 1994— The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is signed allowing
the U.S. to import duty-free goods from Mexico. Maquiladoras in border cities
now employ one million people.
• 1990s – The U.S. extends the border and adds policing and patrols26. These
efforts are amplified after 9/11 and continue to the present day27.

25
Dear
26
Dear
27
Dear

5
Ana Teresa Fernandez performing “Borrando La Frontera” in Tijuana, Mexico in 2011, source

Ana Teresa Fernandez performing “Borrando La Frontera” in Tijuana, Mexico in 2011, source

6
The border fence in Tijuana, Mexico after “Borrando La Frontera” (Erasing the Border), 2011, source

The beach in Tijuana, Mexico after “Borrando La Frontera” (Erasing the Border), 2011, source

7
 The border wall after “Borrando La Frontera” (Erasing the Border) in Nogales, Mexico, 2015, source

Ana Teresa Fernandez performing “Borrando La Frontera” (Erasing the Border), 2015, Nogales, Mexico, source

8
Volunteer Luis Guerra during “Borrando La Frontera” (Erasing the Border), 2015, Nogales, Mexico, source

Community volunteers during “Borrando La Frontera” (Erasing the Border), 2015, Nogales, Mexico, source

9
Ana Teresa Fernandez
“Borrando La Frontera” (Erasing the Border), 2011-2016
performance where sky-blue paint is applied directly to the border wall

Mexican artist Ana Teresa Fernandez began “Borrando La Frontera” (Erasing the
Border) alone with a ladder and a bucket of sky-blue paint in 2011 at Friendship Park
along the San Diego-Tijuana border28. The border wall extends into the Pacific Ocean at
this popular beach where loved ones on opposites sides of the wall reunite and speak to
each other across the rusty brown steel bars. Fernandez was compelled to begin this
project to protest the U.S. government’s installation of a layer of metal mesh along the
bars which prohibits people from touching29. As the U.S. further fortified the border wall,
Fernandez made several feet of it disappear on the Mexican side. Her blue paint
blended with the sky and ocean, erasing a portion of the 20-foot-high wall. Fernandez
described her work as a peaceful way of restoring the natural landscape: “I’m just
pulling down the sky to kiss the ground again.”30 She was thrilled when a jogger in
Tijuana told her he thought part of the wall had come down31.
Fernandez described Erasing the Border as “social sculpture”, but her first
iteration of the work was also a performance. She painted the wall wearing a black
cocktail dress and climbed the ladder in stilettos illustrating both the sexualization of
women and the hard work expected of them32. The pressures on the Mexican female
body are amplified at the space of the border wall. Like Fernandez who crossed the
border to study and work in California, many Mexican women come to the border to
create a better life for themselves and their families33. They often work under brutal
conditions and face gender inequality in maquiladora factories which are allowed to
manufacture duty-free goods for U.S. import due to tariff laws like NAFTA34.
While “Borrando La Frontera” began as solo performance in Tijuana, Fernandez
has reenacted her work two more times with community support. In 2015 she worked
with 30 volunteers (including a border patrol agent) for six hours in Nogales, Mexico to
paint 50 feet of the wall sky blue35. Like on the beach in Tijuana, the rusted steel beams
were camouflaged by a brilliant blue allowing the 25-foot-tall barrier to disappear into
the sky. Luis Guerra, who had recently been deported after 16 years in the U.S. helped
paint the wall in Nogales and told Fernandez participating gave him strength and helped
him feel he was no longer in jail36. In 2016 Fernandez painted three locations Agua
Prieta, Juárez, and Mexicali working with her family and volunteers from the community.
Fernandez believes Erasing the Border is her greatest achievement because it has

28
Holslin
29
Stromberg
30
Without Walls Documentary
31
Holslin
32
Fernandez
33
Stromberg
34
Wikipedia (Maquiladora)
35
Ahn
36
TEDx Talks: How art allowed me to erase borders

10
given her and the community a voice to peacefully protest the U.S. government and
create a new reality by “…tearing down walls with creativity” 37.

