Roundtrip: the Puerto Rican diaspora and the arts exhibition

CROSSING BORDERS 
"The risk, the anticipation, the luck, walk on a tightrope, the riddles and the fortuitous; these are the elements of life that are translated into the practice of the game, in the act of rolling the dice and turning the wheel of fortune "- Anaida Hernández

Fragment of the essay by Laura Bravo

Roulette of Fortune: The American Dream, 
From the Illegal Games exhibition, 1998 - 1999

Particitative Installation (polychrome wood, acrylic painting and steel)

Variable measures

Junio 2017 - enero 2018

La ruleta de la fortuna: el sueño americano, 1998 - 1999 
Instalation view: Grand Center Art Center, Gallery, Cal. State University

The risk and emotion of the game are star resources of this piece, where the public is invited to participate with the purpose of experiencing the sensation of venturing to reach an idealized life in a foreign space. The mythical dream of the protagonist country is recognizable through symbols such as the crown of the Statue of Liberty, the Capitol or the flag. Although the migration from Puerto Rico to the United States does not imply the crossing of a political border, the geographical transfer entails another type of difficulties.
Like a coin that is thrown into the air, this dream also has two faces, and to each sublimated version of the migrant's hopes the other hidden faces of the capricious fortune can happen to him. This game warns us, through the table in which we are invited to bet, that the desires of prosperity, freedom, fame, pleasure or success, also imply the risk of encountering a thorny outcome. This is the drama experienced by thousands of Puerto Ricans who, driven by the recession and the desire for a more promising future, left the island and faced problems of discrimination and even worse precariousness.