To Build a Wall…

Construct a brick & mortar wall with fake and real bricks until the wall collapses on my body.

Repeat.

To Build a Wall is a 6 hour durational performance in response to Trump’s wall, statements on US immigrants, and the ICE concentration camps. The wall is built with fake brick made out of cardboard and spray paint as well as real bricks to create a wall that is consistently unstable, much like the structures in place for US immigrants and people of color. 

As I continue to reconstruct the wall after each time it collapses on me I become more and more confused and contemplative about my actions yet I continue to build. This structure is made to question Trumps statement, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” It’s ironic that the countries he’s referring to (which include El Salvador, the birthplace of my mother) are countries that were torn a part by US intervention. The US chooses to perpetually create unstable situations for marginalized people so that they can never have a comfortable, sturdy life. As we continue to perpetuate hate through physical and emotional borders we also perpetuate segregation, polarization, and the destruction of identity and culture. 

Through this performance I hope to encourage people to think of ways we can reconstruct identity, culture, thought, and perception in order to create a more inclusive future.

Photo Credit: Adrienne Cassel