37
Sarah

11
The mirrored table of “Re/flecting the Border" against the border wall in Tijuana on February 26, 2017. The blue paint
of “Borrando La Frontera” by Ana Teresa Fernandez can be seen on the left. source

The mirrored table of “Re/flecting the Border" from the second performance in Tijuana on May 31, 2017. Ana Teresa Fernandez’s
blue paint is on the left and colorful paintings from the “Tear Down This Wall” concert can be seen on the steel bars surrounding the
work. source

12
The table setting including serape blankets for seating from February 26, 2017. source

13
 Garcia standing speaking to dinner guests on May 31, 2017, source

Guests digging through clay rubble for the main course, turkey and cauliflower in banana leaves, source

14
 Tamales were served as an appetizer, source

Still from Miguel Buenrostro’s film "Reflecting the border" showing participants sharing food on May 31, 2017. source

15
Still from Miguel Buenrostro’s film "Reflecting the border" showing participants sharing food on May 31, 2017. source

Still from Miguel Buenrostro’s film "Reflecting the border" showing participants seated at the mirrored table on May
31, 2017. source

16
 Still from Miguel Buenrostro’s film "Reflecting the border" displaying the effect of the mirror. source

Close-up still image from Miguel Buenrostro’s film showing how the mirrored surface changed the landscape. source

17
 White chocolate sculptures hanging from a dead tree planted in the sand on May 31, 2017. Still from Miguel
Buenrostro’s film "Reflecting the border", source

Close-up of the white chocolate sculptures. Still image from Miguel Buenrostro’s film "Reflecting the border", source

18
Participants continue dining by flashlight after sunset in February 2017, source

19
Miguel Buenrostro’s film: https://vimeo.com/288407199

Margarita Certeza Garcia in collaboration with Marcos Ramirez (ERRE) and Miguel
Buenrostro
“Re/flecting the Border”, 2017
Performance documented through video in which participants shared dinner on a
mirrored table placed against a mirror attached to the border wall

Artist and activist Margarita Certeza Garcia collaborated with artist Marcos
Ramirez (also known as ERRE), filmmaker Miguel Buenrostro, and chef Francisco
Gutierrez to perform “Re/flecting the Border” in February and May of 201738. Garcia, a
Filipino American who is currently living and teaching in Germany, hosted two
communal dinners on the beach of Friendship Park in Tijuana, Mexico, where the
border wall extends into the ocean. Guests were seated on the sand on top of serape
blankets at a 16-by-4-foot mirrored table39. The table was placed against the backdrop
of another mirror attached to the border wall which created the illusion of a table double
the size. It visually eliminated the wall and united the two sides of the beach which are
physically divided by 20-foot-tall steel beams. Guests ate at sunset to the sound of
ocean waves and squawking seagulls. The peace of the beach and the illusion of a
shared space without a wall serves as a hopeful gesture. It allows us to dream that we
may one day share land and food as a community rather than attempting to divide the
natural landscape and resources. However as, ERRE, a Tijuana native whose artistic
practice regularly addresses the border pointed out, the mirrors were simply a
“mirage”40. “Re/flecting the Border”, was a temporary displacement of the physical
border but looking past the reflection, participants could see patrol cars watching them
and floodlights overhead. The title of this work, split by a forward slash, reminds us how
the land is still divided.
“Re/flecting the Border” was not purely visual, so while the land is still divided
the discussions resulting from the communal dinners live on through the participants.
Garcia curated a global conversation, acknowledging that divisions exist in many parts
of the world, by inviting refugees, migrants, artists, and activists from Mexico, the U.S.,
Spain, Pakistan, Iran, Haiti, Germany, India, and the Philippines41. Garcia invited the
public to join through Facebook events42. More than 2000 people viewed the
performances and 40 attended the dinners43. Garcia facilitated conversations about
divisions, citizenship, migration, and globalization using a symbolic and interactive
menu44. She wanted to highlight how consumerism and consumption “fuels exploitation
worldwide” 45. The main course, a Syrian Spiced Turkey, was baked in clay and guests

38
Facebook post from nGbK Berlin
39
Stromberg
40
Stromberg
41
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
42
Facebook invite: Re/flecting the Border
43
Facebook post from nGbK Berlin
44
Facebook invite: Re/flecting the Border Dinner 2
45
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

