The Line on the Map by Ignacio Evangelista

Public Story

The Line on the Map

Copyright Ignacio Evangelista 2024

Updated May 2021

Topics Border, Borders, Borderwall, Civil Rights, Confrontation, Desert, Documentary, Environment, Fence, Hope, Human Rights, Immigration, Latin America, Mexico, Migration, Photography, Politics, Wall

In this series, are shown several areas of the border between Mexico and U.S.A. crossed by the border fence. This wall crossing the territory generates disturbing and contradictory images: in some places it forms the backyard of many homes; in the natural landscapes suggests a strange mixture of modern Chinese wall, panoptic and Land Art piece. Paradoxically, showing the wall without people, emphasizes its coercive character and the huge imbalance between the power of the states and their relationship with individuals.
When we look at a map, we can see the boundary lines marking the borders between different states. Obviously, these lines are mental constructs that are not physically registered in the territory. However, in the case of the northwestern border between Mexico and the United States, that imaginary line becomes tangible in the form of border wall. The fence I’ve been photographing in this project IS the line of the map. This series was made during a residence program by Centro de Arte de Alcobendas, in Hermosillo (Sonora, Mexico).

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Ignacio Evangelista

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