The New World Border: Prophecies for the End of the Century Author(s): Guillermo Gmez-Pea Reviewed work(s):

Source: TDR (1988-), Vol. 38, No. 1 (Spring, 1994), pp. 119-142 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1146360 . Accessed: 10/12/2011 01:01
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The

New

World

Border

for prophecies the end of the century

Guillermo G6mez-Pena

If I had known, I wouldn'thavegone. -Columbus When the worldwas ours, you took it awayfrom us. When the worldwas yours, you didn't want to share it. Now that the worldis ours again you are tryingto dressand act like we do. What'swrongwith you Teules? -MoctezumaJr. Everythingis changingand movingsofast that we don't have time to our will confront immediate past. Soon everything be new. -East Germanpsychiatrist No one or everyoneshould be named. -Moira Roth Freshwater from Canada and cheapoilfrom Mexico, all servedin an American glass. The perfectFree Trade Cocktail,caramba. -From an ad by the FRA Commission Too much (concept); too little (movement). and -The Washington Post

The Drama Review 38, 1 (T14I),

Spring 1994. Copyright ? 1994

New YorkUniversity and the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology.

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GuillermoCGmez-Pena

GOMEZ-PENA:How wouldyou define Angeles? Los BOB WISDOM:It could Beirut.It could utopia.We'llknow be be nextweekend. To my adoredgrandmother Carmen, who was bor with the century and who will hopefullylive to see the birth of the next century. Her eyes have seen it all. PROGRAM NOTES: This performance partof "The Year of the White Bear,"an interdiscipliis created by G6mez-Peiia in collaborationwith Coco Fusco, nary project and cosponsored by the Walker Art Center. Versions of The New World Border have been performedin Minneapolis,Iowa City, Chicago, Washington, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco,SantaCruz, Portland,Seattle, Atlanta,Boulder, Denver, San Antonio, New York, Hamburg, London, SanJuan, and Mexico City. live the opening night performance. Ideally,a local radio stationbroadcasts Its open structureallows for other collaboratorsand media to enter the piece at differenttimes. An adaptationfor television directed by Chicano filmmaker Daniel Salazar on the works and will be readyfor distribution is by SeptemberI994. CREDITS: Writtenand directedby GuillermoG6mez-Peiia Performedby Coco Fusco (Miss Discovery 93) and Guillermo G6mezPefia (El Aztec High-Tech) Soundtrack: AdalbertoArcos, GuillermoG6mez-Peiia,Coco Fusco TechnicalDirector/RoadManager: Roberto Sifuentes of G6mez-Pefiaand Fusco: Nola Mariano(CircuitNetwork) Manager Mucho muy specialthanksto: Kathy Halbreich, John Killacky, Julie Voight and Gary Garrels (The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis);Jennifer Turco (UC Boulder); Marda Kir (ColoradoDance Festival,Boulder);Kim Chan (WPAS-Washington); Encaracion Teruel and CarlosTortolero (MexicanFine Arts Center, Chicago); Peter Taub (Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago); Peter Sellars and ClairePeeps (L.A. Festival); Julie Lazare(MOCA, Los Angeles);Catherine Lord (UC Irvine); Nola Mariano, Kim Ima, and Danny Salazar.Each of these individuals and organizationsparticipatedin the creation of "The Year of the White Bear." Glossaryof "Borderismos" was firstdetectedby Amigoization This processof happyMexicanization GranVato Jose Antonio Burciaga,Ministerof Information the seceding of Republikof Berkeley. Anacaona Taina queen, enslavedand killed by Columbus.Sorry! Art-maggeddon The end of the world accordingto the art world, or the end of the art world itself. Aztec High-Tech, El Undercover antrop6loco, apocalypticdisc-jockey and cross-cultural salesman. He also goes by the dubious names of "The Warriorfor Gringostroika," and "El Charrollero." "Supermojado," often call him Guermo Go-Mex Pifia. Gringos Aztlan The "originalland" in Aztec mythology. According to Chicano poets it is located in the U.S. Southwest.

This process is also known by sociologists as Borderization "calcutization" or "third-worldization." Chica-lango Half Chicano and half "chilango" (derogative term for a Mexico City native). Culti-multuralism An Esperantic Disney worldview in which all cultures, races, and sexes live happily together. Coined by Post-Chicano antrop6loco Robert Sanchez. Empty-V After "Reali-TV" the second largest media conglomerate on the planet. Free Taco Agreement An innovative economic initiative designed by The

I. From the New World Borderfamily series, "TheEnd of the CenturyFamily":Miss Discovery(Coco Fusco, left), El Charo-Vero (GuillermoG6mezPefa, center),and mother(right)in Mexico City, I992. (Photo of courtesy Guillermo G6mez-Peia)

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GuillermoG6mez-Pefia

PressRelease
(This text was meant to both be published in the programand distributedas a conceptual"pressrelease"to local newspapers.) In 1991, PresidentBelse-Bush appointed a Quincentenary Fiesta Bureau (QFB) to link the alleged "discovery"of the New World with the fiction of the New World Order. Superstar ChristyColumbus was designatedthe Bureau'ssymbol of a kinder, gentler expansionism and Free TradeArt. La Appointedhead of the Bureau was Queen "Chavela" Cat6lica of (Isabella Castille),a leading impresarioof the EuropeanCommon Market,together with her mentor, the deposed British dictatorMaThatcher. Spanish Holy Inquisition Leader Torque-mamada margaret was appointed head of the United Nations Security Council. Although his post was meant to be symbolic, he has crossedthe border between representation Reality#I on severaloccasionsto punish and countries,communities,and artistswho violate QFB rulings. group of unemployed propagandaexperts to form Discovery Productions. Among its members were General Antonio Noriega, Augusto Pinochet, Oliver North, Jesse Helms, Hilton Kramer, John Gotti, and the Pope. In the past years, their covert activities have of rangedfrom money launderingto the falsification Indian treaties, the expansionof the transnational network, and the black maquiladora marketsale of Pre-Columbian Colonial Art. and The QFB in collaborationwith NAFTA has hired dozens of the best performance artistsin the New World to host Discovery Productions programs.These official artistsimpersonatekey historical figuresfrom Discovery legends on television, and in film and adverIn I992, Inquisitor Torque-mamada brought together a secret