20
were invited to bring hammers to crack into the dish and dig through the debris for their
food46. For those few at dinner to eat they first had to destroy, an act which echoes the
exploitative relationship the U.S. has with Mexican people. While the U.S. is dependent
on Mexican laborers for farming and consumer goods, Mexicans in the U.S. face unfair
wages and working conditions, racism, and deportation. Dessert consisted of white
chocolate sculptures molded to resemble headless torsos hanging from a dead tree
planted in the sand. The bodies suggest the countless deaths which have resulted from
the expansion and militarization of the border wall which make border crossing
extremely risky. Through these shared meals, Garcia united the community and created
a space to discuss the social inequality the wall and policies surrounding it create. In
this way she turned the wall into a place for gathering and sharing instead of selfishness
and division.

46
PDF from Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

21
Ronald Rael carries a teeter totter to the border wall in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico on July 28, 2019, source

Installing the teeter totters on the border wall, source

22
Children from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico playing on the teeter totters, source

Children from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico playing on the teeter totters, source

23
Women in El Paso, TX playing on the teeter totters, source

View from above of the tetter totter installation, source

24
Rael San Fratello (Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello)
“Teeter-Totter Wall”, 2019
Performance where community members played on teeter-totters attached to the border
wall

Rael San Fratello, the architecture studio of Ronald Rael and Virginia San
Fratello, attached three bright pink teeter-totters to the border wall on July 28, 2019
where Ciudad Juarez in Mexico meets El Paso, Texas in the U.S.47. Rael San Fratello
staged this work at the intersection of two cities which are a major border-crossing-
point, to draw attention to the U.S.’s inhumane treatment of children at the border. A
month before the performance 250 children were found in El Paso without adequate
food or sanitation, having been detained for 27 days48. They were separated from their
parents who were being held at the border while seeking asylum in the U.S49.
Engaging the children of Juarez in play, “Teeter-Totter Wall” was Rael San
Fratello’s way to imagine a better border50. They used steel beams like the very beams
that makeup the wall to connect El Paso and Juarez by attaching the teeter-totters
directly to the base of the wall. Within moments of being attached children in Juarez
jumped on the colorful teeter-totters followed by partners on the U.S. side working
together to send each other up four feet into the air51. For a short time the wall was not
an evil division, rather Rael San Fratello created a situation where the wall was
necessary for play and connection to exist. This subverts the wall’s generally accepted
symbolism and purpose as an object meant to restrain demonstrating the power art has
to transform a situation that may seem out of one’s control.
During the performance participants were smiling, laughing, talking in Spanish
and English, and catching glimpses of their partners through the beams of the wall. Rael
San Fratello was hoping to ignite this shared experience of joy and used the object of
the teeter-totter to demonstrate how creating joy for yourself means working together
and allowing the person you’re playing with to experience joy too52. In this way the
teeter-totter is not just a toy but serves as a model for the relationship Rael San Fratello
hopes the U.S. and Mexico may have one day. As a child of a previous borderland
which existed when Conejos, Colorado was part of Mexico 150 years ago, Mexican
American, architect Ronald Rael believes a physical structure cannot create separate
countries53. Rather he thinks the borderlands represent one community where
everyone’s actions contribute to the whole54. Like the mechanism of the teeter-totter, the

47
Bodinson and Cannon
48
Southern Poverty Law Center
49
Southern Poverty Law Center
50
Rael and San Fratello
51
Bodinson and Cannon
52
Rael
53
Rocky Mountain PBS
54
Rael

25
borderlands are place where what happens on one side has direct effects on the
other55.
Economic effects of the border were evident during the performance of “Teeter-
Totter Wall”. Many children were present on the Juarez side as families live in poverty
next to the wall, some even using the wall as the fourth wall of their homes56. Trash
blew around in the wind in Mexico whereas the sand was perfectly groomed for the
adults and few children playing on the El Paso side. The hot pink color of the teeter-
totters was a joyful contrast to the industrial façade of the wall but many in the
community may have recognized the color’s symbolic association with the femicides of
Juarez57. A growing city, with many maquiladora factories, Juarez is notorious for
murder with single women often being targeted58. While women strive to make better
lives for their children tariff laws such as NAFTA contribute to supporting low pay and
keeping families in poverty59. These subtle aspects of “Teeter-Totter Wall” are sobering
facts of the state of our world, yet the piece reminds us that we all deserve to enjoy
simple pleasures like play and laughter and that these pleasures are possible despite
the wall.

