The restitution of Latin American
memory, in dialogue with Ode.
In an interview with writer and scholar McKenzie Wark published in Bomb Magazine in October 2020, the curator, writer and artist Legacy Russell talks about the gentrification of memory:
When places gentrify, they often render the local sites unrecognizable to the people who are from there — gentrification signifies a type of erasure and triggers a sort of cultural aphasia. Our memories become misaligned with what’s around us, and we struggle to describe what was there previously.
In view of this, the advent of the construction of Brazil's identity in the last years, mainly with regard to the outside world, manifests this phenomenon of erasure described by Russell.
For decades, Brazil, Latin America’s largest country, has been known for its exuberant culture, carnival, samba, the Amazon, tropical beaches and fruits.In the era of globalization, when the exchange of agreements with other nations are necessary to guarantee advantages of economic growth reciprocally, a favorable national image is needed. Consequently.
THE BRAZILIAN IMAGES THAT ARE PROMOTED ABROAD BECOME ALLEGORIES OF REALITY AND DISSEMINATE IRRESPONSIBLE STEREOTYPES OF LOCAL CULTURES.
In this way, although Jacob Ace has neither been born nor grew up in Brazil – a country with colonial background and years of military dictatorship in its recent past – the Santa Ana, CA-born and raised young photographer also experienced contradictions that are in need of a new self-image due to their Latin American heritage. As it turns out, the construction of images of Latinxs, in general, is a very complex and ambiguous process, consisting of a great amount of fetishism which is determined by post-colonial mimicry.
Jacob Ace
Santa Ana, CA, is composed largely of Latin American communities; for this reason, Ace grew up surrounded by their culture, which now infuses their imagetic production. The signs used by Jacob in their photographs and collages, despite being characteristic of their Mexican and Guatemalan ancestry, are not strange to Brazilians, with whom they share a Latin American background. A pair of shoes resembling both them and us, are hanging from the wires above traffic lights. The religious symbols that we see on the walls that are photographed by Ace, are also commonly spotted in family homes in Brazil. The cumbia CDs are similar to the techno brega CDs and the rhythms of the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil, which became popular throughout the country in the mid-2000s.
Jacob Ace
Although we are friends, I chose to interview Jacob because I am interested in investigating the simultaneity present in the twilight of space-time in the Latin American matrix. Thinking of place and landscape as open doors and as a mirror of cultures, that allows for the inspiration of symbols, of their ancestral matrices and its transposition in art and the daily urban life. At the same time, it allows for the traditional context of contemporary times to assist in developments that are susceptible to overcoming situations of social and cognitive limitation.
When asked about what strategies or ways to challenge the limitations to which being Latinx allocates their production, Ace replies that, honestly, when they are creating, they are not actively thinking about challenging whatever limitations are being placed on them:
"Yes, I think it's important to challenge the way people think and see things, but that's not how I work, that's usually how things come out. I think that has a big part to do with who I choose to photograph. In my case, almost all the models I photograph are my friends, so there's this extra layer of trust when I'm taking their photos which I think shows in the final product. I'm just taking pictures of the things I know and the people I love, so I suppose that in itself is radical because I'm not following any trends".
Jacob Ace
Globalization is an ancient phenomenon. With the invention of the steamship, along with the drifting economies in Europe, colonists travelled to Asia, Africa and the Americas in search of new routes of exchange, wealth and adventure. Trade and image-making came together in these spheres of exchange, or contact zones, leading to violence and deadly battles; but also to the exchange of intimacy. The term "conquest", for example, that is, the subjugation of the other, was expressed through the sexual domination of fertile territory, or the penetration of a woman's body. Thus, these moments of contact brought people, economic exchanges and fantasies of the other, to form new productions of knowledge and power blocks. With regard to images in the fashion and art industries, it was no different.
When asked what their justifications are for moving from the Caucasian and Eurocentric gaze (characteristic of the fashion and art industry) to that of Latin America, Jacob Ace responded:
"We need to create a landscape of change that inspires future generations to feel they can move comfortably and safely through these industries. I think there have been incredible strides in recent years, however, that doesn't mean the job is done. There is still a lot of change that needs to be made in order to level the playing field".
One of Jacob's dreams is to found a creative agency that caters to young Latinx artists and artists of colour and gives them the tools necessary to sustain a career in whatever industry they want to pursue. Although I particularly don't doubt it, Ace doubts whether their work affects their local community. For this reason, they also desire to create some sort of change in the sense that people could be able to look at their work and see the people and stories that aren't always shown in the mainstream art and fashion contexts.
Jacob Ace
Erased by the gentrification of memory, the outline of many subcultures such as the classic car scene, tattoo culture, music and boxing that surrounded Ace's upbringing formed their fondest memories. One of them being a trip to an underground boxing match alongside their father.
"The place was packed with gang members and pin-up models. The banners and floors were tacky. The key was very low. People were drinking and having fun. There were no rules in the boxing matches, so they were breaking glass and fighting with the glass and throwing themselves out of the ring. One of the fighters had been thrown right in front of me and his back landed on a pile of empty chairs and bottles and he was covered in blood. I really wished I had my camera back then. To say the least, I grew up without limits."
Some of the most beautiful Latin images exist today within what can be read superficially or aesthetically as something difficult to access as a result of colonial controls, but what happens in acts of care and codes of intimacy is much more complex. These are difficult things to talk about, but for photographers like Jacob Ace, they are easily registered.
BEING LATIN AMERICAN IS SOMETHING THAT RUNS THROUGH MANY INSTANCES OF BOTH MINE AND ACE'S RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION PRACTICES.
Sometimes being Brazilian has served me well. At other times I realized that falling into the boundaries of a geographical idea, a historical past, or even a cultural one, doesn't count for this point, which is a big one.
On this path, I identify myself very much with Ace's photographs and, in parallel, with a phrase by Néstor García Canclini, who says that Latin America is, more than an identity, (it can be) a task. The exercise that Jacob proposes, to reflect on what it could mean to be Latin American, is already an important step towards the restitution and expansion of such collective imaginary.
During the process of creating this article, Ode and Jacob created this playlist, with songs they listened to during their childhood. Different songs in different languages, but are also bridges between rhythms and images.
Playlist
