tongues

because I don’t

speak the tongue

that cracks the code to the last

blast from the past that ran amok as fast

as a gas tank catching the flame of a match

to the task I understand to be at hand

this man

that lands

like a splash of sizzling coconut oil in my pan

and I play my last hand

in this game

roll the dice it’s like a vice

I’ll say it twice because it’s nice

too nice I’ll say it

twice

I slip the grip and sip the tip because I’m hip to the trip

and the drip drip drip in my mental

potential i’ll mention the intention that I had

was to look twice and cross across the other side

but I was blinded in one eye and took the ride

I felt myself electrify & ignite

the revolution I’ve been carrying inside all this while

I sly a smile because it’s true that from this view

everything looks new & right on cue

like fresh rain

and now I can’t engage the rage I was in flames behind

the door I opened to reveal and find the time

I had to pen inside my head inside my poetry head

the bed I made with him in it

not the rhyme inside my mind nor the verses I assign

to explain my blind design nor the wheel of sex appeal

revealing my very real

feelings

and I find in every sign

through the labyrinth of time this is going to be

the dream I’m dreaming and the sleep that maybe I dread,

or maybe I’m scheming

and the truth that maybe I never said but

I am now screaming

10/2015

mujer_cita_MIA, 2013

As promised mujer_cita_MIA premieres online.

The Woman’s Dicktionary of Male Dating Terms

On Twitter i recently started the hashtag #Dicktionary in an attempt to contextualize & deconstruct the misogyny that het/bi/pan women experience regularly in our intimate personal lives while dating men. This took off unexpectedly as dozens of women began to respond on the subject. Several asked for a full unabridged version of the Dicktionary, which i have been tweeting one phrase at a time. So in response to that, and in a prophylactic attempt to help us decipher the usual “lie-to-her” language codes, and protect our feminine self-esteem from the shredding that inevitably happens when we insist on navigating the treacherous journey of sharing our sexual love with people who are programmed to oppress us, here is the new, unabridged Women’s Dicktionary of Male Dating Terms!

Below is a list of phrases commonly used by men while dating women & their translations:

“baby i wanna make love to you all night” translation: “it’s gonna be 20 minutes & we’ll pretend it was hours”

“baby i know i fucked up, I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you.”  translation: “i don’t have anywhere else to wet my dick tonight”

“I can’t stop thinking about you”  this phrase is generally used BEFORE he hits it & translates to: “i can’t wait to own you so i can keep you waiting”

“I’d like to take you out sometime,”  translation: “don’t hold your breath”

“I have this unique fantasy…”  translation: “I think i’m the only man on earth kinky enough to want to bang 2 bitches at once”

“I’m not like other men,”  translation: “my ego is way bigger than my dick. DON’T mess with it! Seriously.”

“I’ll call you”  translation: “I have a few on my list that i want to hit first but i may want to wet my dick here at least once / again, so i’ll keep your phone number”

“I’ll call you soon/later/tonight/tomorrow/after work, etc.” translation: “sit & wait for that”

“I lost my phone/broke/sick/accident/spent a night in jail or… /fill in the blank with any other excuse/” translation: “i was busy banging my new/ex gf for a few days” in some cases it may mean “i was busy abusing my substance of choice and/or banging a new/ex gf for a few days”

“I love you,” this is a phrase used only in desperation when there is no other way to get the pussy & basically means: “I’ll say whatever it takes to hit that pussy right now”

“I’ve never met a woman like you before”   translation: “What? You mean you have hair down there???”

