Hatuey, the First American Rebel
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Title: Hatuey, the First American Rebel

Material Requirements:

  • A bust of Hatuey (already in my possession).
  • Half an ounce of gold.
  • Half a kilogram of sugar.
  • One tobacco plant.
  • One liter of gasoline mixed with thaumoactive lead.
  • Three liters of bonefish blood.

Abstract: The statue will be active in periods of thirteen minutes. It will start in the fetal position, staying there for one minute. It will then slowly get up, and when fully standing, will appear to enter a contemplative state for five minutes. After this period passes, it will begin to confront non-existent individuals around it. For this reason, I recommend that there be a space of at least two meters between Hatuey, the First American Rebel and the spectators. Finally, Hatuey will appear to lose this confrontation, falling to his knees. The thaumoactive fuel will ignite, causing the work of art to be completely engulfed in flames. These will last approximately one minute, and when they are extinguished, the sculpture will be in the fetal position again, ready to begin the cycle anew.

Intent: Hatuey, the First American Rebel is a statement about the effects that imperialism had on the population of the Caribbean in general and Cuba in particular. My responsibility and objective is to raise awareness about the cruelty and exploitation to which we were subjected during Spanish colonization and American intervention.

Therefore, I have decided to extract a fragment of the hupia1 of Hatuey himself from among the ethereal masses of Coaybay.2 I have gathered different objects representative of what the colonizers were looking for in Cuba: the gold that the conquistadores coveted and the tobacco and sugar from the plantations. These are symbols of oppression that have been marked in the collective spirit and will attract the rage of Hatuey's spirit. Once it is certain that the soul of the American rebel is nearby, it will be trapped and placed in a bronze statue which bears the likeness of the Taíno leader. To this end, three concentric necromantic rituals and three liters of fish blood are prepared to keep it at bay. Upon following these steps, the statue becomes an inhabited and mobile body. Once in this state I have induced certain commands in the sculpture that will activate and carry out the actions detailed in the abstract above.

With this piece I want the public to grasp the horror and humiliation that Hatuey suffered in his life. And since it is a potentially infinite cycle of repetitions of the same acts, the viewer is also made aware of the number of times this violence was carried out. Between 80 and 90% of the Taíno population in the Caribbean died due to Spanish colonization. This work will never fully represent all these deaths, but I am sure it will give people a more complete mental image of the magnitude of the catastrophe.





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