Build that wall!
.In July 2016, the artists built the first section of Donald Trump’s “Mexico wall” 20-yards in front of the existing border fence in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. They then billed Mexico for it. The artwork is about what would happen to the U.S. if all the immigrants were stopped at the border and Trump truly deported 11 million people back to Mexico. The US side of the wall is made from materials that symbolize how our lifestyle in the US would be impacted. For example, dead flowers represent how the flower industry would be affected, rotting fruit and vegetables symbolize the agricultural impact that would have on the country, and rakes, hoses and toilet bowl brushes represent the effect on landscaping and American households. The Mexican side of the wall is crisper, neater, well-maintained and simple. The cinderblocks hint to detention centers.
The side facing the U.S.
The flag was embroidered with a quote from Trump which he said after he lost the Iowa primary. It reads “Too much Monsanto in the corn creates issues in the brain.”
“Ever since Donald J. Trump announced his plans to build a wall at the border, pundits and voters have been debating how it would work. Now a pair of artists have offered an example: They have built a wall — or the start of one, anyway — near the edge of Jacumba Hot Springs, Calif., a border town about 70 miles southeast of San Diego…”
New York Times
The side facing Mexico.
The Mexican side is in high-vis neon yellow which the artists wear when on the road. The color symbolizes everything from “don’t get run over by what’s coming down the road” to peaceful protest.
"The two artists erected a structure made of 52 cinder blocks. The beginning of the notorious border wall is located twenty yards from the fence dividing the two countries in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, seventy miles southeast of San Diego. They also thought it was time to test Trump’s belief that Mexico would pay for such an architectural feat. They mailed an itemized bill for $14,635.42 to the president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, and wrote Trump Tower as the return address. ”
Artforum
