But the posting on moodle was an interesting one. Naufus Ramirez Figueroa sits on the floor amid a mess of powdered milk and ash, wearing only a white t-shirt and underwear. He proceeds to cover his legs with the dusty mixture before turning over onto his belly. He spends the rest of this 100 hour performance in this position, breathing heavily, blowing the powder and ash into a dusty cloud with each breath.
In his statement, he claims to be commenting on race mixing in Latin America, what is known as Mestizaje (the offspring of a Spaniard and an American Indian). Being Mestizo himself, he "analyses inter-family relationships", and "re-discovers the violence that is unavoidable in the history of the Mestizaje".
Although I truly liked the piece, I don't understand how all that is apparent in the work. I see the ash and powdered milk as symbols of race, their particles intermingling with each new breath, each inhale and exhale representing birth and death. But the powdered milk, to me, is more evocative of whiteness than the Latin or American Indian.
On a side note, I would really like to know how it is physically possible to stay awake for 100 hours without the aid of methamphetamines.
Naufus Ramirez Figueroa
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