THE PRESENT

In between the beans, on the ground, there were some germinated ones, showing the initial growth face of them to become a plant.

The audience was asked to see the piece from three different points of view. The first and second were outside the room, looking through small spaces between a wall and the door, but from different angles. For the third, the viewers had to walk around the studio and the get into the room, forcing them to had a brief time between each look to the piece.

The intention of this interaction as well as the selected materials and the way they were displayed, was to invite the audience to look at issues from different perspectives, to give a second and even a third chance to look, discover and understand. In this case, the beans are used as a reference to Mexican people and culture, since they are a crucial element of the Mexican diet, therefore they have been related to Mexican identity. Unfortunately, some had used the word “beaners” to describe Mexican people in a racist way, giving a bad connotation and creating stereotypes that affect Mexicans image.

Hence, the piece attempt to show how different can be one's perception depending on the visual angle and the time spent to observe. That is why the audience would only be able to fully understand the piece until seeing it closer and notice the germinated beans.