LAND!LAND!, 2021

american soil

300 x 320 x 300 cm

​

 

 

LAND! LAND! is a two part project that unfolds in both the digital and material world. It fantasizes about destabilizing colonial symbols embedded in the urban landscape and in collective consciousness. The first part of this project is a 1:1 replica of the base of the Columbus Monument in Columbus Circle in NY made with pressed soil taken from Puebla in Mexico - a sort of ephemeral sand castle that contradicts the desire of monuments to be permanent. Some details of the monument have been edited, changed or omitted in order to play with the meanings and symbolisms that we find embedded in it. For instance, the relief of Columbus’ ship arriving in America has been mirrored and the text of the memorial plaque has been edited to read “never uttered a more thrilling call than that which resounded from the ocean. America, LAND! LAND!”, an affirmation that recognizes our land as our own.