home
Migrant Deaths
2021
Project Statement:
Loose unofficial statement :
In the novel Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luiselli, she tells her story as a translator for captive children at the US/Mexico border. She mentions an interactive map produced by HUMANEBORDERS that shows deceased migrants crossing the Arizona Desert. The humaneborders map keeps track of this data while also being practical for families to know if their loved ones did not survive the dangerous journey. The map produced by humaneborders is a rare map that has taken on the task of documenting invisible data while keeping track of a sea of data that is nearly impossible to verify. Hito Steyerl's writing about seas of data and digital noise became relevant to consider what is important to document. In this online art piece, Migrant Deaths visualizes the literal noise and unrenderable imagery of dots on GPS maps to take on the role of border patrol agents. Each white dot represents a speculative death in the Rio Grande Valley borderlands. The frame of these images is the SAMSUNG GALAXY S20, a consumer technology backed by the Border Patrol for its portability and interactive design. I am thinking of how tech is promoted as a device to connect people while also tracking people. It is not simply free to use GPS satellites as a consumer when governmental agencies fund GPS tech. Additionally, I became interested in the statement "nothing is free" when my father's job at United Launch Alliance launched the GPS satellites into space. Migrant Deaths explores the versatility of GPS. GPS is used as a tool for consumers while simultaneously having an advantage over vulnerable people.