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DOC/UNDOC — Part 4/6, “Ambiguous, Unclassifiable, Undefinable Identity”

29 Tuesday Dec 2015

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ambiguous, ancestry, apprentice, Ars Shamánica Performática, art, artistic, artists' books, audience, blood, borders, boundaries, Catholicism, Chicanos, collaboration, comb, complancence, country, crucifix, Dallas Fawson, Doc/Undoc, DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, DVD, English, European, Felicia Rice, fine press, Guillermo Gomez Peña, hat, heritage, identity, iguana, indigenous, Isabel Dulfano, J. Willard Marriott Library, Luise Poulton, mask, metaphor, Mexican, mirror, Moving Parts Press, music, mustache, oils, performance art, poems, rare books, Rare Books Classroom, residence, shamans, skull, snakes, soundtrack, Spanish, spectator, sweat, symbol, tattoos, underground, United States, University of Utah, video, world

During Fall Semester, 2015, University of Utah graduate students in SPAN6900-2 Analyzing Texts: Form and Content visited Rare Books. During the third and final session with Rare Books, the students were introduced to late 20th century/early 21st century fine press and artists’ books. The session ended with the premiere viewing of our copy of DOC/UNDOC Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, purchased in September. Student response was so strong that managing curator Luise Poulton, in her typical, over-enthusiastic way, exclaimed, “You should post your thoughts on Open Book!” Prof. Isabel Dulfano, in her own enthusiastic way, immediately took up the suggestion and made this a new assignment, right then and there. Bless the beleaguered grad students! Rare Books is pleased to present these responses, one post at a time.

From Dallas Fawson

Doc/Undoc photo courtesy of Moving Press Parts

DOC/UNDOC photo courtesy of Moving Press Parts

In the Rare Books Classroom at the J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah, our Spanish 6900 class had the pleasure of experiencing DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática (2014), a multi-genre work of art which is the ultimate expression of the central theme of Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s collective body of work: crossing borders. This theme is central to the piece, an unclassifiable combination of artists’ books, performance art videos, underground music, and what the collaborators have called “a traveling case for apprentice shamans,” a heavy container which includes a plethora of objects such as a mirror, a Luchador mask, a comb, and the dried foot of an iguana. With this work, Gómez-Peña and the various artists with whom he collaborated have created a piece of art which crosses both thematic and aesthetic borders, and in that way challenges notions of genre, authorship, and the relationship between a work of art and its spectator.

Given his mixed ancestry and current country of residence, it is unsurprising that the idea of crossing borders has permeated Gómez-Peña’s artistic world. As a Mexican residing in the United States, Gómez-Peña has literally and symbolically crossed borders: his mixture of Spanish and Indigenous blood, as well as his decision to reside in the United States, have given him a flexible identity which is typical of Chicanos, people of Mexican descent residing in the United States. I believe that, in many ways, Documentado/Undocumented serves as an elaborate metaphor for this unclassifiable identity.

Due to the fact that he is a performance artist, it is unsurprising that the theme of crossing borders exists not only in Gómez-Peña’s writing, but also on his own body in the form of tattoos. On the DVD which forms part of Documentado/Undocumented, the viewer has several opportunities to glimpse the artist’s heavily tattooed torso. On one half of his chest, we see a man with a European style hat and mustache; on the other, a skull. And connecting these two images is a crucifix intertwined with snakes. This symbol is useful in two ways: first, it serves as an intriguing artistic representation of the mixture of heritages which make up Gómez-Peña’s identity. The European imagery, such as the mustached man with the hat, contrasts with the Indigenous Mexican symbolism found in the skull. Furthermore, the snake-entwined crucifix which joins these two images can be seen as a symbol for the mixture of Indigenous beliefs and European Catholicism which help to define the identities of many Mexicans today, and in this way showcases Gómez-Peña’s mixed heritage.

This complex tattoo also reveals the way in which Gómez-Peña has crossed borders with his art. Rather than limiting himself to a single genre, Gómez-Peña writes poetry, collaborates with visual artists, and even creates visceral performances using his own body to push artistic boundaries- that is, to cross borders. In fact, Documentado/Undocumented itself is not exclusively a work by Guillermo Gómez-Peña, but rather a collaboration with several other artists, such as Felicia Rice, who designed the artists’ books which form part of the collection. In this way, the work not only pushes the boundaries of art, but also of artistry: what exactly is Documentado/Undocumented, and who should receive credit for it? I believe the work is meant to be ambiguous and undefinable, and therefore serve as a metaphor for the mixed identity of Guillermo Gómez-Peña and other Chicanos, who do not necessarily have a single culture with which they identify.

This artistic border crossing is present in every aspect of Documentado/Undocumented, including the title, which contains a dual binary: the juxtaposition of being documented and undocumented, and the mixture of the English and Spanish languages, two presences which reflect the reality of many Mexicans living in the United States. In spite of the various references to European and Mexican culture, however, it should be noted that Gómez-Peña does not limit himself artistically to these influences. One fascinating aspect of the work is the soundtrack which accompanies it, which includes aggressive, underground musical genres, such as death metal and electro-industrial. Although this may seem arbitrary, it is important to realize that these are genres which also push artistic boundaries. Electro-industrial, for example, is an eclectic genre which mixes elements of heavy metal, electronic dance music, and hip-hop style production. By including these disparate elements, it is a genre which defies classification.

