El Terraplén, an embankment made of compacted soil to avoid a change in level required by the terrain.

Recently, I reshaped a mound located in an adjacent lot (near the Iglesias garden) where I have been creating public art for almost 12 years. It is a work in progress with community participation. I added more soil extracted from the same lot while flattening space for a larger audience and performers. It has been transformed into an embankment and terraces.

It is a functional terraform, working intentionally to try not to alter the existing environment as much as possible. A small structure with shading has been built, a 'casita.' While very modest now, it can shift into a house of introspection if, in the future, we add walls. But if that is the case, then it would be shaped with elements found at the site, such as mud, reeds, etc., combined with traditional construction elements, and then intervened with paint using natural pigments such as cochineal and murex purple pigment.

It will be used for multiple workshops, performances, and ceremonies throughout the years as we collectively shape the site according to the consequential needs, understanding and observing the shifting dynamics of the site usage, like elements I am already noticing such as the need for more grades, wider steps large enough for people to sit on, sanitation services, signage, additional shade, etc.

El Terraplén is an ongoing project whose main purpose is to elevate the visibility of the residents of the Iglesias Garden community, people who live in this area and are connected with this garden. For now, the elevated structure features a three-step structure to access it, a modest wood structure holding a bamboo roof for shading, and a blue cement floor atop the elevation.

It will change as people start using it, influencing the way I keep designing its accessibility and availability for people's performances. The main idea is that people who use the space influence the way it is shaped, a true monument for our own people, the ones who keep the neighborhood alive.

The red sculpture that was unveiled in August after two months of arduous labor and with many neighbors helping out with cooking, cleaning, removing dirt, carrying heavy objects, giving rides to buy materials, lending sound equipment, mixing cement and sand, weeding, watering, etc., and the dedication of big-hearted artist Nicolas Nava, is our interpretation of the old "god" of fire, Huehueteotl, also known as the oldest one or "el abuelito.”

On one hand, this is a well-known entity from the place we come from in Mexico, and it's used very often in traditional Mesoamerican rituals and ceremonies, probably because of the shape atop his head, which is able to act as a brazier for burning incense. It also reminds us of the respect we owe to the generation who has worked and lived most of their lives in this neighborhood, retired now to what should be a nice time to rest for the time they do not need to work anymore, except that now they have been menaced by gentrification.

It symbolizes our presence and its roots in this soil, watching defiantly the effort to relocate them for more apartment complex construction. Technically, the sculpture offered a new challenge for me as an artist because of the scale, considering I decided to mount it in a prominent natural elevated spot, adding another 6 feet to its already 10 feet high.

The piece is considered finished at this time because even if it is still in progress, its future is uncertain due to the fact that it is being built on land belonging to developers, even if we have permission to use the space before any major construction begins. One may ask why invest so much time and effort to build it when its longevity isn't secured? Well, that's art inspired by the need to recognize our identity and presence and the need for spaces to have community gatherings and public celebrations.

We do not have the luxury of owning any land for that purpose, even if it is very clear that the need for preserving those spaces for the constituents for whom our local government works.

On August 26th, a Saturday, we chose to celebrate the opening of El Terraplén and the unveiling of the sculpture. I wanted it to be as close as possible to the date when the city of Tenochtitlan, the home of the Aztec nation, fell to the siege of the Spaniards, which manipulated the upheaval of other nations' tributaries to the capital city, ending its rule by August 13th and starting the long occupation of the European nation in our known indigenous world. This also marked the beginning of resistance to the new forced order, which included changes in religion and concepts of cosmology, government, and lifestyle, totally unknown at the time.

Therefore, it is a tribute to the people who resisted the occupation and preserved the ancient cultural heritage, passing it down to us generation after generation for over 500 years until our current days. That's the reason we called it "La Resistencia" for the second consecutive year.

writen by: @CesarMural |  photography by: @miran0s