A Public Art Work at El Museo del Barrio NYC with PERS of the SD-TJ Borderlands

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************** We are not a color-blind nation in the United States. It is well documented that in this country race affects EVERYTHING– from salary to accessing essential resources like food, education and healthcare or how likely you are to spend time in jail or to feel welcome in your neighborhood…

What if, for a moment, instead of asking you to check the box to exclusively declare your race, Uncle Sam asks you to reflect upon the question, who or what defines your race? In the daily turbulence of 2020, the topic of race has become increasingly polarizing and divisive. Can we utilize this moment to personally explore ideas of Race, to FEEL Race and note it, perhaps against the many forms others feel Race, in ways we haven’t before?********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Collective Magpie asks, Who Designs Your Race? in the form of an ongoing art series that invites the public to intervene in population statistics and generate new ideas about their own experience of race. We developed the Poetic Exploration of Race Survey as an artwork and experience to probe, jostle, and possibly better understand a wider range of the race/ethnicity and class experience of people in the US today. During this time of social distancing, the Poetic Exploration of Race Survey  has been translated from a live performance event to an online survey and exhibition. The results of the 2020 PERS online survey will be presented in the form of site-specific, subjectively informed infographics for the upcoming, Who Designs Your Race?  installation as a part of the ESTAMOS BIEN – LA TRIENAL 20/21  at El Museo del Barrio in NYC.

TAKE THE 2020 POETIC EXPLORATION OF RACE SURVEY 

HERE

Who Designs Your Race?  2018, Mural installation composite, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego at the America Plaza Trolley Station.

Artist interpretation of the 2017 Poetic Exploration of Race Survey results vs San Diego US Census data.


Who Designs Your Race? was originally presented in the form of hand painted signage displayed across the two-story façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego at the America Plaza Trolley Station; as part of the In a Close(d) Relationship solo exhibition in 2018. In a Close(d) Relationship featured work produced during Transnational Seminars I & II, experimental classes designed and conducted by Collective Magpie with local college students from Southwestern Community College, Chula Vista; Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Tijuana; and University of California San Diego, La Jolla.

Poetic Exploration of Race Survey 2017, Participatory event and performance, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego at the America Plaza Trolley Station.

A sample of 17 of 100 forms completed during the associated participatory event and performance.