Echo Elise González
El Ojo Oculto
Mexico City, 2022
amate paper, ink, gouache, synthetic leather, chipboard, waxed string
Exhibited in Rituals of the Unseen, Casa Lu, Mexico City, February 2022
El Ojo Oculto asks us to create associations–randomly or with intent–between the divinatory images presented and our own memories, knowledge, and experiences. The pages offer and reveal links between the conscious and subconscious minds; between the inner experience and the external; between what we choose to see and what we do not. They invite us to consider themes of identity, magic, and ancestral memory, both in the context of Mexico City and in personal and individual contexts.
The pages of this book are made from amate, a paper that has been produced by indigenous peoples since the ancient, pre-Hispanic days of what is now Mexico. During the 15th century colonial period, the Spanish prohibited the manufacture of amate paper as part of a vast effort to erase indigenous histories, non-Christian practices, and historical memory.
History books, story books, and religious texts tell us what to think and see and what to believe. What does it mean to hold a book in your hands that asks you to think for yourself; that asks you to see something entirely unique; that offers you a tool to find truth in your own mind, from your own experience, memories, and associations?
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La Oreja Oculta (accompanies El Ojo Oculto)
Mexico City, 2022
sound collage: field recordings, guitar, vocals
Exhibited in Rituals of the Unseen, Casa Lu, Mexico City, February 2022
La Oreja Oculta is a sound collage produced from field recordings made in Mexico City, which have been altered, layered, and combined with guitar, vocals, and other sounds. By creating a surreal, immersive experience, this piece is meant to accompany El Ojo Oculto. It serves as a third, aural point of reference for creating associations between the mind and the pages of the book.
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