Artist to raise a wall ‘Made by Mexicans,’ for visitors to tear down in NYC

By Yucatan Times on July 5, 2017

A wall will go up in New York City’s Washington Square Park on Sept. 7, but come down by the end of the day.

Called “Muro,” this wall will be the artist Bosco Sodi’s first public installation in New York, in partnership with Paul Kasmin Gallery. It will be more than 6 feet high and about 26 feet long, made with 1,600 clay timbers fired in Oaxaca, Mexico, the New York Times reports.

Clay timbers in Oaxaca, Mexico, that will be used for Bosco Sodi’s installation “Muro.” CreditVia Studio Bosco Sodi

Mr. Sodi has made these timbers with the help of about 20 craftspeople in Oaxaca and has had them sent to New York by truck.

On the morning of the event, Mr. Sodi said in an interview, he is to install the wall with the help of Mexican artists and friends who live in New York. Starting around lunchtime, though, visitors — of any nationality — would take apart the wall. Each participant would be invited to take home a clay timber.

“I wanted to create a wall made by Mexicans with Mexican earth,” Mr. Sodi said. “Then the disappearance of the wall will be by the community and all kinds of people who visit the park.”

He added that many of the people with whom he fired the clay timbers had entered the United States illegally at some point in their lives, adding another layer of political significance to “Muro.”

Mr. Sodi is a Brooklyn-based artist who directs Fundación Casa Wabi, an art center in Oaxaca that combines residencies and community projects.

He will have a show at Paul Kasmin Gallery, opening in November.

Source: nytimes.com