Erika Harrsch began by talking about her butterflies project. Photographs of different butterflies from around the world were put in display cases as real butterflies would be, but the body of the animal was replaced with a vagina of a woman who’s from the same part of the world as that particular butterfly. She worked with an entomologist to ensure that the butterflies were represented accurately and that they came from the same area as the women. As shown by this project, her art is very research based. She mentioned that makes art like a scientist in that she tries to be an expert on the subject, or at least work with someone who is. This butterfly project is meant to deal with themes of migration and identity, both of which are present in many of her other works as well. Another of her projects that is identity based is her monarch passport project. This involved making realistic passports for monarch butterflies that, during their migration, cross borders into more than one country. She presented this project by setting up a fake immigration office near the US-Mexico border and handing them out. While many of her works have a quasi playful tone to them, this fake passport office was more mean than anything. For someone who wants to cross into the US illegally looking for a better life, or has family who wants to, seeing an immigration office handing out passports would like like a godsend, but after finding out that it’s all a ruse, I’m sure some would be disappointed or angry.
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