Puerto Rico Tautology (14 dubs high)
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Puerto Rico Tautology (14 dubs high) was recorded in 2015 and completed in early 2016. Found footage of Puerto Rican families celebrate in the street as the Fania All-Stars perform in the background. The clip, recorded on VHS, is dubbed to another VHS tape and played again. The image and sound gradually decay with each dub, until the image breaks completely.

Inspired by the mass exodus of Puerto Ricans moving to Orlando, Florida, this piece is an illustration of the economic degradation of Puerto Rico. The island, much like the video, is losing its vibrancy and colour, but more alarmingly the island is being robbed of its resources and standard of living through increasing debt of Wall Street hedge funds. This is also represented through the audio, as the crowd and the music are increasingly distorted and difficult to hear. A House of Representatives member can be heard over the VHS audio, pleading with Congress to allow Puerto Rico to declare bankruptcy. As the distortion increases, the house member's message becomes less clear, lost in the ether of the ignored United States territory.

2016
Canada
6:58
Original language
English

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Technical information

Shooting format
VHS

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Keywords
Puerto Rico, found footage, speech, image degradation

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