Latin American Artists' Information:
Cildo Meireles (Brazil)
Meireles uses a unique method of expression that he calls "insertions" to circumvent the Brazilian government. In one work he silkscreened messages onto Coca-Cola bottles and returned them to the factory to be disinfected, refilled, and redistributed. The artist's message only showed when the bottle was full. He also created fake money with political messages and spent the money so it would be in circulation. He calls the Coke bottles and the fake money "insertions" because they were inserted into society using economic systems like currency and consumer products. Meireles said, “The insertions are not industrial objects replacing art, but art objects behaving like industrial objects”.
Eugenio Dittborn (Chile):
Dittborn, like Meireles, uses an unusual manner to circulate his art in society. This work is part of his Airmail Paintings where he creates images on paper that is folded and mailed several times. The paper is flexible, lightweight, and inexpensive, making it possible to send the art images anywhere. The postmarks show the history of the artwork's travel and become part of the work itself. By sending art through the postal system, Dittborn is able to easily and cheaply send art out of Chile without being noticed and is actually using "the system" that would normally work against him to express himself.
The photographs are of people who have disappeared in Chile under the military government. The printed image of Jose Guadalupe Posada’s hanged man dates back to the Mexican Revolution. The artist is drawing a connection between both victims in history. Dittborn says that he hoped to “salvage memory within a political climate that attempted to erase virtually every trace of it.”