Chicano Secret Service. Its main objective is the productionand distribution of free tacos to the starvinggringo minorities. Funkahuatl The Aztec god of funk. Alter ego of Lost Angeles Ruben Guevara. performantli Ganga From the English word "gang."A term coined by the U.S. Police Departmentto describeall people of color under I8. Gring6latra He/she who adoresgringos. movement that advocatesthe comGringostroika A continentalgrassroots economic and culturalreformof U.S. anarcho-capitalism. plete Hanging chickens, Los In the I9th century, the sinister Texas Rangers and a white supremacist named the White Caps used vigilanteorganization to lynch migrantworkers, who to this day are referred as "pollos."Any to other political,metaphysical, of erotic, or artisticinterpretation the chickens is welcomed by the author. hangingonstage Horror Vacui Please ask Umberto Eco or Baudrillard. of Jaina Spanglization "honey."Sweetheart,novia, torta,etc. Kilombo Independent micro-republicscreated by runawayslaves in the 17th and i8th centuries. Mexkimo A polarMexican. Mexkimo settlementsare found in what used

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I23

tisement. Some examples: Cabeza de Polio, the Spanish explorer somewhere between Floridaand Texas, promotesshamangone bnrjo istic tours for new age gringos in the American Southeast. La Malinche, aka, "the first bilingualsecretaryof the Americas,"hosts various Reali-TV shows in seven languagesincluding Ndhuatland Arawak. Program topics range from "Cultural Transvestism" and "SafeInterracial Sex" to "Esperanto Lessonsfor the New World Order Businessman." Saint Frida Kahlo has a very popular aerobics show on Empty-V called "Mexercise." Indian princess Pocahontas advertizesMarlboro and Te-saco Oil. ConquistadorPizarrospearheads the "Sayno to drugsand yes to foreigninvestment"campaign. Heman Cortes and his disciple GeneralSchwarzkopf touring the are continent to promote positive images of war. Many nations have hired them as militaryadvisors.Interactivevideos of these exciting Free Trade Art performers be obtainedby simply dialing I (800) can NAFT-ART. Opposition to these activitiesis widespread.The presidentsof various seceding Republics have hired cross-cultural salesmanEl Aztec High-Tech and his jaina pop semioticianMiss Discovery 93 to promote a Free Art Agreement/Tratado Libre Culturaamong the acde tivist artists of the New World Border. Their countercultural activitiesinclude live performances such as this one, interactivemultimedia installations,pirate radio and TV broadcasts,and electronic town meetings. Their appearance this city was sponsored by the in Affairsof Aztlan, Inc. Any complaints Ministry of Counter-Cultural regarding this presentation may be addressed to your local And remember,if you attend the perforGringostroika representative. mance dressed as your favorite "culturalother," you can enter for free.

to be Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and British Columbia. Coined by Chicago poet CarlosCumpian. Miss Discovery, La Undercover pop semiotician and beauty queen. She also goes by the names of "LaTaina del Norte," "LaYemaya de Loisaida," and Coco Fusco. The Taino Indianswere the original inhabitantsof the Caribbean. Yemayais the Afro-Brazilian goddess of the oceans. Othercide The murderingof otheress. Performantli An Aztec traditionof experi-mental performance. Pocho He/she who bastardizes Spanishlanguageand Mexican aesthetics. Well-known pochos include the members of "Culture Clash," "The Chicano SecretService,"Rene Yanez, and G6mez-Peiiahimself Post-CNN Chicano Art A new techno-rascuache aestheticthat fuses epic art, rap poetry, performance interactivevideo, holographicradio, and computer art with a Chicanocentric perspective. Pus-modernity Infected modernity. Coined by robo-razaII impresario aka Rogelio Villareal, "el principemalditodel D.F. underground." Saint Frida (Kahlo) Holy Patronessof ethno-feminists. Sexual Democracia A LatinAmericanversion of democracyin which politicaldecisionsare made accordingto sexualdesire.

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GuillermoG6mez-Peia

2. GuillermoG6mez-

Pena dresses perforhis mancespaceof the New World Border at The Spacein Boston i99i icons with the stereotypical of Mexico: votivecandles, incense,and threedead chickens withfeathers. (Photo courtesy The of

?0"4..

Space)
Spanglization A continental infection for which there is no antidote. Television White people's freedom of speech during the pre-gringostroika years. Vatoman Chicano Batman. A colleague of"Supermojado." White list A secret list that includes members of the opposition to the New World Border as well as militant monoculturalists. Coined by antrop6locos Robert Sanchez and Richard Lou. COSTUMES: G6mez-Peiia-Ritual face makeup, mariachi pants and hat, earrings, Aztec chest piece, snake boots, 3-D glasses, low-rider glasses, bandanna, black gloves, heavy metal bracelets, and an assortment of masks and wigs (see photos). Coco Fusco-Ritual face makeup, Afro-centric wig, plastic Taina suit, sneakers, tropical glasses and masks (see photos). PROPS: Smog mask, "Caucasian" masks, "Indian" mask, blond wig, rubber heart, boxing gloves, a machete, a soccer ball, a shampoo bottle, gauze. The following items must be obtained by the space: Two small tables, two chairs, a lecter, 50 votive candles, incense, rope, a medical skeleton, and two dead chickens with feathers, head and feet. We also need three cardboard signs with instructions for the audience: LAUGH! APPLAUSE! and EXPRESS OUTRAGE! EQUIPMENT: Two ghetto blasters, three mikes (one of them must be wireless), a battery-

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to operatedmegaphone,theatrelights, a sound mixer with capabilities alter the voice, a sound system, an "ON THE AIR" sign. STAGE DESIGN: We are in a bizarreradio studio somewhere in the immediatefuture. The feeling of the space is ceremonial.An "ON THE AIR" sign hangs to the left. A lectem standson the right. The human skeleton hangs upstagecenter as a Christ-like figure and the chicken downstagecenter. The chairsare downstage center and upstage center (high on a platform) next to each chair there is a small table for props. There are two portabletape players: one under the chicken which plays "Radiorama" in programs differentlanguages,and the other one on top of the downstagecenter table to be operated by EL AZTEC HIGH-TECH. The candlesdivide the stage from the audience. PRE-PERFORMANCE EVENT IN THE LOBBY: MISS DISCOVERY and EL AZTEC HIGH-TECH walk around with a basket collecting objects from the audience. He has a ghetto blasterwith Latinorock. They speakin Spanishand tongues: Is there anythingyou would like to give away?Anythingyou don't reallyneed. Please,feel free to give me money, IDs, condoms, keys, a be poem, a creditcard,your pain, your anger,etcetera...Just sure you don't need what you're partingwith to face the end of the 20th centhe and tury. In some performances, audiencewas "segregated" seated accordingto their racialbackgroundand degree of bilingualism. At 7:50 P.M. EL AZTEC HIGH-TECH and MISS DISCOVERY go inside theatre.They begin to walk rituallyaround the stage. He has portable tape player#I on his shoulder.Every now and then they kneel or squatin front of the skeletonand the chicken, performing"indigenous" chantswith corporatewords interspersed. Once the audiencehas completed the seating process, the two performers then proceedto take their seats.BLACKOUT. The literaryscript...

