Etipo1a

Galeria Valenzuela Klenner, Bogotá, 2003. Installation. 8 cardboard boxes, enamel, digital prints 206 x 120 x 39 cm. digital prints, cardboard box, enamel.

Type Structures are a series of pieces that share the same material and the capacity to be assembled in different ways.

The material, corrugated cardboard boxes, is used for the packaging of commercial products. In this case for perishable export products: fruits from Colombia packaged and destined for the international market.
In their country of origin the product is subjected to quality controls, colour, shape and size, etc. They must comply with international standards. In their place of destination, the goods are again reviewed, measured and monitored to see if they meet requirements and standards, thus obtaining the label “fit for consumption”.
Once the products have been consumed, I re-use the boxes to recreatea structure type, in this case, a metal detector, a threshold, and object recognisable to everyone, a structure that recreates submission to control, that is, the rules and laws to which migrants and travellers are subjected day to day.

The movement and transportation of consumer goods increase the product value, while the movement and transportation of individuals devalues their social value, and diminishes their productive capacity.
Once processed, the boxes are disassembled and returned (by ordinary post) to their place of origin and, once they arrive there, are reassembled again in the exhibition space, but this time using both inner and outer sides of boxes. The inversion of the boxes is an important aspect of this work since it alludes to the inversion of he value of products and human beings.

The system of consumption is structured in such a way that the transportation of goods ipso facto increases their value -- while the movement or relocation of individuals leaves them tripped of their social value (family and social circle), of their language, that is, their literacy, and of their cultural instruments of navigation. Eventually, over the years, together with the ability to acquire the new culture, this value is doubled, but not before a process of X years.
The individuals are transformed, their mental and social movement tallies with the physical movement of their bodies; finally, a revaluation take places, for which society has no gauge.