Watching: Tierra

Overview

"Regina José Galindo’s Tierra (2013) explores connections between the exploitation of labor, resources, and human life in Guatemala. Presented at a larger-than-life scale, Galindo stands naked on a parcel of land that is excavated by an encroaching bulldozer. Conjuring imagery of machine-dug mass graves, the work draws attention to the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people, mostly Maya Ixil, during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–96). As the excavator digs around her, the artist stands fixed and unrelenting." - MoMA PS1