Intro
in intertwined corporate with De GP/NORMAL: (Speaks tongues words) Volada Productionspresentsa live broadcastfrom (nameof the citywhere perforthe mance takes on Miento.This is not a perplace) (dateof the actual performance). formance, but a cue to cue rehearsal.Miento.This is an authentic Indian ritual.Miento.This is a techno-town meeting. Fuck it! This is what it is. Chingao'! Hey man, pay attention,the South is talkingto you...

Prophecy #I: The Fin de SiecleSociety

(GP howls) Shadeof Brown) (Music: by Lighter Rap and GP/LOW-RIDERDISC-JOCKEY (Suavecito breathy): Hello queridos,

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GuillermoG6mez-Pena

3. Miss Discoverysegregates the audienceby race and languageskills at the RandolphStreetGallery in Chicago,January I993 duringa New World Border performance. (Photocourtesy of RandolphStreetGallery)

aficionados, perplexed citizens of the antrop6logos yuppies, turistas,voyeauristas, end of the century. This is the voice of EL AZTEC HIGH-TECH broadcasting from the heights of WXYZ-FM, 93 megahertz above reality. I'm the representative of The Liberated Republic of Aztlin in the signing of of an Accorddu Free Cultura among the artistas/activistas the New World Border. I'm here with La Miss Discovery 93, la chavamds loca de Cuba Yorkin a tour across the Americas. reconquista

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I warn you. This ain't performance but pure Chicano science-fiction. art comenzamos translation sin cha-cha! Anygueyes, Y ahora,nuestracorresponsal los EstamosUndidos.... en Chilean by LosElectrodomesticos) rock (Music: under chicken, the and bottle, doeswolfand mon(GP kneels drinksfrom shampoo keysounds) CF/ANCHORWOMAN (withecho):Imagine a new American continent without borders. It's a continent that has become a huge border zone. Think of it as the New World Border. We are living in the age of pus-modemity,blisteringfesteringpresent.In a these times, all known political systems and economic structuresare dysfunctional.They are being reformed,replaced,or destroyed.Many see this as the era of la desmodernidad, a term that comes from the Mexican noun which can mean either being without a mother or living in desmadre, chaos. The GreatFiction of a social orderhas evaporated and has left us in a state of meta-orphanhood.We are all finally untranslatablehijos de la chingada. de da-da. GP/FRENCH ACCENT: Lesenfants la chingada Pre-recorded in Quechua) chants (Music: the chicken. counts CF o1 (GP stands andaddresses hanging up downfrom to o in position.) military GP/DRAMATIC and SLOW (to thechicken): Yes, we are linked by imaginarynetworks...[CF:Io]...membersof a fictionalsociety, no longer defined or by ethnicity,ideology, nationality, languagebut by time. [CF: 9] of Yes, the only recognizableparameters this emerging society are "ruptures," i.e., the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Baghdad genocide, the L.A. insurrection.... [CF: 8] Yes, I roam aroundthis shattered puzzle in a state of acute apendejamiento (from the Mexican noun pendejo, [CF: 7] o sea stupid;and the verb mentir, meaningto lie). en Yes, I'm lying to you [CF: 6] extranjero tu propio pais. No, we don't lie together. In the end, we never lie together, vecinos abismales [CF: 5] still undiscovered to one another, el othercide [CF: 4] digo,the murderingof otherness.[CF: 3] Es triste,tristisimo. yearslater, Columbus and Queen Anacaona[CF: 500 each other, each mother, each madre,[CF: I] la 2] still cannot understand fuckin' desmadre. o] tuya,que [CF: (Music stops) Is GP/RADIO EVANGELIST (withmegaphone): this utopia or dystopia? Are we closer to Catholic heaven or capitalist hell? Is this re-a-li-ty peror formance? Can anyone answer?! Can anyone tell me which countrywe are in? (Screaming) I can't hearyou!! I can'thearyou!! Can CF/AIRLINE HOSTESS (overlapping): anyone answer?Can anyone answer?(Continues sevenseconds next text.) into repeating question every Mexican radio And the worst of all, Godzilla GP/NASAL (old-fashioned voice): and El Santoare nowhere to be found, nowhere to be found, nowhere to be found....

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Prophecy #II: La Gringostroika

(Music: "Honky Tango"by Argentineband, Les Lutiers) (GP sits on chair,puts on holographic glasses.) GP/NASAL (nervousand veryfast): In the wake of the stormy changes in the ex-Soviet block, the winds of Gringostroika have reached every corer of our continent. Can we still call it "ours"?Who are "we" anyway? Geopolitical borders have faded away. Due to the implementation of a Free Raid Agreement, and the creation of an untranslatable Zona de Libre Cogercio,the nations formerly known as Canada, The U.S., and Mexico have merged painlessly to create the new Federation of U.S. Republics. FUSR is controlled by a Master Chamber of Commerce, a Department of Transnational Tourism, and a Media Junta. The role of the presidents is now restricted to PR, and the role of the military has been reduced to guarding banks, TV stations, and art schools. No se me asusteguey! The immediate effects of this integration are spectacular: The monocultural territories of the disbanded United States, commonly known as have become drastically impoverished, leading to massive miGringolandia, gration of unemployed wasp-backsto the South. All major metropolises have been fully borderized.In fact, there are no longer visible cultural differences between Toronto, Manhattan, Chicago, Lost Angeles, or Mexico Cida. They all look like downtown Tijuana on a Saturday night. (GP/NASAL slowly turnsinto DRUNK.) The First World-slash-Third World-slash-geopolitical distinctions, vestiges of an outdated colonialist vocabulary, have completely overlapped. The legendary U.S.-Mexico borderline, affectionately known as "The Tortilla Cur-

4. At Cal Arts in Valencia,CA (February

1992),

El Aztec High-

Tech (G6mez-Pena)and Miss Discovery(Coco Fusco)presenttheirversion of the conquestto a bunch gringos. of multicultural (Photoby Rachel Slowensky)