“It’s not that I don’t love you, but i  just can’t leave her yet,”  translation: “she’s paying the rent & that’s her car I’m driving”

“It’s not that I don’t love you, but i  just can’t leave her yet,”  can also mean: “you won’t put up with the shit she’s putting up with”

“I had to leave town unexpectedly & my phone died, then it fell out of the airplane & landed in a pot of wonton soup, then my dog ate it and my grandmother dies, and basically, this all happened in China” translation: classic cuento chino

“Let’s hang out,”  translation: “let’s fuck”

“Let’s hang out,” can also mean in some cases “let’s do our drug of choice & fuck” or in the worst case scenario: “let’s watch the game while we fuck”

“Not All Men Are Like That” or “NAMALT” for short.  translation: “i don’t want to listen to anything that will make me question the way that I/my friends treat women”

“OMG, you’re so beautiful/gorgeous/pretty/briliant/amazing, etc”  also often heard as “OMG you have such beautiful eyes/lips/smile/teeth/hair/whatever”  normally this phrase is repeated throughout the date like a mantra.  translation: “I want to fuck you & i have no interest whatsoever in making the slightest effort to have an intelligent conversation.”

“She ain’t hot/sweet/fine/sexy/whatever like you are”  translation: “I’m tired of destroying her self-esteem, now I want to destroy yours”

“She’s not my wife,”  translation:  “it’s not on paper but we live together, she pays the bills & we have 3 kids, plus she’s pregnant so i want to fuck YOU instead”

“The women of my ethnic group are not as cool as you are,”  translation: “i feel totally entitled to judge, degrade & bash women of my own ethnicity, but will be on best-behavior for exotic foreigners”

“There’s nothing between me & her”  translation: “she cooks for me, i fuck her occasionally & send a text once in a while to keep her on standby”

“This dick is yours baby, come get it anytime,”  translation: “go ahead & call but i won’t answer & ofc you don’t know where i live”

“You my special girl”  translation: “you’re the one I’m lying to most often.  in fact: you might even be the one i want to have a baby with, so you can cook, serve & clean for me & i can control you at home”

“Wow! I’m really sorry men have treated you that way,”  translation: “I”m sorry you’re not opening your legs as quickly as i expected”

mujer_cita_MIA at Little Haiti Cultural Center and Girls’ Club

mujer_cita_MIA will be on view at:

“Global Caribbean V” an Art Basel Special Event

Little Haiti Cultural Center, 219 NE 59th Terrace, Miami

Opening reception: Friday, December 6, 2013 from 10am – 12Noon

In tandem with the opening of this exhibition, the work will also make its online premiere so that male viewers and viewers outside of Miami may see it.

The piece is also currently on view in the co-ed rest room at:

Girls’ Club Collection  117 NE 2nd Street  Ft Lauderdale

November 10, 2013 thru September 26, 2014

mujer_cita_MIA, 2013 by Dinorah de Jesús Rodriguez

 featuring Lucia Aratanha and Niurca Márquez

mujer_cita_MIA is a series of video interventions installed in women’s rest rooms in diverse sites across Miami. The work’s subtext addresses rape, domestic abuse, and systemic social violence against women, within the cultural context of Miami vis-à-vis the world at large. The piece further engages contemporary feminist discourse via an active social media component that harnesses the power and reach of the global feminist community online. @mujer_cita_MIA tweets daily, posts regularly on facebook, and maintains an interactive blog at mujercitamia.wordpress.com.

Why… The Ladies’ Room?

The Ladies’ Room is that ironic place of utmost privacy in public. It is a place where fleeting intimacy occurs between random strangers as we wash our hands and apply lipstick in a mirror together, greet each other politely, make small talk, and wish each other a nice day, having just taken care of other, more delicate, personal matters.  Imagine if, as we do this, we are surprised by the presence of a video art piece on the wall, layered with references to issues that plague all women and can never be discussed in public places. mujer_cita_MIA exposes our strength, telling our stories of rape, abuse and survival through the abstract, universal language of dance. mujer_cita_MIA seeks to make a subliminal commentary on society from the perspective of a female Caribbean Latina immigrant in Miami, along with others who enter into the dialogue online. The artist’s conversations with women in Miami and all over the world are the basis for this city-wide public art intervention project.

To see the full work online visit: mujercitamia.wordpress.com

 

Diamond Girls

Some of the teen girls that I teach and mentor in Miami are classmates of Rachel “Diamond” Jeantel and Trayvon Martin. Many are similar to Rachel, and in fact, quite a few go by the nickname “Diamond,” a popular pseudonym in this bling-obsessed neck of the southernwoods.

