In 2014, Oracle, Arizona, was the arena for the largest-yet protest against the entrance of unaccompanied children from Central America into the U.S. Okón spoke to the leaders who orchestrated the protest, all members of a militia called the Arizona Border Defenders. They agreed to create staged scenes based on their nationalist ideology as well as to create a live reenactment of the protest. The title also refers to Oracle Corporation, a company known to have deep ties to the CIA and a perfect example of the current geopolitical paradigm in which state structures are increasingly at the service of private interests. Oracle questions the adequacy and the relevance of nationalism in this transnational age, an ideology that is so deeply rooted and so normalized that it extends across the political spectrum, becoming invisible.

Video Installation.

2 synchronized channels.

2 flat screens and vinyl logo.

Sound.

Duration: 12:07 minutes. loop.

Dimensions: variable.

 

Flag.

Cloth flag with application.

Dimensions: 59 x 35 inches.

Articles & Interviews about Oracle.

 

Griffin, Jonathan, Yoshua Okón at Ghebaly Gallery Los Angeles, ArtReview, London, Summer, 2018.  [PDF]

Stromberg, Matt, The border as muse: Two PST art shows look at flow of humanity between the U.S. and Mexico, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, USA, November, 2017. [PDF]

Grumbach, Matthew, Returning to the site of protest, Dis Magazine, 2015. [PDF]

Morales, Julio César, Interview with artist Yoshua Okón, ASU Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 2015.[PDF]

Rojas, Pablo, Yoshua Okón contra el nacionalismo, Frente Magazine, México, 2015. [PDF]

De Llano, Pablo, Llévenselos al Sur, El País, America edition, number XL, México, 2015. [PDF]

Ávila, Sonia, Oracle, Crítica miope nacionalismo, Excelsior, México, D.F., 2015. [PDF]

Diehl, Travis, Yoshua Okón dicusses his new installation about an anti-inmigration group, Art Forum, New York, USA, 2015. [PDF]