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I29

tain"no longer exists. Pieces of the greatTortillaare now sentimentalsouvenirs hangingon the bedroom walls of idiotic touristslike you. The hundredsof thousandsof Mexican POWs imprisonedfor jaywalking in the Southwest have finally been released. Some of them now ocGran Vato cupy importantgovernmentpositions. Acd,for example, servidor Charro-llero kiddin'. (GP stands andwalkstoward (Pause.)...just up audience.) GP/MEGAPHONE: Lights! An undocumented Mexican and a Cuban and are mulatta,invited by [name organization citywhere of theyareperforming] Have the TV camerasarrived? seeking politicalasylumin [nameof country]. (Blackout.) to (GP on lecter. CF translates simultaneously Gringonol.) GP/THICK LATINO ACCENT (with big smile): (He clearshis throat.) have been proclaimed official languages, lingua Spanglishand Gringonol franca.The controversialSpanglishOnly Initiativethat in 1992 outlawed the use of English in the Southwest quickly spreadthroughout the entire Federation.It's mind-blowing. Televisa, CNN, and CBC have joined to createReali-TV,the largestmedia empire of the globe, in chargeof broadcasting the daily New World Orders. Their slogan is "TV or not to be, that is the question!" And as if this weren't enough, United, American, and Continental Airlines gave up their hegemony to new and more Airlinesand the amazingAlaschingonometric companiessuch as Mexicanada Shuttle...Arethere any questions? kan-Patagonian El CF/GRINGO ACCENT (misspelled): spanglish el gringonolhan sido y proclamadas lenguasoficiales,linguafranca. La controverssial SpanglishOnly Iniciativa en 1992 prohibi6 uso del inglesen el Southwest, se extendi6 el que Es rdpidamenti todalafederaci6n. mind-blowing.Televisa, CNN, y CBC por se han unidoparacrear de de mas Reali-TV, el imperio los medios comunicacion de los grandedelplaneta,a cargo transmitir New World Orders cadadia. Su es eslogan "TV or not TV, esa es la pregunta.Y comosi estofuera poco, las lineas aereasde United, American, y Continental cedieron hegemonia su a mas nuevasy chingonometricas Mexicanada Aviaci6ny el como de companias Shuttle... Hay alguna sorprendenti Alaskan-Patagonian pregunta? noises soundbed.) as (CF doesfart GP/SLOW DRUNK: Ay!... Reality looks and feels like a cyberpunkfilm codirectedby Jose Marti and Ted Turner on acid; and I, little post-Mexican romanticwith my permanentpoetical erection, cannot help but to ask out loud: Are we closer than ever to Art-maggeddon are we merely expeor riencing the birth pains of the new millennia?Am I exaggeratingor are you out of it? CF: (Interrupts.) up you Chicanocentric Shut You theoreticalminorpedero! this pirateradiobroadcast been has ity!... (Hertonebecomes apologetic.) Sorry, authorizedby the Departmentof Transnational Tourism. Whiteout please! (Blackout.)

Prophecy #III: Neo-Natonalism

salute.GP stands behind (CF deliversfascist lecter.) CF/MILITARY CHANT: New World Order, New Disorder, New Word Order, Free TradeArt, Utopia, Utopia 93...(in loop). with (GP doesfascist sounding tongues megaphone.)

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5. From the New World Border seriesinstallment at the WalkerArt Center in Minneapolis(1992) Miss Discovery(Coco Fusco)auctionsoff the Third World.(Photo by Glenn Halvorsen) 6. The Warrior for Guillermo Gringostroika, G6mez-Pena, makes his sentiments anti-colonial known duringNew World Border at the Art Center, MinWalker neapolis.(Photo by Glenn Halvorsen)

GP/ULTRA-MILITANT VOICE WITH REVERB: We witness a resurgence of ultranationalist movements together with the rise of the New World Border globalist rhetoric. Quebec, Puerto Rico, Aztlin, South Central Los Angeles, Yucatan, Panama, and all Indian nations have managed to secede from the new Federation of U.S. Republics. Independent micro-republics are popping up everywhere at the blink of an eye. Verbigratia: (Music: Popol Vuh) The twin cities of San Dollariego and Tijuana have united to form the Maquiladora Republic of San Diejuana. Hong Kong relocated to Baja California to constitute the powerful Baja-Kong, the world's greatest producer of pom and tourist kitsch. The cities of Lost Angeles and Tokyo share a corporate government calledJapangeles, in charge of overseeing all the financial operations of the Pacific Rim. The Republik of Berkeley is the only Marxist-Leninist nation left on the globe. The Caribbean populations of the East Coast, including Nuyo Rico and Cuba York, have merged to form the Independent Pan-Carib Nation. They willingly accept refugees from Haiti and Miami. Florida and Cuba now share a corporate junta that holds the cryptic name Lenin, Mas Canosa & Associates. The nation/city of Mexico D.F. (Detritus Defecalis) now Tesmogtitldn(from the nahuatl nouns tesmog,pollution, and titldn, place) with its 50 million inhabitants and its 800 square miles is presently negotiating its independence from FUSR. FUSR...FUSR...FUSR... GP AND CF: (Whispering.) soundsof clock.) (Pre-recorded VOICE (oversound system): If you guys don't like it here, why don't you go back to where you came from? masks. CF begins text in French. CP si(GP and CF put on their "Caucasian" into English with Frenchaccent.) translates multaneously sur historique la paix CF/ACADEMIC VOICE: Le mois dernier,le conference s'est multiculturelle passe dans plusieursvilles de la Frontieredu Nouveau Monde.

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Toutes villesont ete connectes la technologie video-satellite. les du etait par L'objectif de commencerprocesses le de douloureux resoudre resentiments les et inter-ethniquela ont Quatreprincipes hysterie ont et creepar le gringostroika. qui importants ete cite etablis.Je verbatum: GP/FRENCH ACCENT: Simultaneoustranslation:Last month, the historic Multicultural Peace Conference took place simultaneously numerin ous cities of the New World Border, all interactivelyconnected through video-satellitetechnology. The objective was to begin the painful process of working out the interethnicresentmentsand crosscultural hysteriacreated by Gringostroika. Four importantprincipleswere established.I quote verbatum: soccer and threatens timesto kickit into ball, (GPgoesto center stage, positions four whilesubvocalizing text.) theaudience CF's CF/COMPUTER VOICE: I. No nation, community, or individual can claim racial,sexual,or aestheticpurity. in 2. Starting January '95, all borderson the Americancontinent will be of will be required. open. No passport the 3. All nationswill operatewith only one currency: mighty peso. 4. Membersof monoracialminoritiesof Europeandescent must be granted education. equalrights,voting power, and a free multicultural a de CF/FRENCH NEWSCASTER: On a demande tousles membres FUSR cesprincipes Ceux qui ne veulent accepter regles les d'implementer ipsofacto. pas un sufriront blocage dixit,Reali-TV, economique. Magister caput! All GP/FRENCH ACCENT: (Translating simultaneously) members of the FUSR have been asked to implement these principlesimmediately.Those who do not comply will be punished with embargo. Magister dixit, RealiTV, caput! (Blackout.) CF/COMPUTER VOICE: Before we continue with this broadcast, I want everyone to repeat after me: "This is art (pause); this is not reality is no longer real.Thank you. Gracias. DankeSchin." (pause). Reality (Theaudiencefollows instructions.)