Diamond is a diamond in the raw and she knows it. Her spirit is on fire & she lives to stay cool in the heat. At home & in the streets the spirits are sometimes demons & people get shot. Like that’s it, basically.

Sometimes we don’t understand each other: Diamond and me. It might take me a minute to adjust to her accent & way of speaking, as this varies from neighborhood to neighborhood in Miami.  But I’ve been around Diamond Girls for a lot of years now, and I try to keep up with each new linguistic wave: Miami is a hotbed of language evolution.

I ask where her family is from. She answers some island, often Haiti, the Dominican Republic or the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Belize, Cuba or some mix of all of the above. Occasionally it’s some place North, in the Deep South, like Georgia, or northern Florida. Diamond avoids my direct eye contact but I sit near her, touch her hand, and compliment the masterpiece on her acrylic nails. I take a picture of her hands. She smiles at me; I see her eyes grow curious beneath the sweep of eyelashes from Walgreens across the street.  She asks where I am from.  A window is opened.

Though there is still the issue of my color. The question is: which kind of light-skinned Latina is this one…  and how is she judging me?

I open my laptop & whip out Mickalene Thomas, followed by Wangechi Mutu and Lorna Simpson.  Other times, I throw in Ellen Gallagher, Shinique Smith, Kara Walker.  Suddenly we’re just talking & questions are pouring out. Little by little I get to know my group of Diamond Girls.

Diamond is feisty, opinionated, not instantly open, but willing to bloom IF she trusts the gifts you’re offering.  And usually, she likes my gifts: she likes that I’ve tapped into her intelligence, her creativity.  She thinks I might actually be worth learning from.  I’ve won her trust.

Actually, Diamond gets around, knows everybody, saw all kinds of shit first-hand, but is only a tiny bit young and free. She seems engaged in a battle between her desire to express her uniqueness and the pressure to be so many things the Black immigrant experience demands, especially if you are Female. She often emits an essence like that of a muggy & windy Miami sky when a hurricane is approaching.  When she smiles directly at me, it’s like a sun shower with rainbows. Diamond is not soft, but in spite of that, she’s a girl: a Black girl in a White patriarchal world.

Her life is limited. She has responsibilities, sometimes a job, somebody at home who requires attention, devotion, servitude, sacrifice, and discipline, and somebody in the street that she has to impress daily by playing a whole nother character.

Add to that the stress of facebook, fashion, substance abuse, “bitches fucking wit yo man,” a busted economy in a disenfranchised neighborhood severed from the glitzy magic city by a highway that divides by class, and of course, people getting shot all the time.

Usually it’s gangs & street violence.  Sometimes the police attack somebody. A fight breaks out over a drug deal. Somebody got stabbed. Somebody saw or heard something. A lot of times it’s somebody you know.  You saw it from your window.  It was somebody’s brother, your cousin’s ex. It was your neighbor or the friend you were talking to on the phone.  It was that kid from Norland or Edison Senior or Miami Central or Booker T.  It was your friend wearing a hoodie & carrying a bag of skittles.  A rumor started that somebody shot him.

It happens and you just hope you or somebody that you really, really love and really, really rely on doesn’t get hit. You pray. You don’t get involved, mainly, you just pray & hope. Half the time nobody ever gets arrested or goes to court or does time for any of it, except sometimes when it’s the police or once in a while if it’s really loud or there’s a big fight or a drug bust or a drive-by or a robbery. But lots of crimes are going ignored and that’s the way it is in this part of Miami.

When something does happen that gets the police involved, you do your damndest to stay out of it. And if, heaven forbid, it happens to a kid that you’re good friends with, if it’s a national case, and you’re billed as the star witness, if you have to perform for the courtroom, the television cameras and the world, not to mention the memory of your friend and the look in the eyes of his parents…

You do whatever it takes to preserve your inner core, to hold it together for the family that needs you, the brother that fucked up, the cousin who’s doing time, the friend whose Mom got deported, your grandma who doesn’t speak English, your homies, the people who get that you’re really beautiful, the people you love and trust.  You have all kinds of ways to keep yourself under the radar. You know you’re being attacked by a system that takes you for a fool.  You’re pissed as shit, but you play it cool. You have your Miamittude.  You’re all fire inside, but you’ll never let them see you sweat a single hair out of place.  You are a Diamond and you’re going to explode one day in shimmering brilliance.

