I first conceived this installation after a trip to Vieques in the fall of 2006 and exhibited it as part of The Field, a group exhibition at the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning in Jamaica, Queens, NYC in January of 2007. With the 2009 installment of Basta, I was able to bring the installation to its source as part of the Bieké: Tierra de Valientes exhibition in Vieques. After exhibiting it in New York City and Philadelphia, it was an honor to finally, after two years, be able to exhibit it in the very community that inspired it.

Several changes were made in the Vieques version. For one, the cage of razor wire and chain link fencing was no longer relevant in the way that it was when it was first created. To honor the civilian removal of the military fence, it was important that any fencing included in the Vieques installation would have to appear torn down. This would reference the fact that the protestors took cutters and other tools and literally tore down portions of the military fences that blocked them off from their lands. The image of Yaurel, representing the youth and future generations of fighters in defense of Vieques, emerges from a drab green canvas US military tent. However to have it emerge further, no longer fenced in, symbolizes a future Vieques free from the military, free from contamination, free from illness and free from colonialism.

2007

2009

The 2009 installation at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol in Vieques included more authentic elements from the island such as the bazooka seen below. The nails below were taken from the construction site for the new home of Yaurel's family, the boy featured in the painting. The home is located in Monte Carmelo, land that was rescued back from the military by Vieques activist Carmelo Felix Matta. In the earlier part of construction, bullets were uncovered from the ground as the foundation was being set. These nails however are more of a reference to tools created by the protestors. Nails would be soldered together in the form of stars with their spikes sticking outward. These would be tossed onto the military roads so that when Navy personnel drove by in their vehicles, the spikes would bust their tires.

Little Viequense Yaurel Figueroa Guadalupe alongside his portrait.
Photo: http://viequesprimero.com/articles/tierra_valientes/


With Elda and Millo, Yaurel's parents at the opening in Vieques, October 2009



Mil gracias a Ismael Guadalupe y a Emilio Figueroa Encarnación y Elda Guadalupe Carrasquillo por el hermoso modelo, su hijo Yaurel. And many thanks to all the Viequenses who defend their right to a peaceful, healthy environment free of contaminants and who deserve to once again have the prosperous, fertile land and abundant seas that once blessed them.



Vieques school children in front of the Basta installation, Fall, 2009