To view this artwork in pdf format click here.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
During 1940-1946 president Franklin D.Roosevelt\u2019s Office of Inter-American
\nAffairs(OIAA) made an effort to create fine art programs directed towards the promotion of the
\nLatin American and U.S American relationship. With the OIAA, the U.S government utilized
\ndiverse propaganda strategies to secure a position of political and economical leadership in Latin
\nAmerican territories to ensure strategic and interests in the region. In order to place themselves in
\nthe foreign countries of the South they began to convince their audience that they were the
\n\u201cGood neighbors\u201d and later on when Latin American politics began to incline to the left, they
\nwere the \u201cSalvation\u201d of such atrocities. Employees of OIAA and the private museums to which
\nthe agency subcontracted its art programs found many ways to promote hemispheric unity.
\nHowever, the results of this art works are contradictory and generate a conflictive discourse with
\nthe realities lived by the Latin Americans during the invasion of U.S military forces in their
\npolitical, economical and social structures. In this project, I focused on the artwork \u201cLas
\nAmericas Unidas Para La Victoria Y El Progreso Humano\u201d painted by Ben Dale. In order to
\nrecreate this artwork I decided to utilize the Procreate application to remix the art piece and make
\nevident the persistent efforts of the U.S military forces to manipulate Latin American military
\nservices and depict the representational value this relation had on the desaparecidos and horrific
\nhistorical narratives.<\/p>\n
The desaparecidos are individuals who opposed to the governments ideologies and were
\ndisappeared, taken to government detentions and eventually tortured, raped, and killed in return
\nfor answers or sometimes without any justification. These people were usually taken by
\ngovernment soldiers and authority forces who abused their power. Until today, many of the
\npeople who were taken haven’t appeared therefore they are nicknamed \u201clos desaparecidos\u201d or
\n\u201cthe disappeared.\u201d Many activists blame the U.S army intervention for promoting Latin
\nAmerican military forces to fight against communist parties. They trained soldiers, gave them
\nweapons and promised to protect and ensure they would bring peace and prosperity to the
\ncountry’s unstable politics.<\/p>\n
My art is somewhat original because it was recreated through my own perspective of the
\nevents that occurred and how it has influenced the relationship between the U.S and Latin
\nAmerica. As Judith Butler mentions in her essay, the art of critique is to track the way in which
\npower and politics meet their breaking point. Through the idea of utilizing remixing techniques I
\nsought to recreate certain aspects of the drawing to criticize elements that I believe have broken
\nthe point between power and politics in the relationship of the United States of America and
\nLatin America. The original drawing had both land and water represented to the sides to
\ndemonstrate how prosperous Latin American territory could be. I choose to demonstrate that this
\nprosperity meant wealth for the United States of America but destruction for Latin American
\nsoil. Instead of showing the land and water as pure I depicted deforestation, mining, and border
\nprotection conflicts that have been impacting the lives of Latin Americans for the past century.
\nTo further explore this idea I decided to recreate the continental figure demonstrating Latin
\nAmerican land as a bag full of money. In addition to this, I had predetermined ideas of what
\ntypes of colors, textures, and artistic style I wanted to use to aid in the creation for this project. I
\nchose to use cold colors such as green and blue with a mixture of gray scale to emphasize on the
\ninhumane acts that have been occurring throughout the years.
\nFurthermore, I read the \u201cInstruction of great catastrophe: Truth commissions, national
\nhistory, and state formation in Argentina, Chile, and Guatemala” article to further understand the
\nforced armed conflict, the names of the desaparecidos, and the role the U.S. played in the
\nmurdering of innocent individuals. I also spoke to my Intro to Latin American Studies Professor
\nJavier Puente to inform myself of which cities were attacked by military forces, but I factored in
\nmy personal experience as well-for example, I am Guatemalan so I wanted to include
\nGuatemalan cities and certain details that gave emphasis to this culture like the indigenous man.
\nMy artwork employs a critique narrative by recreating details from the previous artwork
\nthat were not inclusive and representative of the historical narrative. The first artwork portrays
\nthe relationship between the U.S and Latin America as peaceful. The usage of bright yellow
\ncolors, the unity of the soldiers, the military coming out of a cloud as some sort of majesty, and
\nthe woman and children staring at the American soldier as if he was a savior. The artwork I
\ncreated criticizes all of these elements by portraying the reality of Latin American living
\nconditions. The land is now being used for production. The air is contaminated by mining and
\nindustries. The unity relationship that was once sold is now being condemned by a wall that
\nrestricts the access of Latin Americans to the United States. The way in which I decided to utilize
\ncold colors and recreate the characters and symbols, criticize the artwork through a political,
\nsocial, and economical lens.
\nOur life is shaped through the various experiences and the context in which we live. Our
\nidentity and the influence societal norms have in the construction of our view of the world, can
\npresent an opportunity for an intervening discourse regarding a topic. My identity highly
\ninfluences my critical lenses, and by utilizing the knowledge I have acquired as a Latin American
\nto criticize art propaganda, I am enriching this area of subject with my perspectives. Bringing
\nidentity into an analysis permits individuals to add an original and personal experience to the
\noverall idea of what is commonly known. For instance, when recreating the remix artwork for
\nthis project, I am using terms that are already deeply studied and broadly viewed. However, I am
\ngoing to approach the academic meaning and theory through my personal experience with the
\nsubject. My unique story would be able to create an original piece while remixing with previous
\ntheories and studies done in the subject before.
\nOverall, my project reflects how remix can function as a form of critique. The experience
\nof searching for a work that was conflicting with my identity permitted me to delve deeper into
\nmy beliefs and knowledge. I was able to recognize the categories that constrain my identity in a
\npredetermined society and was challenged to recreate those limiting factors to construct a more
\ninclusive work. After spending hours researching about the disappearances in Latin America and
\nby giving myself the right to question the relationship between truth and power I successfully
\nremixed the artwork \u201cLas Americas Unidas Para La Victoria Y El Progreso Humano\u201d through
\nmy personal narrative and experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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