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United States of North America, a fictitious passport, that joins the three NAFTA members’ passport heraldics: Canada,
U.S.A. and México. This piece expands the boundaries of these individual countries, questions the concept of nation,
reflects on the NAFTA treaty and raises a conversation about immigration. The Monarch Butterfly, known for its migrations
between Canada and Mexico, is an emblematic representation of a nation without borders; a linked reference with people's
multi-national, multi-generational migrations that are increasing in today's global world in constant mobility. Estados Unidos de Norte América (2009) es un pasaporte ficticio que une las heráldicas de los pasaportes de los tres países miembros del TLC: Canadá, USA y México. La pieza expande las fronteras de estos tres países individuales y cuestiona el concepto de nación, así mismo reflexiona sobre el TLC y lo complejo del tema migratorio. La Mariposa Monarca conocida por su migración entre Canadá y México, es la emblemática representación de una nación unificada y sin fronteras; una referencia que vincula las migraciones multinacionales y multi-generacionales de personas alrededor de un mundo globalizado y en continuo movimiento. Erika Harrsch 2009 |
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United States of North America ERIKA HARRSCH 2009 - 2010
Erika Harrsch suggests an American continent absent of geopolitical borders with her work United States of North America. She imagines a single unified realm encompassing the United States, Canada and Mexico, members of the North American Free Trade Agreement. To that end Harrsch has created an interactive installation whose centerpiece is an elaborately conceived passport. The passport features an original seal that combines symbols of the three countries and at its center, a monarch butterfly known for an epic annual migration between México and Canada, and a symbol of metamorphosis, freedom and hope. The interior pages contain texts on NAFTA, free trade, human rights and related topics, in place of visas and entry stamps. The passport itself is held in a vitrine, symbolizing its high value to an individual. Audience participation is essential to Harrsch’s installation. She invites viewers to spin a prize wheel for the chance to win a limited edition passport, a sardonic act connoting the lottery visas and the chance nature of illegal entry into the United States (one wheel segment contains the now-iconic silhouette of a running family, a symbol used on signage along the San Diego Freeway where immigrants have been struck by motorists) as well as the absurd logic of some immigration policies.
Elizabeth Ferrer, BRIC Contemporary Art Director.
United States of North America Installation 2009-10-11
With diferent participatory and games of chance elements, variable dimensions
The presence of the Monarch Butterfly subject opens up a dialogue on nationality, immigration and identity.
This installation has been part of the 798 Beijing Biennale 2009 at BTAP, China.
Status-Report at BRIC Rotunda Gallery Brooklyn NY,
PINTA art fair, solo artist project, NY 2009,
Lodz Biennale, Poland 2010.
Bellevue Arts Museum, WA, Travelers,Objects of Dream and Revelation, 2011
Erika Harrsch suggests an American continent absent of geopolitical borders with her work United States of North America. She imagines a single unified realm encompassing the United States, Canada and Mexico, members of the North American Free Trade Agreement. To that end Harrsch has created an interactive installation whose centerpiece is an elaborately conceived passport. The passport features an original seal that combines symbols of the three countries and at its center, a monarch butterfly known for an epic annual migration between México and Canada, and a symbol of metamorphosis, freedom and hope. The interior pages contain texts on NAFTA, free trade, human rights and related topics, in place of visas and entry stamps. The passport itself is held in a vitrine, symbolizing its high value to an individual. Audience participation is essential to Harrsch’s installation. She invites viewers to spin a prize wheel for the chance to win a limited edition passport, a sardonic act connoting the lottery visas and the chance nature of illegal entry into the United States (one wheel segment contains the now-iconic silhouette of a running family, a symbol used on signage along the San Diego Freeway where immigrants have been struck by motorists) as well as the absurd logic of some immigration policies.
Elizabeth Ferrer, BRIC Contemporary Art Director.
United States of North America Installation 2009-10-11
With diferent participatory and games of chance elements, variable dimensions
The presence of the Monarch Butterfly subject opens up a dialogue on nationality, immigration and identity.
This installation has been part of the 798 Beijing Biennale 2009 at BTAP, China.
Status-Report at BRIC Rotunda Gallery Brooklyn NY,
PINTA art fair, solo artist project, NY 2009,
Lodz Biennale, Poland 2010.
Bellevue Arts Museum, WA, Travelers,Objects of Dream and Revelation, 2011
