Longing (Anhelo)
This installation from Mabel’s 2023 exhibition in Japan consists of five spheres enclosing rotating images, which were digitally created from a photographic session on the coast of Key West in Florida. Key West is the southernmost point of the United States, and is separated by only 90 miles of ocean from the coast of Cuba, where the “Bolseros” start their journey.
“Bolseros” are Cuban emigrants who risk their lives on handmade boats to cross the sea
which separates Cuba from the United States. Often their destination is the Florida keys,
where sightings of boat arrivals are commonplace. Most of the migrants have the illusion that the voyage and their destination will be rewarding and beautiful, but the reality they face is typically very difficult. Many of them lose their lives in the rough seas or are stopped at sea by the Coast Guard. Even if they can reach the coast of south Florida, they still run the risk of getting caught by the U.S. Border Patrol and sent back to Cuba.
The installation encourages the viewer to reflect on the power of hope and trust and on the fragility of life. All images are based on self-portraits taken by Mabel on the coast of Key West, one of the first places that Cuban migrants reach as an arrival destination. The spherical structure containing the images gives a sense of infinity. It alludes to the sea, which can be a bridge that unites or a barrier, that separates. Through the image’s constant rotation, the installation creates ever new constellations, that can never be grasped in their entirety. The rotational movement eliminates any possibility of fixed viewpoints and continually dilutes and relocates the perspective. It makes the viewer an integral part of the very moment. It creates a connection between viewer and the migrant’s
final decision. A continuous interplay between hope and trust.
- Materials: Photograph print on plexiglass with rotating motor and aluminum structure
- Size: 35 cm round
- Year: 2022
- Inventory #: 23-06
- Artist: Mabel Poblet Pujol