TODOS/ WE THE PEOPLE
Henry G. Sanchez
TODOS/ WE THE PEOPLE is a bilingual (Spanish/English) participatory and collaborative video-art project that seeks to foster a newfound agency on what “citizenship” and “patriotism” means. Two-minute videos are recorded of participant responses to words flashed on a screen of terms relating to US patriotism, citizenship and values. Traditional terms are exchanged with new political language that defines human “internal” preferences as part and parcel of human and civil rights and entitlements. This mix of terms and words act as a “word association” game that allow for answers thoughtfully considered, intuitive or reactive.
This experimental project offers the residents of Houston’s East End Latino/a/x community a fun opportunity to redefine and expand the concepts, terms and vernacular associated with the United States social contract and our notions of patriotism. TODOS/ WE THE PEOPLE intention is for a relational, video art project to become part of the national dialog for a more expansive, inclusive and internal notions of what it means to be an American. TODOS is a performative video, recording the act of personal and political determinization.
To follow Sanchez’s work, visit: http://www.loccart.org/patriot-game