Prophecy #IV: The Melting Plot vs. the Menudo Chowder

on Seatedon chair,GP drinksfrom bottle, (Lights the audience. shampoo puts on blond wig, andasksaudience:) GP/GENTLE VOICE: Are there any non-Anglo Europeansin the audience? Can you pleaseraiseyour hands?(CF counts them.) British-Hindu by Apachi (Music: rap Indian) She touches headsof audience the members while (CF walksinto the audience. their or text accents guessing nationality race.GP delivers changing abruptly.) inGP/PACHUCO: Hello raza.This is the voice of Gran VatoCharrollero terruptingyour coitus as always. Tonight's broadcastis about migration... my gration! GP/NASAL:This new society is characterized mass migrationsand biby zarre interracialrelations. As a result of this, new hybrid identities are

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emerging. All Mexican citizens have turned into Chicanos or Mexkimos and all Canadians have become Chicanadians. GP/GRINGO: Everyone is now a borderigena, meaning a native of the
great border region. According to TransnationalGeographic Magazine, 70%

leastfour racialmixtures.

that 9o% can be technically considered mesti-mulatta, is the product of at who GP/LATINO: Such is the case of the crazy Chicarricuas, are the products of Puertorrican-mulatto Chicano-mestizoparents;and also the inand numerableGermanchurians descend from the union of West Germans who and Manchurian Chinese.
(Song ends. CF goes backto her chair.)

of the populationin the New World Border is undocumented,and up to

marriesa Hasidic GP/CANTINFLAS-LIKEVOICE: When a Chicaricua Jew their child is called Hasidicvato loco.And when a displaced Belgian marriesa Chicano, the offspringis called Belga-chica, which loosely translatesas "littlewinnie."
Among the other significantly large half-breed groups are the Anglomalans, the Afro-Croatians and the Jap-talians, many of whom I see here tonight. It's lovely and very, very post-Columbian, Culombian, may I say, say...meltingplot. (Music:shamanistic yodelingfromPanama.) (GP squats in front of hanging chickenand screamsvery loudly every 10 seconds whileslowly takingoff wig.) CF (with echo): (Go-go dancing)We've replaced the bankrupt notion of the melting plot with a model that is more germane to the times, that of the menudo chowder. According to this model, most of the ingredients do melt, but some stubborn chunks are condemned merely to float. The Euro-Americans who resisted interracial love became a nomadic minority and eventually ended up migrating South to work for maquiladoras and fast-food restaurants. They get paid less than 200 pesos an hour. They are derogatively referred to as waspanos, waspitos, wasperos or waspbacks. These downtrodden people's basic rights are constantly violated, and there is no embassy to defend them. This alarming "Anglophobia" is based on an absolute fallacy-that "they" have come to take "our" jobs. But the truth is that no hybrid in his or her right mind, including me, would work for such lousy wages. He the (GP stands up, drinksshampoo,and acts disoriented. addresses chicken.) GP/DRUGGIE: Ay, your past is gone for good; my past is gone for good... help me! Estoy perdido....

CF: (Interrupting) Translation please!

GP: ...al nortede un sur inexistente.Me captascavemicola,mex-plico?

CF: Translation please!

(GP does neanderthal sounds.)

CF: (Angry) Translation please!!

GP: OK, OK. Spanish lesson #5. Falsa democracia? CF: Translation please! (Someonefromthe audiencetranslates.)

New WorldBorder 133

GP: Sexual Democracia? CF: Translation please! GP: U.S.A. te usa... CF: Translation please! GP: Censurano-escultura... CF: Translation please! GP: Un Mexicanoen E.U. es comoun turcoen Alemania. CF: Translation please! GP: Guera-moment guera... CF: Translation please! GP: Me cagoen el Nuevo OrdenMundial... CF: Translation please! (GP says somethingin tongues.) CF: Translation please! a GP/DIDACTIC: Repeat with me. Los norteamericanos no aprendieron que total. No podian encontrar una marginacion hablarespaiol sufrieron trabajo en las y se retrasados mentales.Aqui con nosotrosen el escuelasmultirraciales les consideraba estudio4 tenemosa variosejemplos de...(Blackout.)

7. GuillermoGomezPefa as the discjockeyof the 3rd Apocalypsein a of performance New World Border at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, I992. (Photoby Isaac Artenstein) 8. Members Robo Raza of (Leftto right: Gregorio Rivera, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, and Bart Uchida)worshipat the altarduringPerformance Jamming Session at Boston'sThe Spacein I991. (Photoby Chuck Meyer)

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GuillermoG6mez-Pena

Prophecy #V: Robo-Raza

(GP puts on "Indian mask" & CF puts on the blond wig. GP kneels and CF stands behindhim.) radioshow.) (Music:excerptfrom"Norte/Sur" text.) (CF mouthsthen both chantpre-recorded CF: (Mouthing) Due to pressure from the Mexican Secretariade Turismo, Huichol and Chamula Indian crafts must remain authentic, at least until
I995.

GP AND CF: Authentic Art, Authentic Nostalgia, Quality Control. Authentic Art, Authentic Nostalgia, Quality Control (repeat).
#I: Fito Paez. Note: These abruptand loud music interrup(Music interruption tions are meant to createthe sensation that "someone there" is sabotagingthe up show. During them, GP mouths inaudiblethingsto the audienceand screams the at while CF raisescardboard to technicians, signs with instructions the audiencesuch as or "Laugh!" "Lookoutraged."GP danceslike a Hollywood "Indian"around CF. CF stands behindlectern.)

