自畫信-Carta autorretrato. Performance. Cementerio General Zona 3, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala.
“The Chinese idea of the original is determined not by a single act of creation, but by a incessant process, not by a definitive identity but by constant change. In fact, change doesn’t happen within the soul of an artistic subjectivity. The trace erases artistic subjectivity, replacing it with a process that allows the absence of essential positioning.” Byung-Chul Han
Considering the piece as an empty vessel that can be filled with multiple and changing content this performance proposes a collective action that consists in an invitation to write and burn letters to loved ones that have died as a way to send the letters to them This act takes the traditional Chinese ritual of burning golden papers to send money to family members that have passed away known as Joss Paper or Ghost Paper (金紙) and transforms it to a syncretic version in the context of the Latin-American celebration of Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) in November, and exchanges the message that is being sent: instead of receiving blessings in the form of capital, our beloved ones will receive letters and written messages. This is my exercise to use our traditions as palimpsests, engraving over what’s engraved. Each person sends their narrative to their deceased person, redraws a trace of the bond, the act is a representation of the oneself in relation to the other.
Performance for Pagoda Imaginaria Artist Residence, created by Esvin Alarcón Lam.
Photography by: Mario Santizo
