Abstract
In this conversation between Gabriel Garcilazo and Adriana Miramontes Olivas, Garcilazo explains his interest in appropriating popular culture and historical documents such as the sixteenth-century Codex Azcatitlan. His artwork Dystopic Magical Codex (2015) examines the recent war on drugs in Mexico and its consequences through spatial and temporal elements that reconsider concepts of borders, nations, and trade. The conversation is introduced in a brief essay in which Miramontes Olivas contextualizes Garcilazo’s codex. She argues that Garcilazo criticizes state apparatus rhetoric on the war on drugs and harsh immigration policies, demanding the conceptualization of alternative solutions that could reduce both the carnage and the exodus of those living in fear. He also warns, as have other contemporary artists from Mexico, against new forms of colonization and master narratives that homogenize and hamper border-crossing and interaction among cultures.
Highlights
Adriana Miramontes Olivas and Gabriel Garcilazo Introduction by Adriana Miramontes Olivas. In this conversation between Gabriel Garcilazo and Adriana Miramontes Olivas, Garcilazo explains his interest in appropriating popular culture and historical documents such as the sixteenth-century Codex Azcatitlan
The conversation is introduced in a brief essay in which Miramontes Olivas contextualizes Garcilazo’s codex. She argues that Garcilazo criticizes state apparatus rhetoric on the war on drugs and harsh immigration policies, demanding the conceptualization of alternative solutions that could reduce both the carnage and the exodus of those living in fear
The coexistence of institutionalized violence and criminal violence created a lawless environment in some parts of Mexico, the resulting chaos was disseminated through the national and international media and persisted throughout the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018). It is to this context, in which more than 121,683 people have died in Mexico in drug-related violence since 2006, that Gabriel Garcilazo responds and asks us to reflect upon.[8]
Summary
Adriana Miramontes Olivas and Gabriel Garcilazo warrant and detain citizens they deemed suspicious.[3]. The coexistence of institutionalized violence and criminal violence created a lawless environment in some parts of Mexico, the resulting chaos was disseminated through the national and international media and persisted throughout the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018) It is to this context, in which more than 121,683 people have died in Mexico in drug-related violence since 2006, that Gabriel Garcilazo responds and asks us to reflect upon.[8] In his multi-part artwork Dystopic Magical Codex (2015), he questions the policies of a failed war. 10 James Oles, Art and Architecture in Mexico (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2013), 26–28
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