Essay

CANTÚ, MARIELA

EXHIBITION CATALOG N°6 ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES PROJECT

University of California

Lugar: San Diego; Año: 2009; p. 30 - 37

At a time when discourse is marked by the weight of supposed globalization, the lines that demarcate territorial limits and borders become more and more ferocious. Faced with the idea of a world where frontiers are crossed at the speed of telecommunications, the utopia of a technological Esperanto and easier ways of moving from place to place requires much deeper analysis. The refugees, the displaced populations, people who are not literate and indigenous peoples offer silent testimony about the state we?re in.Against this background, the Anti-Personnel Mines Project, by Argentine artist Carlos Trilnick, approaches these questions directly, although not unequivocally. The work reflects specifically on the use of anti-personnel mines as one of the more devastating weapons of war, not only because of its frightening effectiveness in conflicts, but above all because of its lethal nature even decadesafter conflicts end. The limits imposed by them are not only physical (the mined fields are transformed into impassable land), but also economic (fields become infertile and cattle also fall victim to these devices) and symbolic (as people are forced to flee out of fear that they will be killed walking on grounds they once called home).