Transgenico

Installation at Oakland Museum of California – Calli: Art of the Xicanx Peoples

Transgénico is a commentary on the appropriation of Indigenous aesthetics in popular culture and on the similarities I see with genetically modified corn. I understand both as transformations of traditional forms into commodities for mass production, operating as simulacra—copies without originals—where the original form is displaced by a commodified version. In both cases, they become sites of seduction. Xicanx viewers are drawn to the form of the corn, tortillas, and the imagery printed on the tortillas and packaging, which evokes historical origins. Upon closer inspection, they encounter the artificiality of the plastic corn and the obvious fakeness of the printed patterns, which raises questions of authenticity. This seduction also reflects my response to certain mass-produced goods, such as the garment from which I appropriated a design found on the tortillas. I was initially drawn to it, but on closer reflection I realized that the pattern combined Mexica and Inca designs into a simulacrum, a copy without an original. Similarly, GMO corn has no natural counterpart with the same genetic makeup, yet we consume it without fully reflecting on what this means for us as a people whose cultural makeup, spirituality, and identity are historically and ontologically intertwined with corn.