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

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      ADÁL, West Side Story Upside Down, Backwards, Sideways and Out of Focus (La Maleta de Futriaco Martínez), 2002, suitcase, flat-screen LCD monitor, single-channel digital video, color, sound; 12:51 minutes, 14207 in. (35.650.817.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.20A-B, © 2002, ADÁL

      Artwork Details

      Title
      West Side Story Upside Down, Backwards, Sideways and Out of Focus (La Maleta de Futriaco Martínez)
      Artist
      Date
      2002
      Location
      Not on view
      Dimensions
      14207 in. (35.650.817.8 cm)
      Copyright
      © 2002, ADÁL
      Credit Line
      Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
      Mediums
      Mediums Description
      suitcase, flat-screen LCD monitor, single-channel digital video, color, sound; 12:51 minutes
      Classifications
      Highlights
      Subjects
      • Object — other — luggage
      Object Number
      2013.20A-B

      Artwork Description

      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

      Description in Spanish

      ADÁL fusionó fragmentos de West Side Story, la película clásica de 1961 que diseminó ampliamente los estereotipos de los puertorriqueños en la cultura popular estadounidense, con filmaciones documentales de puertorriqueños en Nueva York, lecturas de poesía nuyorican por Pedro Pietri, y la música de Tito Puente y Brenda Feliciano. Al proyectar lentamente, devolver y desenfocar las imágenes de la película y contaminar su hilo narrativo y banda sonora, ADÁL alteró la trama y puso en relieve sus omisiones sociopolíticas. Empotrado en una humilde maleta, el video también revela las condiciones sociales que impulsaron la migración puertorriqueña hacia el continente e inspiraron parcialmente la película.

      Nuestra América: la presencia latina en el arte estadounidense, 2013

      Works by this artist (6 items)

      ADÁL, West Side Story Upside Down, Backwards, Sideways and Out of Focus (La Maleta de Futriaco Martínez), 2002, suitcase, flat-screen LCD monitor, single-channel digital video, color, sound; 12:51 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.20A-B, © 2002, ADÁL
      West Side Story Upside Down, Backwards, Sideways and Out of…
      Artist
      Date2002
      suitcase, flat-screen LCD monitor, single-channel digital video, color, sound; 12:51 minutes
      Not on view
      ADÁL, El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico: Koki Kiki, 1994, issued 2005, lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2013.19.3, © 2012, ADÁL
      El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico…
      Artist
      Date1994, issued 2005
      lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet
      Not on view
      ADÁL, El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico: Adál Maldonado, 1994, lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2013.19.1, © 2012, ADÁL
      El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico…
      Artist
      Date1994
      lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet
      Not on view
      ADÁL, El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico: Luciana Alexandra del Rio de la Serna, 1994, issued 2012, lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2013.19.2, © 2012, ADÁL
      El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico…
      Artist
      Date1994, issued 2012
      lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet
      Not on view

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      More Artworks from the Collection

      Cat Mazza, Knit for Defense, 2011-2012, single-channel digital video, black and white, surround sound; 9:10 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2012.28, © 2012, Cat Mazza
      Knit for Defense
      Date2011-2012
      single-channel digital video, black and white, surround sound; 9:10 minutes
      Not on view
      Kota Ezawa, LYAM 3D, 2008, digital animation, color, silent; 04:00 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible through Deaccession Funds, 2010.23, © 2008, Kota Ezawa
      LYAM 3D
      Date2008
      digital animation, color, silent; 04:00 minutes
      Not on view
      Rico Gatson, History Lessons, 2004, four-channel video, color, sound; 10:12 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2015.7.2, © 2004, Aunrico Gatson
      History Lessons
      Date2004
      four-channel video, color, sound; 10:12 minutes
      Not on view
      Johannes; Herodias; The Dance
      Date2011
      three-channel video, color, sound; 38:43 minutes
      Not on view