The inclusion of such polarizing musical genres serves at least two purposes. First, it further pushes the boundaries of genres: not only does Documentado/Undocumented include a soundtrack, something which is already atypical of artists’ books, but one containing genres of extreme music with limited audiences. Secondly, it prevents complacence from the audience. In his writing, Gómez-Peña makes it clear that he wants to push people from all sides of the political and social spectrum. In fact, one of the poems included in the work directly addresses the ways in which he is able to offend both liberal and conservative audiences, something which he presents as an artistic obligation on his part. By pushing boundaries from every direction, Gómez-Peña and his collaborators insure that no one will walk away from the work unmoved.

It is important to discuss a final way in which Gómez-Peña and the other artists who worked on this project have crossed borders, and that is with respect to the relationship between a work of art and its spectators. Rather than something which is meant to be admired from afar, the “traveling case for apprentice shamans” is meant to be heavily interacted with. In one of the videos which is included with the set, Gómez-Peña expresses his desire for the spectators to leave some of their sweat and oils behind on the objects included in the case. This desire demonstrates another way in which the artists have crossed borders: rather than the common view that works of art are meant to be perfectly preserved, interaction with this piece is not only possible, but encouraged. This element, which in my opinion is what truly makes Documentado/Undocumented unique, is a final symbol of how Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Felicia Rice and the other collaborators have created an indefinable work of art which crosses aesthetic and thematic borders.

20151201_155144

“Doc/Undoc | Art | UC Santa Cruz.” Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo, et al. DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica
Performática. Santa Cruz, CA: Moving Parts Press, 2014.

Coming soon: Julia Menendez Jardon

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DOC/UNDOC — Part 2/6, “A Mouth Full of Ink”

22 Tuesday Dec 2015

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acotaciones, Ars Shamánica Performática, art, book, book art, bookmaking, books, Catholic, citizen, citizens, colmillo de coyote, colonial, colonized, commentary, country, culture, desert, Doc/Undoc, documentado, economy, Felicia Rice, Fluxus, Gesamtkunstwerk, Guillermo Gomez Peña, Hispanic/Latino, human rights, identities, identity, immigrants, ink, Isabel Dulfano, Jennifer González, laws, lucha libre, Luise Poulton, mask, media, monologues, Moving Parts Press, objects, obsidian, oils, Open Book, performance art, poem, poems, poetry, racist, rare books, reader, readers, reliquaries, Sam DeMonja, smells, sounds, Spanish, stereotypes, stethoscope, stones, sunglasses, symbol, tastes, undocumented, United States, videos, violence

During Fall Semester, 2015, University of Utah graduate students in SPAN6900-2 Analyzing Texts: Form and Content visited Rare Books. During the third and final session with Rare Books, the students were introduced to late 20th century/early 21st century fine press and artists’ books. The session ended with the premiere viewing of our copy of DOC/UNDOC Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, purchased in September. Student response was so strong that managing curator Luise Poulton, in her typical over-enthusiastic way, exclaimed, “You should post your thoughts on Open Book!” Prof. Isabel Dulfano, in her own enthusiastic way, immediately took up the suggestion and made this a new assignment, right then and there. Bless the beleaguered grad students! Rare Books is pleased to present these responses.

From Sam DeMonja

Doc/Undoc photo courtesy of Moving Parts Press

Doc/Undoc photo courtesy of Moving Parts Press

This is a brief analysis of DOC/UNDOC Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, published in 2014, by Moving Parts Press. Our class had the opportunity to explore a variety of printed works. Each book carried with it a unique style and background. Many of these books transcended the traditional concept of bookmaking to create works of art.

One such work of art our class viewed is DOC/UNDOC Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática produced by Guillermo Gomez Peña, Jennifer González and Felicia Rice. At first glance, this piece is nothing more than an indiscriminate collection of bric-a-brac thrust into a secondhand gun safe and pronounced “book art” by its creators and curators. This work takes a sizable step away from the paradigmatic, Eurocentric style of bookmaking. This book has obvious roots in both the Fluxus and Gesamtkunstwerk artistic styles wherein books are made to be interactive, exploratory, and incorporate a variety of media (Backstory). All books are interactive, but this piece engages the reader, or participant, through audio, tactile, visual, and olfactory components. Gomez Peña states the piece’s “interactive dimension may be its main contribution to the field of experimental book art, or rather ‘performative book art’” (DOC/UNDOC).

20151201_154828

The reader, to whom I will refer as one who interacts with this “book” from here on, may push buttons and turn knobs to hear commentary on the various items contained therein. Upon pushing these buttons, the reader hears Gomez Peña’s voice providing supplemental musings regarding each object in the box. The box contains mirrors surrounded by lights, in front of which the reader is encouraged by, Gomez Peña’s recorded utterances, to try on various wearable items such a stethoscope, sunglasses, and makeup.

