"Risk, anticipation, luck, walking on a tightrope, riddles and the fortuitous; these are the elements of life that are translated into the practice of games, in the act of rolling the dice and turning the wheel of fortune "- Anaida Hernández
Fragment of the essay catalogue exhibition Ida y Vuelta (2018) by Laura Bravo, curator
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La ruleta de la fortuna: el sueño americano, 1998 - 1999 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. |
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 glorified version of the emigrants' hopes, there is the hidden possibility of unpredictable misfortune that may befall them.
