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West Side Story Upside Down, Backwards, Sideways and Out of Focus (La Maleta de Futriaco Martínez)

Object Details

Exhibition Label
ADÁL merged snippets of West Side Story, the classic 1961 film that widely introduced stereotypes of Puerto Ricans into American popular culture, with documentary footage of Puerto Ricans in New York, readings of Nuyorican poetry by Pedro Pietri, and the music of Tito Puente and Brenda Feliciano. By slowing down, rewinding, and blurring the film footage and contaminating its narrative and soundtrack, ADÁL disrupted the storyline and exposed its social-political omissions. Embedded in a humble suitcase, the video also sheds light on the social conditions that propelled Puerto Rican migration to the mainland and partially inspired the film.
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Artist
ADÁL, born Utuado, Puerto Rico 1948-died San Juan, Puerto Rico 2020
Date
2002
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Copyright
© 2002, ADÁL
Medium
suitcase, flat-screen LCD monitor, single-channel digital video, color, sound; 12:51 minutes
Dimensions
14 x 20 x 7 in. (35.6 x 50.8 x 17.8 cm)
Type
Media Arts

Featured In

  • Latinx Art and Artists
  • Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship: Art and Artists
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