You stand YOUR ground.

You go, baby.

Still from “mujer_cita_MIA” featuring Niurca Márquez

This is probably my favorite visual moment in the film.

Artivism in Process: making mujer_cita_MIA

Once again, it’s late at night and I am at work in my studio: painting, scratching on celluloid and editing sound. Actually just finished the hand-crafting of the 16mm footage, and have spent all night compiling the dozens of interviews that will make up the soundtrack for this work.  I have recorded over 5 hours of conversations with women from varying ages and backgrounds. ALL have shared with me at least one story of child molestation, sexual assault or rape.

The interviews include a lot of my own commentaries and the sharing of my own experiences, which include three rapes in my adult life and one at the age of 4. I have spoken to about 13 women, of whom only two have never been raped. Of those two, one endured an attempted rape and the other a child molestation.  Of the group that admitted to having been raped, three also endured physical violence in the form of beatings or physical threats from intimate male partners.  Maybe it’s my particular group of friends, but these statistics don’t match that “1 in 3” that’s always being thrown around as the actual incidence of rape and violence among women.  Of the 13 women interviewed, only one was raped by a stranger at gunpoint, and only one was raped by more than one man in the same incident.  The vast majority were incidents that involved friends, dates, acquaintances, intimate partners, and family members.

Among the interviewees, I spoke with Patricia, a Mexican woman from Juarez and former sex worker, who shared with me the atrocities that her home town is besieged by: horrific accounts of rape, murder and mutilation, and unspeakable acts of hatred and violence against women.  Another woman shared with me an intimate, chilling story about being raped by her husband shortly before they were married, and how this incident shaped the dynamic of the abusive relationship that ensued between them after marriage. The conversations also include snippets of commentaries on sexuality in general, sexual shaming and the ways in which power in heterosexual relationships is often defined by sexual acts of coercion that bleed into the fiber of daily domestic life.

Admittedly, I could have selected a more optimistic subject to be working on, but what saves the beauty and integrity of the piece is the work of the two dancers that I have filmed for the first set of videos in the series. Niurca Marquez is a dancer and choreographer of Cuban origin whose work blends Nouveau Flamenco with techniques rooted in ancient forms.  Lucia Aratanha is a dancer, choreographer and theater director, originally from Brazil, whose work juxtaposes classical and contemporary dance with experimental movement theater. Their grace and power – both physical and spiritual = bestows the piece with the empowering serenity and strength that I hope to bring to the hearts and minds of my audiences, to women everywhere, to the Ladies’ Room.

If you happen to be in Miami on April 18-20, please drop by and see the piece at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium, 2901 W Flagler St. in Miami, in tandem with three musical concerts by contemporary local artists that will be presented there during those nights as part of FUNDarte’s Miami On Stage series showcasing the work of local artists. mujer_cita_MIA will be screened on the façade of the building, in the lobby, and in the Ladies’ Room.  Hope to see you there!

Now, back to editing…

In a perfect Slut-Shame-Free World… a Compliment Could be “Just a Compliment”

Recently, U.S. President Barack Obama paid a compliment to political colleague and personal friend California Attorney General Kamala Harris, which included a mention of her as being “good looking.” A lot of people got upset about it, and a lot of others rushed to the Prez’s defense with remarks such as: “it was just a compliment, for crying out loud.”

Admittedly, being of open mind with matters concerning absurd public formalities, while also generally given to supporting Obama on most things, I had to question my own reaction of outrage at the whole affair. Why does it make me so angry that he has the freedom to say this? Is it because it’s BAD to have a moment of human admission and praise somebody’s appearance, particularly if that person is a long-time friend and colleague? I mean, it’s not like he didn’t say that she’s brilliant and all that other stuff before mentioning her appearance…  My conclusion is that basically, the compliment wasn’t so bad, given the context of their relationship and the fact that she really IS brilliant, tough, and… well yes, admittedly, in my humble opinion: beautiful. Complimenting someone’s good looks is not a bad thing, in and of itself, unless…

…the person paying the compliment is a Female political figure and the Media gets to interpret her comment.