CF (in English) AND GP (in tonguesand Calo): A lecture on American pop multiculture. Simultaneous translation: The new transcontinental youths are global culture cyborgs. Their style of dress is a combination of lowrider nostalgia, futuristic heavy metal, and "pomo-ethnic" details appropriated from many officially sanctioned traditions. Generically called robo-raza,they rarely love, talk, laugh, or cry. They are aloof, slim, very stylized, and gor#2: song by Maldita Vecindad)When they geous-looking. (Music interruption speak, they use one language, a blend of Spanglish, Frangle, and Portunol, borrowed from Chinese, Tagalo, corporate, spiced with calo and borderismos and media jargon. Due to their fluency in this trans-border esperanto, a youngster from Sao Paulo has no problem understanding a teen from say Montreal or San Diejuana. However, neither one of them could understand this presentation since it is written for the most part in academic Mexican English. To them I am merely a monostat, which literally means "a talkative mono-cultural old fart." Since English is now considered Lingua Poluta, this presentation might even be perceived by some of you as a counter-revolu#3: tionary act. (Musicinterruption song by Fito Paez) The robo-razashang out in gangas (such as the postmoder ninja-tortasor the floating greasers).When the robo-razas not sleeping or hanging out in are the Mall of Oblivion, they are tuned to their portable 3-D video walkmen. Their sole objective is to avoid Reality #I, a euphemism for what we used to understand as the social difficulties of everyday life in a Western democracy like this one. Depending on the context, this "social reality" can mean interracial warfare, ecocide, homelessness, AIDS, irreversible loneliness, or any combination of the above. (Musicinterruption Chileanpunk) #4: These youths are too entranced by their virtual reality games to grasp the visceral experiences of racism or hatred for otheress; yet what they've gained in coolness, they've lost in passion for a cause; and what they have achieved in existential fluidity they have lost in depth. They are the children of Gringostroikaand Art-maggeddon, the new citizens of horizontal nothingness. No commitments or convictions: Zero identity. They know better. They don't want their hearts broken and their psyches scratched like ours. Are there any questions? No? Are you sure? (Blackout.)

New WorldBorder 135

VOICE (oversoundsystem): Man, these poor people didn't come here to watch this pitiful ethno-techno garbage. Can you put on some salsa or mariachi music and dance like a real Mexican?

Prophecy #VI: The Official

Trans-Culture

and the hat, grabsthemachete, walkstoward hanging (GP putson mariachi jacket, to CF chicken. goesback herchair.Music:"Tecolotito" Zazil. He pullsoutpulby & heartfromhis crotch drinksbloodfromit. Then he dances"El satingrubber He as JarabeTapatio" a drunkwhiletryingto stab the chicken. missesoverand overagainandendsupfallingdown.) CF/COMPUTERIZED VOICE: The Federationof U.S. Republics'fragtransnational meile sense of self is sustainedby a government-sanctioned and dia culture that is broadcastvia Reali-TV, radiorama, telefax. Empty-V, Its mission is to transmitan idealizedand apoliticalversion of who we are, but unfortunately must contend with rebelswho operatepirateradio and it TV stationsthroughoutthe continent. Still, FUSR's experiencein overthrowingrevolutionary groups has made it clearthatthe best way to containrebellionis to offer an easieralternative. the of That'swhy they'reundertaking currentcampaignof the Amigoization fever."This multicultural the North, better known as "jalapefio consumer trainingproject promotes sexy, colorful, and inoffensive Latino products that range from taco capsulesand chili sprayto inflatableFridasand holoThe jalapeiiofever helps to diffusethe sense of degraphicnakedmariachis. found in today'ssociety. spairand the franticsearchfor spirituality These efforts mark a drastic change from the early days of the New World Order when democratically-elected fascistslike Belse-Bush practiced panic politics via TV in order to maintaina generalizedstate of fear. Do you rememberthe "Waron Drugs," the "AIDS crisis,"the "Invasionof and Genocide"-the four most successfulminiseries Panama," the "Baghdad to be produced by the White House? Well, things have really changed. in and to hara-kiri slowmotion. (GP stopsdancing begins practice Lights him.) off The CIA joined forces with the DEA and moved to Hollywood to create a movie studio that specializes in producing and distributing multicultural utopias. Free Trade Art can be purchasedby mail order. We can travel across the entire continent in a weekend by visiting an expo. Hybrid pop cultureairs duringprimetimeon the main channelsof EmptyV. The hit program "Pura Bi-Cultura" alone reaches 500 million homes in
20,000

cities throughout the New World Border. Bands that used to be

and rap-guanco at underground now play their punkarachi,discolmeca, NAFTA functions. Transcontinental Radioramafeaturesaudio-graffiti art, epic rap poetry, and ethno-musak24 hours a day. You'll never get bored, even if you want to. Are your bored? Why? Too many ideas? Not enough action onstage? Not enough action in your life?Not enough salsapicantein your genitalia? sound: (Pre-recorded excerpt "Norte/Sur") of GP: (mouthing) America is no longer the continent you imagine...Audioun sus intergraffitiFM, buscando nuevolenguaje expresar temores deseos para y culturales... radio (Blackout. Excerpt pre-recorded talkshowduring of blackout.)

