10/23/2017 1 Comment THE MONTHLY | PST | UNDOCUMENTAHeading further south, I continued my Pacific Standard Time LA/LA discussion at the Oceanside Museum of Art for their exhibition entitled UnDocumenta. Incorporating just a few artists from Latin American and the United States, this show focused on the individually personal project. Each artist only presented one to two works, however each was effectively presented as an in depth project with several elements. In this intimate setting, OMA allowed each artist to fully express their conceptually sound arguments dealing with immigration, identity, and history. Teresita De La Terre's corner of the gallery space was dedicated to her long-term piece, 365 Days in an Immigrant's Shirt (2016). Presented through photographic documentation and an accompanying zine, De La Terre tells her year long story in which she wore a ragged shirt that she found while volunteering near the California/Mexico border. Her curiosity of the shirt; where it came from, was it a man or a woman's, led her to appropriate a temporary identity. De La Terre wore the shirt everyday; to work at an administrative office, to church with her family, and even as a participant in a show at a women's center at school. The accompanying zine is filled with her drawings, concerns, and thoughts on the process. My own practical thoughts and questions were mirrored within the pages, making this performance piece eerily romantic. The dedication in taking on this identity temporarily changed De La Terre's life and that time spent was obviously racked with embarrassment and uncertainty, but also comfort and a need for understanding.
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