55
Rael
56
Rael
57
Bodinson and Cannon
58
Wikipedia (Ciudad Juarez)
59
Wikipedia (Maquiladora)

26
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29
30
31
Enrique Chiu
“Mural de la Hermandad” (Brotherhood Mural), 2016 - ongoing
Performance where community members paint murals on the border wall

Mexican artist Enrique Chiu intimately understands the struggles immigrants

face. He first crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally with his mother when he was
eight years old returning legally to attend college years later60. Currently based in
Tijuana, Chiu strives to give back to immigrants and to the borderland community
through his ongoing work “Mural de la Hermandad” (Brotherhood Mural). The mural
began on the U.S.’s election day in 2016 when Donald Trump defeated Hilary Clinton61.
Trump had used the idea of building a “big, beautiful wall” with more extensive
fortifications to gain followers during his campaign62. Chiu chose to beautify the existing
rusty steel structure covering it with colorful paint, positive messages, and a diverse
range of imagery meant to uplift people and spread positivity instead of hate.
From 2016-2018, Chiu organized community painting days in Tijuana with
volunteers that included, fellow artists, activists, asylum-seekers from Central America,
and anyone who wished to help63. Through these efforts the community covered 2 miles
of the wall from the beach to the rocky desert inland. Chiu believes art is a cultural need
that can promote change and can be a positive and uplifting force in people’s lives64.
Through “Mural de la Hermandad” he has empowered the community allowing them to
reclaim the wall with art. Children and adults laughed and smiled as they painted the
wall, making it clear painting together was a source of happiness. As the title
“brotherhood” suggests, the work is also an act of solidarity and resistance. The mural is
a continuous performance, by and for the people of Tijuana. It is fully supported by
volunteers painting together on the weekends, with some even preparing drawings
ahead of time. Chui wants anyone to feel free to go to the wall and paint, to take action
to make it a thing of beauty instead of hate65. He has inspired the community to come
together and change the meaning of the wall for themselves.
While the mural began in Tijuana, Chui and volunteers never stopped painting,
and it now exists in multiple border cities such as Ciudad Juarez and Reynosa, with
pieces of it extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico66. Chiu has worked
with 3800 volunteers over the last seven years creating one of the longest murals in the
world. This project is ongoing with monthly painting events planned in 2022. Taking
inspiration from Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera, Chiu wants the imagery of
“Mural de la Hermandad” to depict the stories and people of our time67. Since he often
works with children the diverse imagery includes flowers, butterflies, animals, and
handprints. Throughout the pandemic Chiu painted doctors and angels. Writing is

60
Bishara
61
Staugaitis
62
Jilani
63
Rabin
64
Arteaga
65
Rabin
66
Baja Window to the South
67
Arteaga

32
another big part of the imagery with messages such as “un mundo sin muros,” “World
Peace”, and “close immigrant prisons” visible in the work. Chiu hopes these messages
and images help uplift the borderland communities and instill hope for anyone
attempting to cross the border to make a better life68. The vibrant colors including neon
green and bright blue help create a space of happiness on the industrial wall often
topped with razor wire. “Mural de la Hermandad” humanizes the wall and Chiu hopes it
will become a place of unification instead of division and symbol for the world69.
Because of Chiu thousands have touched the wall, beautified it, and helped change its
connotations from a place of cruelty and death to one of joy, laughter, and peace.

68
Staugaitis
69
Rabin

33
Floodlights over Juarez and El Paso during Border Turner

34
One of three light stations positioned on either side of the border

Two girls control a light station and speak into the microphone

35
A young boy speaks into the microphone a light station

36
A woman in Juarez asks a woman in El Paso why she hasn’t visited in a while. The woman in El Paso admits it is due
to fear but breaks down after explaining her mom and brother live in Juarez and she has not seen them in a long
time.