G6mez-Pena 136 Guillermo

Prophecy #VII: The Barriosof Resistance

(CF kneelsas if praying.GP goes backto chair,puts on holographic glassesand bandanna.) CF (with In to a echo): reaction this officialtrans-culture,grassroots octopuswith a milliontentacles emergedfrom below, and hundreds smallpocketsof has of resistance an conappear everywhere. Togetherthey constitute invisibleartistic tinentwithinthe New WorldBordercalledArteamrica An6nima. Sociedad Tape rolling... Brazilian (Music: punk) ritual (WhileGP delivers text, CF puts on a gas maskandperforms thefollowing asahanas.) GP/LUNATIC, NASAL VOICE: In the barriosof resistance,contemporaryversionsof the old kilombos, every block has a secret community center. There, the runaway youths called robo-razaII publish anarchist laser-Xeroxmagazines,edit experimentalhome videos on police brutality (yes, police brutalitystill exists), and broadcastpirate radio interventions like this one over the most popularprogramsof the officialRadio Nuevo Orden. These clandestinecenters are constantlyraidedbut robo-raza IIjust move the action to the garagenext door. Those who get white-listed no can longer get jobs in the Mall of Oblivion. And those who get caught in are clinics where they are subjectedto instant fraganti, sent to rehabilitation socializationthrough em-pedagogic videos (from the Spanishverb empedar, to meaning to force someone to drink, and the Mayan noun agogic, see a man without a self, like many of you). Since the art market collapsed, artists are no longer needed as imagemakers. Most of them have traded making "art"for more useful metiers. or media They have become borderologos ratherexpertson border-crossings, in pirates,and cross-cultural diplomats.In fact many of them collaborate secret with robo-raza II. Due to a counter-intelligence programimplementedby former dictator Belse-Bush involved state censorshipon the artsand funding cut backs, that the "alterative space" network also collapsed.In the absence of "alternative spaces"most successfulperformeadores the Spanglish,to piss on (from your audience)now appearmanoa manowith Tex-Mex rockersat extravaganzasstaged in abandonedwrestlingauditoriumsand bullfightarenaslike this one. Since Reali-TVdoesn't cover these events, we can say that techniand his cally they don't exist. (Music fades slowly.GP takesoffglasses changes voice abruptly.) The only thing left from the old "alternative culture"is a leftist (Normal) marxist porno channel called Pubic Access TV. It specializesin pomostalgic soap operas.Unfortunatelysince most people have been de-sexualizedand de-politicizedonly .oooooi% of the populationwatches Pubic Access TV. In this sense it is a real alternativevenue. Have the TV camerasarrived? Where the fuck are the TV cameras?(Dramatic (Screaming) pause: o1 seconds.) Well, as I was saying, censorship has become the main subject of (he sub-vocalizes if someone as turnsoff the volume)...nothing can do suddenly you about it. Even the artistsourselveshave....Fearis the sign of...representing a true cross-section our communitiesare... of CF/FORCEFUL:Speakmaestro!...Speak cofio!...Saywhat you want!

New WorldBorder I37 pain, and begins to cry out offrustration. Blackout. (He can't speak, experiences GP takes off jacket, puts on wrestler mask and Aztec headdress,grabs wooden snake and rug. He sits in lotusposition. CF stands behindhim and massageshim. in CF has a crucifix the righthand and a voodoodoll on the left.)

Is..." 9. "Censorship From the 1992 New

Prophecy #VIII: The New Paganism

Mexican hand sign (Lights on them. GP does meditational "om"then "mocos." to tofuckyou.) equivalent you.) ~~~~~~equivalent ~fu~ck CF/FAKE SINCERITY: Please stand up, hold hands, and feel the wisdom of the maestro in your genital chacras. GP/CHANT: Hare krishna, krishnahuatl, hare nalga, hairy nalga...

Wprd Border the Free of representatives

TacoAgreement to (left
right: Gomez-Peina auctionauthentic pFusco) Free TradeArt at the Art Minneapolis'sWalker Halvorsen) Halvorsen)

World Borderproject,

Center.(Photo Glenn by

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GuillermoG6mez-Pena (Music:Mexican new age) CF: (In trance with closed eyes, interspersed throughout GP's text) iQue diagnostica el doctor? aQue sugiere el diputado? aQue recomienda el chaman? Bajale, bajale, bajale! El es dios! Ella es dios! (Keeps repeating chant until end of this section.) GP/MEXICAN WRESTLING REFEREE: As Protestantism and Catholicism collapse due to their inability to adapt to the Big Change, we witness a logical revival of pagan religions. New hybrid deities are being adored by the confused masses. (He grabs snake and begins to tame it.) Tezcatlipunk, Mexican god of urban wrath is becoming very popular in both Aztldn and Tesmogtitldn.Funkahuatl, the Aztec divinity of Funk has been crowned as the Holy Patron of Califas. Aging pop star Madonna has reincarated as Saint Frida Kahlo. She roams around the nasty streets in search of people who suffer from identity blisters and heals them. Chichicolgatzin, the Guruesa of strippers is the spiritual avatar of a new age sect from Colorado. Krishnahuatl,the Aztec god of Karma, is revered across the entire Federation of U.S. Republics where thousands of high-tech ashrams infested by world beat gringostanis and gringofarians, provide "the 10 steps to clarity" for a modest amount. A techno-shrine to Juan Soldado, Holy Patron of border-crossers and migrant workers, now stands on what used to be the San Ysidro border check point. With multi-image projections, the old border saint reminds people of what once was a common yet dangerous experience: (GP puts down snake, turnsaroundand beginstofondle CF's legs & waist.) GP AND CF: (Horny and agitated)The crossing from the Third to the First World; from the past to the future, remember? El cruce,el bordo, el abismo, el sismo, la migra, the spiderweb, the TV cameras, my old performances, your oldest prejudices, the original migration, your great mojado grandparents. Remember? (Blackout.)

Art Prophecy # IX: Culti-multural

(GP squats underchicken,chantingin tongues.He puts on boxinggloves and prays to the chicken.CF is backon her seat. She wearsa "Caucasian mask.") (Sound: excerptof radioshow "Norte/Sur. ") CF: (Subvocalizes) Yaqui, Seri, Guaycura, Dieguefio, Barona, Seminole, Comanchero, Tuscarora, romantic dots in tourist maps, romantic words in empty ears, cambiode canal. (Music:genericLatin Muzak. Stands up and begins to box with chicken.He will box until he passes out while saying "I'mbeatingthe Mexican out of myself.") Art about identity is now a dignified form of CF/COMPUTERIZED: nostalgia. Nearly every important city in the FUSR has a Museum of CultimulturalArt. They all feature classical shows from the '8os and before as a reminder of what culture used to be before Gringostroika destroyed all traditional borders and categories. Among the most popular traveling exhibits are: "Iooo Ex-minority Artists"; "The Best of Chicano Fundamentalist

