1993-2005 and 8624 Olympic White (2006)
Painted and Etched Wood, Ribbon, Servo Motors, Microcontroller

Between 1993 and 2005 over 350 women were found dead in Ciudad Juárez , Mexico. Most of the women were of similar build, between the ages of 14 and 20. Many were found raped and tortured. The majority of the victims worked in maquiladoras, foreign-owned assembly plants near the U.S. border. These maquiladoras have provided little to no security for their workers. Many commute between work and home late at night on isolated streets and through the desert.

1993-2005 and 8624 Olympic White consists of thirteen Jacob’s ladders, one for each year from 1993-2005. Each ladder has a number of panels: one for each woman killed that year. As such, the ladders vary in height from 17 panels (1994) up to 39 panels (1995). These panels are arranged in chronological order by date of death. Etched on the front side of each is the age of a victim from that year; the opposite side is clearcoated and spray painted with the General Motors paint 8624 Olympic White. A single microcontroller flips the ladders back and forth in a fashion reminiscent of assembly line work. This rhythmic motion highlights the contrast between front and back: spotlights lighting the ladders are reflected on the ground by the painted sides of the panels, producing violent animated patterns that flicker in and out. The flipping back and forth also presents a sort of optical illusion, making it appear as though panels are piling up at the base of the installation. Each ladder’s excess of connecting ribbon shakes as the ladder flips, but also serves a grim purpose: as victim counts are periodically updated, the excess ribbon allows panels to be added as necessary.

The conceptual basis for the installation hinges on the contrast between shiny white automotive paint and gravestone inspired etchings, representative of the divide between the victims and their employers. The largest maquiladora employer in Ciudad Juárez is Delphi, a spin-off of General Motors. Delphi is, in fact, the largest maquiladora employer in Mexico, employing 66,000 people at the end of 2005, almost twice as many as runner-up Lear Corporation.

The direct power multinational corporations hold over the lives of hundreds of thousands of people is apparent in places like Ciudad Juárez. In producing the installation I came to feel that the maquiladora murders are an extreme exaggeration of the contempt corporations have come to express towards both their employees and consumers of their products. 1993-2005 and 8624 Olympic White came to be as much a reflection of globalization and the rise of the corporate vassal state as a record of the brutal killings.

Construction Notes

Almost 800 panels of wood were used in the construction of the ladders: 391 panels were etched with numbers, 391 panels were clearcoated and spray painted 8624 Olympic White.

For each link in each ladder two panels were used, one etched and one white. Each panel pair required 6 screws, 12 nuts, and 6 grommets (a total of 2346 screws, 4692 nuts, and 2346 grommets). All panels were hand assembled, and all connecting ribbon hand grommeted. Nearly 300 yards of ribbon was used.

The tallest ladder (1995) consists of 39 panels and is roughly 16 feet tall fully extended.

Special thanks to Karin(s) Olsson, Karl Olsson, Yoshimasa Niwa, Stella Lai, Eunice Moyle, David Forrest and Janak Dudakia.

  • Exhibited
  • March 13-23, 2006, Lost in Border, New Wight Gallery, UCLA