37
 Musicians play into the light station microphone

Music and poetry events take place throughout the 12 day performance

38
The artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer demonstrates another work at Border Turner called Remote Pulse where people
can feel each other’s heartbeats across the border

Maps show the locations of the events and light stations

39
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
“Border Turner”, November 13-24, 2019
Performance where participants connect floodlights over the border allowing them to
converse through microphones

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer was born in Mexico City and immigrated to Canada for
school where he now lives and works70. He was inspired to make “Border Turner” after
seeing the messages of racism and hate directed at Mexican people that were being
spread by Donald Trump71. In “Border Turner” Lozano-Hemmer installed floodlights, a
tool normally used for surveillance, on both sides of the border at Juarez and El Paso.
These sister-cites make up one of the largest binational metropolitan areas in the
Western hemisphere72. The communities are directly connected as 65% of people in
one city have family in the other, yet Juarez and El Paso are separated by a physical
and political barrier and the citizens face different economic conditions73. Poverty levels
and crime are much higher in Juarez than El Paso. With the development of the border
in the last 30 years it has become more difficult for people to move between the two
cities74. Through “Border Turner” Lozano-Hemmer hoped to create bridges across the
border wall through light and to connect people through technology.
During the performance participants moved the search lights through the sky
over the border. When a set of lights from Juarez and El Paso met, it connected
microphones positioned next to the light controls and people were able to converse with
each other from the opposite sides of the border. The lights reveal how close the two
cities really are to each other given they’re close enough for light to easily reach and be
seen by people on either side. The use of floodlights was poetic for Lozano-Hemmer as
he noted that these lights are usually used to hunt people down at the border75. He’s
subverted their use in his work to create connections instead of aid in separation. Light
is something that cannot be stopped by a borderwall, and it shows how the wall cannot
truly separate communities. By using the wall and the tools of the wall to build
community Lozano-Hemmer changes the structure from a tool of division into a means
of connection.
Through the installation, participants were able to speak to their neighbors.
These conversations were diverse and included people of all ages speaking Spanish
and English. Translators were available at each site76. Conversations were said to have
included singing, flirting, and people sharing stories of injustice77. In one conversation a
woman in Juarez spoke to a woman in El Paso who had not visited Juarez or seen her
family who live there in years78. These conversations were audible to people standing

70
Art21
71
Art21
72
Art21
73
Art21
74
Art21
75
Romo
76
Border Turner Website
77
Romo
78
Art21

40
around and they were recorded as Lozano-Hemmer strove to make the real voices of
the border community heard79. With this work he wanted to engage people in active
participation, and he even said the voices of the people are the content: “…if no one
shows up, the project does not exist” 80. By giving everyday people the opportunity to
speak and by attempting to amplify and spread their stories through his art, Lozano-
Hemmer was able to highlight real stories of the community that so often are
overshadowed by political messages in the media81.
Border Turner included more than just the light bridges; it was an elaborate 12-
day long community event. The performance was set up as an art festival with
programming each night including talks, music, poetry, and karaoke82. People from the
LGBTQ community, scientists, political representatives, and native people were among
those who spoke and performed. Everything was free and open to the public. By
engaging artists from multiple disciplines and people from various sectors of the two
communities Lozano-Hemmer created a cross-border festival which helps to further
symbolize how connections are possible despite any physical structure that may exist.
The title of the work reinforces the idea that the stereotypes and media messages
surrounding the border can be changed and turned around so the truth that connections
exist across the borders can begin to be understood by all.

79
Art21
80
Kolenc
81
Art21
82
Border Turner Website

41
Exhibition Design: organized chronologically and by the location of the artwork along
the border wall from West to East. The show is meant to be viewed counter-clockwise.

History of the border. Erasing the Border is the first stop.

42
Next is Re/flecting the Border.

Followed by Brotherhood Mural.

43
Then Teeter-Totter Wall.

The last stop is Border Turner.

44
Bibliography

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19, 2018, accessed March 26, 2022, https://smarthistory.org/introduction-mexica/.

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47
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