The Subversion of the Andes, a possibility through walking art

Abstract

In this case, rather than addressing walking art as an artistic and creative medium and end in itself, or as a methodology for research+creation, I aim to highlight it as a means of subverting the status quo within the context of the walking art project Paisajes Migrantes Andinos. The displacement of the Southern position of South America upwards –towards the North, rather than downwards, as suggested by the world map as a reference– in eight drawing+map works created by Venezuelan migrant walkers reveals situated and embodied cognitive and epistemological possibilities. These challenge the conventions of imperial and hegemonic visual imaginaries —arbitrary and imposed— that have become naturalized and normalized, yet remain deeply rooted in the present. To contrast and distinguish a subverted form from an inverted one, I revisit several proposals of geographically repositioned places –also upside down– on the map, such as América Invertida by the artist Joaquín Torres-García.