Enrique Castrejon : Los Angeles, CA
Wasteland, Najaf, Iraq. Ink, graphite, glue, adhesive tape, tacks on ripped paper. 9ft. x12ft. 2004.
Wasteland is based upon an image in the Los Angeles Times of a street in Najaf, Iraq dated September 1, 2004. In the original photograph, a lone Iraqi man moves hauntingly towards the viewer against the backdrop of a street demolished by US bombing. After measuring and diagramming the subject matter, the alarming misery is neutralized , the entire background receives the same numerical treatment, forcing it to be read as an equal plane. There is no sense of visual perspective, only measurements and shapes. Viewers have to contemplate the map to consider its content. How do you response to the aftermaths of war?
Its on closer consideration that one must stop to contemplate not only the circumstances related to the content, but must question the very nature of violence.
Memorial Wreath to Unidentified Migrants Who Died Crossing the Border 2022.
In this memorial wreath I measure in inches and calculated angle degrees. Embedded in the wreath are data on strips of paper of found bodies of migrants that died while crossing the border. The strips of paper describe the mode of possible death, location of body found with longitude and latitude, gender, age, and if possible names. Each strip on the wreath represents a body of a migrant.
So where doe this data come from? The data is the wreath comes form the Arizona Open GIS Initiative for deceased migrants on strips of paper. the website is the result of ongoing efforts and partnership between the Pima County office of Medical Examiner, the Pima County One, and Humane Borders, Inc. Although each organization has a distinct mission both are committed to the common vision of raising awareness about migrant deaths and lessening the suffering of families by helping to prove closure through the identification of the deceased.
Death of Children (Boy & Girl). Collage, graphite on paper. Measured in inches. 8"x10" 2006
Death of a Child.
I depict a child being carried leading the adult carrying them out, but only the hands that carry them are visible. Ia gain take the color out and leave the contours of the children to investigate and measure those lines. I leave the viewer to contemplate what happened to them but knowing well that its the consequence of senseless violence.
Why I Measure? Reason#2 Measurement is a Language
Measuring becomes a way to describe the indescribable in images of war, death, disappearances, and destruction. The images resemble maps. Taking out color and leaving a contour of the image and measuring it, it proves an opened consideration to have the viewer connect the points and assess the sum of the parts to make the image. I leave it to the viewer to decide how to feel.