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Pirated: a post asian perspective
MEL VERA CRUZ
Bio
I'm interested in visual culture as dynamic process: how people are
represented, how it shapes public perception, and in turn, the impact
it has on individual subjective experience. It's empowering to approach
art as a process of cultural production: I'm participating in creating
the culture we live in, and insofar as meaning is a function of cultural
context, in my own small way through my art, I can create social change.
Through the use of humor, storytelling, and playing with stereotypes,
I try to make the invisible visible, to expose the structures of domination
behind the apparent naturalness of social relations. My work is, in
part, about creating space from the margins in the mainstream, creating
space in the culture, whether it be that of family, community, or mass
media, for all of us to be just as we are, rather than how the dominant
culture tells us to be.
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Project Statement
At the 1904 World Fair in St. Louis the Filipino culture was
demonized as ‘dog-eaters’ with the exhibition of a tribe practicing
this cultural act. This justified the ‘cleansing’; the occupation
of the Philippine Islands because those savage ways needed to
be corrected. The real reason for the occupation that I see,
besides the richness of the land, is the strategic location to
Asia. The three
butchers–Spain, U.S. and Japan–wanted that. The three images in my painting are
Emperor Hirohito, King Philip II (a painting by Velasquez; the Philippines was
named after King Philip ll), and Uncle Sam. I transformed the map of the Philippines
to represent a dog being butchered.
The minds of most people in the world were
pirated, and are still being twisted by religion, the government, big business,
etc. All these institutions need control over our minds. The problem is that
these institutions abuse their power. They mislead us to serve their own selfish
goals. I use my paintings as a kind of mirror to reflect back all the junk
that they’re
feeding us. Because of past events I think it’s important to use my art to awaken
people. The threat is very obvious, and the danger is that everybody accepts
it. We’re terrified to march on the streets because we all have to pay our bills
and nobody has time. My art is ‘light’ so people will not be blind.
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The Three Butchers, 2004, Mixed media,
71”x49”.
Click thumbnail to view larger image. |
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| Any More Bright
Ideas?, 2004. |
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