Let’s just let our imaginations run wild with the potential headlines we might be reading if Kamala Harris had complimented Barack Obama on his good looks in the same tone that he used to compliment hers.

“Kamala Harris Makes Indirect Pass at President”

“Kamala Harris Thinks President is Hot Stuff”

“Kamala Harris Flirts Shamelessly With President in Public Forum”

“Does Kamala Harris Realize that Barack Obama is Married?”

“Kamala vs Michelle: President Has His Choice of Women”

“Kamala Harris Blurts Out That She’s Hot for the President”

“Kamala Harris Proves that Women Cannot Keep Their Minds on Business”

“Kamala Harris Mixes Business With Pleasure”

“Kamala Harris Admits She’s Attracted to President Obama”

“What’s Behind Kamala Harris’ Compliment to the President?”

What a heyday the Media would have with it all! It could roll for weeks. We’d read repeatedly that the Attorney General is single, with descriptions of her failed relationships and insinuations about her long-standing friendship with the Prez. Some articles might even speculate a possible rivalry between the Attorney General and the First Lady, backing up the assertion with twisted half-truths, leading suggestions, and, on tabloid covers, strategic photographs of the two women Photoshopped with scowls on faces to insinuate animosity.  Other journalists would launch into sexy descriptions of Kamala’s choices in clothes, shoes, perfume, and makeup, with speculations on whether or not her body language and manner of dress could be described as “coquettish” on occasions where she has been seen in public with the President.  There would be discussion of her entire dating history, questioning and subtle judgment of her social and/or romantic behavior, and probably even an underhanded suggestion that she might in fact be a Lesbian.  Harris’ family members would be interviewed to provide lame comments such as “She probably meant it platonically” as evidence of the weak argument being made in her defense.  In short, she’d be professionally crucified in a matter of minutes and Media ratings would rise like mercury in a thermometer dipped into molten lava.

In a few day’s time, Harris’ public image would have been smeared, ripped apart, taken down, and dismembered.  From that point forward, Kamala Harris would never again be taken seriously as a professional or politician, but instead she would go down in history ubiquitously as “the girl who came on to the President” and blew her career in the process.  Maybe I’ve seen too much Telemundo, but I’m certain that the subtext would go something like a telenovela: beautiful, successful politician on the outside, desperate, wanton female on the inside, and guess which aspect will win and, in the end, sink her?

Considering all of the above, and the fact that, though it may read as hilarious, it’s not far at all from the truth of slut-shame media practices, I honestly wish that the President had kept his mouth shut, or complimented his buddy in private, where none of us could catch the slick note of entitlement that he and other men enjoy: that freedom of personal expression that women still don’t have a right to.

On the day when Kamala Harris can pay Barack Obama a similar compliment in public, and have it not cost her career, reputation, and image as a moral/immoral female, I will agree that it was “just a compliment.”  In the meantime, though I realize that the President apologized, I can’t help but perceive his comment as an irritating, off-color faux pas at best; at worst, a blatant wielding of patriarchal privilege and a bristling example of yet one more human right that women still lack in the 21^st Century, and men take totally for granted.

The Lowly, Lecherous Leg of the Law: An Open Letter to Steubenville Rapists’ Defense Attorneys

Dear Adam Nemann and Walter Madison:

While following the famed Steubenville Rape Trial, one thing became especially troubling for me throughout the entire 4-day ordeal: The fact that two adult men were being paid a fortune to bully, humiliate, slut-shame, defame and discredit – while salaciously perusing naked photographs of – an unconscious, naked 16-year-old female child.  Quite honestly, I often thought: THESE guys are actually the ones who should be locked up.