The “book” is accompanied by videos of Gomez Peña’s provocative performance art. The reader sees Gomez Peña pretend to wield a loaded gun, cut his tongue and ears with scissors, place a hot iron on his chest, and make unintelligible sounds with a mouth full of ink which, according to Gomez Peña, sent him to the hospital. The piece also contains printed material with poetry arranged in a fresh format. The reader must scrupulously follow each word in each poem, as the preceding and succeeding words may be arranged in unusual, wave-like, patterns. There are a total of 15 printed monologues that are lyrical in nature and even contain acotaciones, or stage directions, to ensure each is read according to Gomez Peña’s penchant for performance art.

It is one thing to simply describe this piece, and it is quite another endeavor to try to explain what the piece means. The full title, DOC/UNDOC Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, urges the reader to think about what it means to be documentado in Spanish and what is meant by the term “undocumented” in the U.S. The word “undocumented,” as it is used in the U.S., is politically charged and portrayed as inherently negative. The term is a symbol of racist stereotypes that robs immigrants of their true identity as members of the human family and is synonymous with powerlessness and a lack of human rights. In Gomez Peña’s poem, “What I chose not to do tonight,” the author states “when you cross the border it is as if your identity splits into two and one is permanently questioning the other” (What I chose not to do tonight). The text suggests that upon immigrating, one always possess two identities, an insider and an outsider, as both a documented citizen of one country and an undocumented citizen of another.

The author uses the terms colonial and colonized in his poems to explore this dichotomy of documented and undocumented identities. In one poem entitled “Flagrantly stupid acts of transgression,” the author describes giving an audience member a knife and asking her to cut his abdomen with it. The poem reads “’here… my colonized body,’ I said… and she went for it, inflicting on me my 45th scar, right her on my soul” (Flagrantly stupid acts of transgression). This speaks to the idea of being colonized by a dominant culture. The author insinuates that the U.S. harms immigrants through laws and economic dominance to maintain a distinction between the documented and undocumented.

This poem, and the entire piece, illustrates how undocumented persons are thought of as nameless, faceless, subjects of a colonial economy whose purpose is to suffer the misfortunes of supplying cheap labor to an empirical nation and not participate in it fully as citizens. Gomez Peña states that suffering, such as the suffering demonstrated in the poem, of migrants who “move from their proper place without documents is a direct consequence of a failed global project, but their suffering appears inconsequential. The fact that men, women, and children risk their lives by crossing the desert to escape violence and to make a few dollars to send back home remains insignificant” (On immigration 1). The interactive contents of this piece help to bring significance to the professedly insignificant acts of immigrants.

The objects in the case serve to give prominence to the seemingly unimportant objects that represent aspects of Hispanic/Latino life that contribute to the identity of the undocumented. There are hot sauce packets, Catholic trinkets of Virgins, a lucha libre mask, a colmillo de coyote, oils, obsidian stones, and countless other objects. Each object must carry some personal meaning to one or more person involved in the creation of the piece. These objects may have significance to a wide audience of Hispanic/Latino readers. This could serve to illustrate the fact that there are many parts of one’s life that go undocumented (Commentary). There are elements of identity and worth that are not recorded in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department.

The packaging of this piece is important also. It’s significant that so much content, such as videos, printed poems, artwork, reliquaries, sounds, tastes, and smells, are concealed within a relatively nondescript box. The box is metallic, cold, and has sharp corners and edges. The only writing on the exterior is: “Documentado Undocumented.” A parallel could be drawn between this and the lives of undocumented persons in the U.S. Labels are powerful in that they mask one’s true identity. Superficially, all that government, or law enforcement agencies, can perceive when they view the Hispanic/Latino population is whether or not they are legal citizens. In actuality, within the cold, metallic container projected on them by stereotypes and sociocultural norms, there is much more to be discovered. Within the box, awaits a world of exploration, emotion, worth, and identity regardless of the label on the box. Guillermo Gomez Peña, Jennifer González and Felicia Rice have successfully pulled off the creation of an intimate medium of expressing these important themes of citizenship, identity, colonization, and cultural disparity through this piece.

“Backstory.” DOCUNDOC. 6 July 2014. Web. 17 Dec. 2015 <http://docundoc.com/2014/07/02/what-i-chose/>.
“Doc/Undoc | Art | UC Santa Cruz.” Doc/Undoc | Art | UC Santa Cruz. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
“What I chose not to do tonight.” DOCUNDOC. 2 July 2014. Web. 17 Dec. 2015. <http://docundoc.com/2014/07/02/what-i-chose/>.
“On immigration 1.” DOCUNDOC. 2 July 2014. Web. 17 Dec. 2015. http://docundoc.com/2004/02/22/on-immigration-1/>.
“Commentary.” DOCUNDOC. 2 July 2014. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.http://docundoc.com/2014/06/06/commentary/>.

Coming soon: Response from Peter Tanner

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