SEPTEMBER 9 - NOVEMBER 4, 2017
OPENING RECEPTION: SEPTEMBER 16, 6 - 9 PM
MUSEUM FREE DAY: SEPTEMBER 17, 10 AM - 5 PM
SPONSORED BY BANK OF AMERICA
PACIFIC STANDARD TIME LA/LA
SOUTH BAY & LONG BEACH HUB WEEKEND,
SEPTEMBER 23 & 24, 10 AM - 5 PM
VISIT PSTSOUTHBAYLONGBEACHHUB.ORG FOR MORE INFO
Torrance Art Museum is pleased to host the Los Angeles premiere of Yoshua Okón's Oracle, exhibited in conjunction with the Getty Pacific Standard Time LA/LA initiative. Oracle, 2015, is a three-channel video installation exploring immigration, borders and nationalism. In 2014, Oracle, Arizona was the site of a large-scale protest against the entrance of unaccompanied children from Central America into the United States. Exploring both sides of the conflict, Okón spoke with children as well as members of AZ Border Defenders, the group that orchestrated the protest. The protestors are filmed in stark contrast to the children, who sing about the 1954 US invasion of Guatemala and the involvement of the government with transnational corporations. The title also refers to Oracle Corporation, a company whose first customer was the CIA.
In 2014, Oracle, Arizona, staged the largest-yet protest against the entrance of unaccompanied children from Central America into the U.S.
Yoshua Okón spoke to the leaders who orchestrated the protest, a militia called the Arizona Border Protectors. They agreed to create staged scenes based on their extreme nationalist ideology as well as to create a live reenactment of the protest. Oracle also includes a photo of nine immigrant children singing a modified version of the US Marine's Hymn. The original hymn glorifies US invasions around the world. For the new version, the children narrate the US invasion to Guatemala placing special emphasis in the complicity of the government with transnational corporations. Oracle questions the adequacy and the relevance of nationalism in this transnational age.
Oracle is part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles, taking place from September 2017 through January 2018 at more than 70 cultural institutions across Southern California. Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.