I kept wondering how YOU went to sleep at night. I kept asking myself: do they have daughters? What are they telling their daughters? What will they tell their own daughter if/when this happens to HER?

My mind became so full of unanswerable questions regarding the lowliness, filth and banality of YOUR respective characters, that I will share with you all of the places my mind went to in the following list of questions that I came up with to ask you.

1) What are your ages?  I assume that both of you are around 40, from the photos you both look to be at least 35. In other words, each of you is roughly 20 years older than the rape victim whose naked pictures you got to look at a million times in a courtroom filled with other adult men?

2) Given the fact that you argued for days that your clients’ behavior toward the 16-year-old rape victim was within the expected, acceptable, normal, masculine sexual behavior of ANY normal, healthy guy under the circumstances, I wonder: how many times did YOU each experience the expected, acceptable, normal, healthy masculine reaction of getting an erection while ogling that naturally-provocative image of a naked, unconscious 16-year-old female child?

3) And, related to that last question, I will even dare to ask the unthinkable.  After all, isn’t it unthinkable that given the evidence presented in that courtroom you sunk to the level of attempting to blame this crime on the VICTIM? So here goes, unfiltered: Given that no one could possibly expect a normal, healthy, masculine  guy to resist the automatic, natural sexual arousal provoked by the sight of an  unconscious naked female child, I wonder: how did YOU TWO battle the natural, acceptable, normal, masculine sexual excitement and natural, irrepressible, masculine urge to ejaculate while poring over those pictures?  Or…  did you ever actually surrender to that urge?

4) And, since Guys will be Guys, and taunting and laughing at rape victims are all just a part of the natural, normal, healthy, masculine FUN of being a Guy: How much FUN was it to spend four days smearing the reputation of a brutally-traumatized, injured child in the eyes of the entire world by insinuating that SHE was merely an immoral little slut who was asking to enjoy this healthy, masculine bit of FUN at her expense? Did it perhaps remind you of your glory days when maybe YOU TOO enjoyed the normal, healthy, masculine FUN activity of slut-shaming girls, and particularly rape victims, in High School?

5) Then again, since drinking to the point of unconsciousness, by your argument, constitutes consent to sexual acts and indicates beyond refute that a victim is WILLING to be used and defiled sexually as well as allowing photographs of the act to be published on the Internet, I wonder: How many times during your high school or college days did either of YOU indulge in drinking to the point of passing out with the hopes that a few guys would rape YOU and publicize pictures of it?  Were you ever fortunate enough to have the fantasy fulfilled?

5) Given the fact that 1 in 3 Women is Raped in her lifetime, it very likely WILL happen to somebody in your family.  Will your arguments remain the same when someone you love – a woman, child, or in the rare instance, a man: maybe even YOU – is raped by the same Rape Culture that you work so ardently to uphold and defend?  Will you sink to such an abominable low as to blame your own daughter, mother, or sister and hold her up in a courtroom to face the same humiliation, violation of privacy, smearing, defaming, bullying and slut-shaming that you inflicted on Jane Doe?

5) And, last but not least: given your views on consent and certain sexual behavior that you clearly see as non-criminal – how many times have each of YOU enjoyed some normal, healthy, masculine FUN by performing sexual acts on the body of an unconscious victim such as this one, and managed to get away with it because maybe you guys were star athletes – or perhaps, successful attorneys?  How proud are you of your contribution to a culture that regularly slut-shames rape victims and defends sexual assault as normal?

I realize my questions are highly offensive and suggest vile things about you. They probe the nature of your personal, private, and sexual behavior, the respectability of your character, your hidden personal agendas, and the moral fiber that governs and determines your attitude towards Rape, consent, and presumably, women in general. But then again, as i understand it, didn’t you probe, insult and humiliate the 16-year-old victim in much the same way, with the exception that you were paid handsomely for doing so?  Didn’t you attempt to defame her character and blame HER for the heinous crime committed against her, in the attempt to add another courtroom victory notch to your CV and expand your client base to include defending MORE rapists?  Didn’t you, in order to accomplish this, seek to discredit HER character and ruin HER reputation, convincing the judge as well as the entire world of HER vile and filthy character and HER immoral fantasies and conduct?

