The Patriot Acts

An exhibition at Local Project

http://www.localproject.org/

Curated by Antonio Ortuño

http://antonioortuno.com/

Artwork and text by Matti Havens
Designed by Adam Skiba   http://adamskiba.pl/

Artwork and text by Matti Havens
Designed by Adam Skiba    http://adamskiba.pl/

Simon, 2006, Color Video, 5 minutes 50 seconds 

Simon is a magic show/vaudeville type performance in the style of silent movies. At first the audience is acknowledged but then ignored, as it becomes an increasingly humorous and sinister conflict between man and fish. As is it becomes obvious that the fish will not cooperate positive encouragement is used and degenerates in to wicked punishment.

Passengers, 2012, Color Video, 1 minute 48 seconds

A documentation of a performance in a local fast food restaurant along with subtitles telling the story of an ill-fated flight. 

I’m not afraid …  2012, pencil and red and blue markers on wall, 5’ x 3’

I drew a USA flag on the wall in pencil and invited visitors to write sentences beginning with the phrase, I’m not afraid … After three weeks the flag was filled in with a diversity of poignant, and frequently funny sentences in a variety of languages reflecting current events and attitudes.

A detail view of the left corner

A detail view of the center

Waterboarding, 2008, Color Video, 1 minute 25 seconds

Torture is a ridiculous, cruel and terrifying act, which is a form of punishment rather than a dependable method of extracting information. The questions posed to the victim in this piece range from the trivial to the political and religious.

Points of View (Towards Acceptance)

Points of View (Towards Acceptance), 2012, pencil and marker on drywall, 9’ x 19’ x 8”

I drew concentric circles on a wall with text written inside the circles. The wall was curved outward in order to cover a pre-existing beam that protruded from the center of the wall.

Details from the insides of the left and right circles.

Thanks to:

Matt White

Heidi Carlsen

Timo Havens

Paulina Klonowska-Havens

The United States National Anthem Translations

The US National Anthem is translated and sung in Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi and Tagalog reflecting the largest immigrant groups from Mexico, China, India and The Philippines.

The US National Anthem in Spanish

translated by Alvaro Valencia

transcribed by Nicolas Carrizosa

sung by Jeannelle Ramirez

 The US National Anthem in Mandarin
 sung by Fiona, Do Ni Zhang

The US National Anthem in Hindi

translated, transcribed and sung by Sujata Pandey

The US National Anthem in Tagalog

translated, transcribed and sung by Potri Ranka Manis

From front to back

Chinese-American (Community and History)

In God We Trust (New Order of the Ages)

Mexican-American (Appearance versus Character)

The reverse side of Chinese-American (Community and History)

The reverse side of Mexican-American (Appearance versus Character)

                   

                                     

It is an American flag painted over a Mexican flag, 

while the other side is a Mexican flag painted over an American flag.

Portraits of the American Dream

The interviews from Portraits of the American Dream seek to show some of the reasons people come to this country and how they have enriched our culture by their presence and knowledge.

The two interviews I have selected show two different motivations and experiences of the American Dream.

Ninoslav Randjelovic is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker who has shown his films concerning Kosovo around the world. His story is complex and discusses politics effects upon the freedom of the press.

For more information about him and his documentaries please visit; http://www.daysmadeoffear.com/

Part 2

Jay, Ha Yoon Lee is a talented Korean-American artist who has exhibited internationally and nationally. The following interview tells her personal story of why she came here and some of the difficulties she has overcome.

For more information about her and her work please visit; http://www.jsjaylee.com

Part 2

The US National Anthem Duet

At the mid-show party on Friday, March 30th there was a performance of the US National Anthem translated and sung as a duet in Spanish and Tagalog.
It was sung by Jeannelle Ramirez in Spanish and Potri Ranka Manis in Tagalog.

American Flag Piñata

After the US National Anthem duet (the previous post on this blog) I invited the audience to break open a large American flag piñata. The piñata was constructed of cardboard boxes and contained a wide variety of things. Inside the piñata were flags of various sizes, Budweisers, Coca-Cola, root beer, a Book of Mormon, toy soldiers, Tootsie Rolls, Hershey’s kisses, apples, Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Campbell’s Chicken Soup, scratch-off lotto tickets, change, dollar bills, a map of the USA, a globe, cigarettes, lighters, a football, a baseball, a statue of liberty, a “I Love NY” t-shirt, Utz potato chips, condoms, a Playboy magazine, a deck of cards, Tabasco sauce, peanut butter, a toy taxi, a toy Camaro, Burger King crowns, and a Pez dispenser.


The piñata before it was broken.

The piñata after it was broken.

Documentation of the breaking of the piñata.