New WorldBorder I39 Painting (from 1968 to I989)"; "Triple Oppressions: Bi, Mexican, and Handicapped"; and of course, the new show at the San Diego Maquiladora Museum of Contrived Art entitled "Chic-angloArt on the Borderline." Last month, a very controversial show opened at the Museum of Lost Artists of the Early '9os," Identity in Los Angeles. Entitled "Clepto-Mexican it includes 30 major Anglo-American painters whose iconography mysteriously resembles that of their Mexican contemporaries. (GP stops boxing and freezes. Then, light off him.) Fem-arte,a collective of Frida-worshiping feminists, picketed the show's opening to protest the lack of Anglo women included in the clepto-Mexican panorama. They all wore body casts and pierced their chests to dramatize their sense of victimization. (GP takes off wrestlermask, puts on "Caucasian" mask, and sits on his chair. Light on him.) GP/FRENCH ACCENT: Every now and then, these out-dated museums present token Eurocentric shows with insensitive titles such as "The EuropasseVanguard"; "Neo-Geo, coma, a Post-industrial Folk Art"; "Land and Body Art: Early Gringo Tribalism"; "Minimalist Sculpture, coma, Protestant Art in an Agnostic Society"; and "The Young German Expressionists: An Endangered Species." But these kinds of shows are poorly attended and don't seem to perform any real community function, other than fulfilling the extravagant whims of iconoclastic curators. Two Post-Chicano antropolocos (Richy Lou and Bobby Sanchez) are cura blackbuster exhibit entitled "Ex-plendors: 3000 Years of rently organizing White Art," but they are facing tremendous opposition. Minority artists are faulting them for ghettoization and tokenism. (CF barksduringnext paragraph.) GP/NEUROTIC GRINGO ACCENT: No one can escape this wave of reverse racism. A critic from the minority paper, the New York Times,just accused Miss Discovery and I of "latinocentrism" for not having included in waspbacks this show, but the fact is that...their work is simply not good enough! Have you had similar experiences? Yo no entenderun carrayode porqui la mayorriadominantide colornegro, cafe, o amarillotenemosque... Shit! GP/NORMAL VOICE: Cut! Cut!! I don't like this take. It's racist! Let's do it again! Cameras one and two rolling...down...your...psyche. Hasta el fondo y el cansancio.(Blackout.)

Prophecy #X: The Mafias

(GP puts on bandannaand darkglasses, lights a joint. CF next to him with holographic glasses.) CF/TOURIST GUIDE VOICE: Latinophobe...polyglophobe...ecoracist... criptonationalist...technopuritan...define yourself...define yourself...define yourself... (Lightson them.) GP/SOFT PACHUCO: Dear citizens of the end of the century. Fear of uncertainty generates sectarianism, therefore mafias are forming everywhere. Their members used to be part of the "cultural elite" during the Belse-Bush years. Though extremely different from one another, these

I40

GuillermoG6mez-Pena

mafiasshare one objective: to cling to the past in order to experience an optical illusion of continuity and order. The following are some examples. Note that they still utilize the old nomenclatureto name themselves: sounds: and cats,dogs,cows, (Soundbed animal of pigs, roosters, sheep.) Pleaseraiseyour handsas your groupis beingmentioned. CF/DIDACTIC:
(GP continues;CF definesthegroups.)

GP: The elite of the artists of color of my generation formed a group calledTGAC. CF: Thin and GorgeousArtistsof Color GP: They make high-tech postcolonial art and organizesymposiumswith other members of TGAC from Europe. Their criteriafor inclusion are moustacheand my very strict.They don't let me in because my Mexican't tail revealan obvious lack of sophistication. hipiteca pony CF: Are there any membersof TGAC here? GP: Both WWEO... CF: White Women Expertsof Otherness GP: ...and MGW CF: Multicultural Gabachos from Wyoming LVIR.
GP: ...claim they are solely responsible for the liberation of the veterans of

CF: LeadingVictims of Institutionalized Racism GP: This group was formed by the elite membersof the variousex-minority groupswho won victim competitionsat the Multicultural Olympics of
I992. The violent members of SWGAA...

CF: Straight White Guys Are Alright GP: ...couldn't bear the Big Change anymore and went underground. Some people speculatethat they asked for politicalasylumin Germanyand England,but to their surprise,they found even more people of color over there. The membersof CRF... CF: Chicken Rights Falange GP: ...a radicalwing of the deceasedAnimal Rights Coalition of the early '9os, roam around theatres and Museums of Natural History picketing events like this one. CF: Would you pleaseraiseyour hands? GP: Composed of ex-Sandinista LCS... poets in exile, the Berkeley-based CF: La Cosa Sandinostra GP: ...survivesfrom the selling of politicalkitsch and meditational revolutionary CDs. Ojo: We must not mistake this mafia with Los Sandalistas which literallymeans "those bearded gringos with plastic Indian shoes." TAW... CF: Transsexuales AztecasUnidos

New WorldBorder I4I

GP: ...commonly know as gaytlanisor putochcas advocate an ardent return to Pre-Columbian group sex practices.The membersof BAL... CF: Born Again Latinos GP: ...defend a distinct "Latinou" identity at a time when essentialismhas been outlawed by the State, and they are very militantabout it. They are art. suspectedof the recent bombings of severalmuseums of Culti-multural The secretbrotherhoodof CHAELA... CF: ChicanoAristocracy from East L.A. GP: ...believe thatJesus was the firstpochoand that Chicanos are the chosen race. Their leader, named Vatoman on death row for conspiracyto is overthrow the New World Border. Located in the IndependentRepublic of Harlem,RAN... CF: the Real AfricanNation GP: ...claims that the entire African continent sold out and that it is no longer Africanenough. This organizationmust not be confused with the other RAN... CF: the Real Aztec Nation GP: ...which is a group of UCLA anthropologistswho swear they have the one and only secret to the Aztec way of life: the untranslatable 0 me dicho, "tajoditzin." mejor mejor callo.I turn on my inner radio. walkstoward hanging the (GP grabsthe machete, chicken, grabsits head,and deit capitates whilesaying:) GP: Chick...chick...enoh...oh...chi-ca-no...Power! (Blackout.)

FINALE
Two PossibleEndings Ending #I with and (Theperformers, brown covering bags theirfaces, twochairs sit on the grab director delivers lasttext. Slowlyall houselights the edgeof thestage.The technical come up.) VOICE (overthe soundsystem):The performance is finally over. Would anyone like to spend the night with two sexy AIDS-freeThird World performance artistsfor only $25? Please feel free to walk onstage and touch them, or smell them. The mestizo male weighs 75 kilos and loves German cinema. The mulattafemale is shy, very theoretical, and cooks delicious tropicalfood. They are not trainedactors but they have great imagination and charisma. The is Some to and (Silence. audience perplexed. finally decide walkonstage begin to touchtheperformers. Mexicanrockand rollsuddenly Loud breaks dramatic the tension. to People begin applaud.) Ending #2 and the to audience (GP walksinto theaudience offers corpse thechicken various of

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GuillermoG6mez-Pena

to members. returns CF personal belongings the wrong people. The performance to as decides accept chicken an act of commitment. the doesn't finish untilsomeone a withtheaudience.) Theybegin dialog

CAPUT

Guillermo Gomez-Pe~a is an interdisciplinary and writer.His book artist Warriorfor Gringostroika,published Greywolf Press,cameout in October by
I993.