Diasporic tactics

Abstract

This document acts as the written form of an art practice that can be described by making an analogy between the artist and the itinerant migrant worker. This thesis is an elaboration on certain viewpoints, encounters, and case studies that have lead me to do my actual [art] work. In it I attempt to describe the intricate human processes involved with immigration, adaptation, and transformation, specifically in the case of Villa Victoria: a community of incredible social capital that established itself when urban renewal planners threatened two thousand Puerto Ricans out of their homes in Parcel 19 of Boston's South End during the late 1960s. Personally, I like to accredit the success of Villa Victoria to a form of behavior called "hustling" which most displaced people quickly turn to in order to fulfill their very basic needs. Lately "hustling" has become a strong performative aspect of my work, as in the end, what I am really interested in is discovering forms of power for the oppressed rather than dwelling on the power of the oppressor. Key terms: the neoliberal city, the informal economy, (im)migration, assimilation, hybridity, distinction, rupture, subculture, commemoration, (mis)representation, lyric and sound.