Mexico | USA

by Eliseo Ortiz

Eliseo Ortiz is a media artist working in the interstices between Mexico and the United States. Ortiz holds an M.F.A. in Media Arts Production from SUNY-Buffalo and a Ph.D. in Emergent Technologies and Media Arts Practices from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Digital Technology and Culture at Washington State University. His artistic work has been presented in Mono No Aware, Centro Cultural Tlatelolco, and Currents New Media. His writing has been included in Poetry Magazine, InVisible Culture: Journal for Visual Culture, You Are Here: The Journal of Creative Geography, and Flat Journal.

Translator’s Note:
Mexico|USA is a jigsaw puzzle of a satellite image of the territory of Mexico and the United States. The image on the box reveals a map of both countries with no borders, but the entire set of pieces configure two separate puzzles. One corresponds to a geopolitical map of the United States and the other to Mexico. The pieces of one puzzle don’t match or connect to the other set. In this manner, the frontier appears as a reminder that it is not sufficient to re-imagine this land or attempt to shape a new image in which there is no boundary because it blatantly reappears once again to confirm that we are more separated than ever.