A Conversation with Yoshua Okón
by Habitus · 08/26/10
You are usually identified with a certain moment in Mexican contemporary art when the local scene burst onto a global stage. What changed then? What did you and your peers do differently?
It was a special moment where many things came together at once. On one hand, a very strong and cohesive scene was formed in the city. There were a lot of interesting people working very hard. We managed to create a community with a lot of dialogue and exchange. At the same time, it was a moment of paradigm shift in the world. It exactly coincided with the Internet becoming so incredibly successful and the moment of so-called globalization. Through that, we were able to incorporate ourselves into the global art scene.
In the ’70s and ’80s, Mexico City was culturally isolated. It was complicated to get access to information from the outside and for the outside to know what was happening here. There were major policy changes in that era, which was the beginning of the neoliberal era, that were really consolidated in 1994 when NAFTA was signed. The new availability of information from the outside really helped us establish bridges with the outside, which we were really anxious to do.
In some ways, the kind of video art that you started out making has a lot in common with some of the more interesting and personal things you find on YouTube.
When I started making my works, reality TV didn’t exist yet. There were many parallels. Contemporary art doesn’t reach that many people but some of our tools have now become available to everyone.
I’d like to ask about your contribution to the Jewish Identity Project. Was it a departure for you to address Jewish themes so directly? Do you think it plays a part in other aspects of your work?
No, it was definitely an exceptional moment. I have always had that conflict with my mother, who is very much into Jewish identity. I don’t even really know what that means, to be honest. I am much more interested in creating links with people based on sensibilities and more personal aspects, rather than abstract categories like nation-states or religion. I have never been comfortable within the context of the Jewish community. I don’t participate in it much in Mexico.
I think the whole premise of that project was to question a lot of conventional notions about Judaism, especially in the context of the U.S., where Judaism is really associated with Ashkenazi culture.
Why did you pick the Book of Ruth as your theme?
If you really look at the piece, you realize that the Book of Ruth was really just a starting point—an excuse, really—to arrive at a very performative moment about this particular group of Jewish-Mexican women in San Diego.
Since you chose to explore Jewish identity through this group of women, do you think the piece was also about your mother and her relationship to Judaism?
I hadn’t thought of it that way but, yes, maybe! [laughter] What makes you a Jew is your mother. I have never dated a Jewish woman in my life, so I guess my children aren’t going to be Jewish.
You live and work on both sides of the border, in Mexico City and in Los Angeles. How do those two settings impact the kind of work you do?
As an artist, I am much more interested in what makes us similar as opposed to different—in Mexico City, among Mexicans, between Mexico and the U.S. That said, as a contemporary artist, I don’t only work in these contexts. This year I have a show in Brazil, last year in Germany, another in Argentina. The reality of a contemporary artist is very global. I have produced pieces in Istanbul, Israel, Peru. I am interested in very specific aspects of each place, but at the same time I try to deal with issues that concern us all. The economy, for instance, works with a global logic that doesn’t really recognize borders. I like to go from the macro to the micro, to deal with very large issues and very specific issues simultaneously.
You have a lot to say about the city’s dysfunctions, but it seems pretty clear that you love it very sincerely as well. That’s a relationship you couldn’t have with every new place you go.
Definitely, I love this city and feel very much identified with it. That’s for sure. Some of my pieces are addressing very specific issues in this city. I have spent so much time here in my life, and that really links me deeply with this city. But in my life as an artist, I have traveled a lot and I would not like to see myself limited to being a Mexican artist.
It’s very important to have a strong and steady base. I have never liked living other places as much as I love living here, so I can’t really imagine myself living somewhere else. This is the place I like the most.
Now that your art travels all over the world, what sense of Mexico City would you like to convey to people who may never go there?
I really don’t see my work as a portrait of a city or way to understand this place. I don’t think that is a function of art, or something art can ever really do. I don’t think art is anthropology or sociology. Mexico is a hugely complex place and I am not an ambassador.
