Impunity Landscapes VI, Open roads
2024
Two-channel HD video with sound. 6’34’’.
This video work examines what may be the largest financial fraud ever committed in Mexico. It traces an intricate path built on more than three years of research through financial and legal sources, court proceedings, and numerous freedom of information requests.
From more than a decade (BBVA, Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan and Santander) manipulated billions of dollars in Mexican government bonds. Thousands of clients and institutions all over the world were systematically overcharged or underpaid. In sum, for more than ten years, Mexican debt was bought low and sold high. An Oklahoma firefighters' pension fund, which held Mexican debt, found the fraud and sued the banks. Further investigations confirmed that banks manipulated Mexico´s sovereign debt prices and availability.
In late 2023, I finally received over 500 pages related to the case from Mexican authorities. Most, if not all, were heavily redacted. The opaqueness of the case was more than literal: it was visual. I used these involuntary geometric motifs to create a landscape —an animated grid connecting semi-fictional, testosterone-fueled chats among traders with financial architectures built on opacity and risk.
Open Roads is a portrait of the casino capitalism behavior of unchecked financial institutions as they shatter the sovereignty of states and jeopardize the economic future of millions.
This work was exhibited at Casa del Lago, Mexico City, January 2025; Captive portal, Copenhagen, May 2025; Brick City gallery, Springfield, Missouri, Autumun 2025.
Installation views. Casa del Lago, Mexico City. Photography by Maya Ortega.
Installation views. Brick City gallery, Springfield, Missouri. Photography by Erin Tyler.