Happenings in the Land
The microclimate created by my installation captures my lived experiences in Mexico City, Toronto, and along Ontario’s Hudson River. Through collaging receipts and documentation into papier-mâché forms—both geographic and geometric—the work embodies my psychogeographical encounters in public spaces and the unique microclimates that arose from these happenings. Interacting with the water pools and casting them enabled me to deeply engage with the land, disrupting the city’s established power structures. The installation’s design, especially the bronze-cast happenings, becomes a case study in how artistic interventions can unsettle the city grid. By contrasting organic shapes with rigid geometric structures, the piece explores the anti-monument: it rejects monuments as symbols of authority, instead foregrounding the significance of the land itself.
The installation "Happenings in the Land" questions what we preserve by juxtaposing durable materials like bronze with more fragile materials like cardboard, receipts and other documentation I have archived.
In this installation, I use the paper maché technique, including the receipts, to enframe the installation in the places where I have consumed goods. The use of receipts conveys the structure of power and control over the land by these neoliberal industries. In the installation, there are trajectories traced in white. These trajectories exemplify the subjective conception of racialized experience, tracing the trajectories from home to school in Mexico City and Toronto. The activation of the installation happens when people walk on the white trajectory and reveal the bronze pieces framed as happenings by wearing away the layers of paper on them. As a tool of direction, I am using a map. This map is a graphical representation of the installation, used to give the audience orientation and instructions on how to interact with the installation.
The performative characteristic of the art installation is the presence of the public. At the opening reception, the artist performed rituals such as lighting candles, adding water to the bowls, and chanting in memorialization of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. This ofrenda defies death through the act of remembrance by honouring and remembering those in the 2SLGBTQ+ community who have fallen before us and celebrating those who fought for 2SLGBTQ+ rights. We remember them as our friends, members of our families, and our community. This installation won the 2025 IGNITE Installation Award Exhibition, BMO Sustainability Award, and the Haydn Davies Memorial Award.