I have no words to describe the level of despicable that I see you as. You are not only an embarrassment to men everywhere, but to the entire human species. You represent, in my opinion, the vilest element of society: those that are willing to harm, humiliate and damage an innocent child for their own gain.

Since the Laws Laid by Men are banal and unjust, i pray: May the Law of Karma prevail in both of your lives.

The Ladies’ Room

People are a little surprised when i explain that i want to present mujer_cita_MIA in public rest rooms, specifically Women’s rest rooms.  Like, ew… really? Yes, really.  Initially, the conversation has been: “Are you going to interview women in public Ladies’ Rooms?” No. I am going to use the Ladies’ Room as an exhibition space for the video projects.  “What will it look like?” Like a loop of moving image art on a flat screen. “Will it be like a commercial for feminism?” No, it’s actually contemporary video art in a public rest room. “What is it about?”  It’s about our existence as women.

The layers of meaning that the Ladies’ Room brings to the piece are many: Presumably, the Ladies’ Room is a private, female-only space in which women feel safe; yet public rest rooms rank alarmingly high among the places of highest risk for rape. And then there’s the systematic attempt to define “female” and “femininity” and the issues trans and androgynous people face with regards to using the Ladies’ Room.  At this time I won’t expand upon my belief that the myth of the binary gender system is a patriarchal form of social, political and economic oppression, as that subject deserves its own post, but do keep that in mind as you read.

The Ladies’ Room is that ironic place of utmost privacy in public. It is a place where fleeting intimacy occurs between random strangers as we wash our hands and apply lipstick in a mirror together, greet each other politely, make small talk, and wish each other a nice day, having just taken care of other, more delicate, personal matters.  Imagine if, as we do this, we are surprised by the presence of a unique video art piece on the wall. And if, furthermore, the work is layered with references to the issues that we are confronted with daily and discussing through social media, among friends in private and public places, and quite possibly, in the Ladies’ Room itself. Imagine if the work addresses our strength as women, the difficulties that we face daily and our power to continuously evolve. Imagine if the video is telling our stories through an abstract and universal visual language.

mujer_cita_MIA wants to reach a specific population of people and make a subliminal commentary on society from the perspective of a Latina immigrant in Miami, along with others who enter into the dialogue via social media. The conversations that i am having on facebook, and particularly on Twitter, with women from all over the world, are the basis for the images that i am creating for this city-wide film and video art project.

The idea first came to me in 2007 while working on a piece made with recycled vintage porn footage and television commercials on 16mm which i also hand-colored and scratched on. My first impulse at the time was to propose exhibiting the work in the Rest Rooms of some of Miami’s most popular nightclubs.  I even came up with a sort of business plan for it, thinking it a great ménage-à-trois between fine art, public service, and commercial potential. That piece grew into an installation that was instead presented in the closet of a local gallery, but the idea of the public rest room stayed in my mind.

So my first choice of venues would be Ladies’ Rooms in local nightclubs, as I really want to address rape and sexual assault in that context, where sexual nuances and cues are flying about.  The point of the work is not to moralize upon those nuances, but to stimulate the psyche through moving imagery that subliminally empowers us to feel more confident about our bodies and the social and sexual choices we make, both within the specific space and, by extension, within the dynamics of our personal relationships.

There will be several versions of the videos designed for different types of spaces, some more suitable for younger viewers to be installed in venues such as restaurants, libraries, and youth centers where the target audiences are girls of varying ages.  The piece is multilingual and filmed mostly in Miami.  And for guys who want to see the work: videos will be posted online so that you can also see them and comment on them. i want to get this message out there and love exhibiting my work in public space.

And… If anybody knows of a cool venue that might be interested in featuring this work, drop me a line. Likewise if you are a composer, musician or sound artist interested in contributing work to the piece. At this time, i am in the development stage of this project. Any leads to potential funders, contributors or sponsors is also greatly appreciated.  info@solislandmediaworks.com

Love to you all! please visit often.