Unlimited Partnerships 2: SPIR: Jill Casid & Maria DeGuzman

ADAL

Interview of ADAL by Berta Jottar, conducted over the coconet

(This interview in progress is being conducted in English for the benefit of the monolingual reader)

Berta Jottar: Your work has usually produced conceptual territories that are "alternative" in the sense that they provide and perform a dialogue, but are also tinted with a dark humor and critique. The Puerto Rican Embassy is an ongoing project that has shifted from a virtual space (web site) to a material one. What are your motivations in continuing to construct and elaborate this national and spiritual territory? Has your experience living in California, and its Chicano tradition of using Aztlan as a signifier of identity, served as a model or inspiration for the Embassy?

ADAL: El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico and its embassy (El Puerto Rican Embassy) were developed from an idea into an imaginary landscape; that is, a space in the Nuyorican imagination where the creative source is located. The concept of the Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico/El Puerto Rican Embassy was developed by Eduardo Figueroa, founder of the New Rican Village in Loisaida and the notoriously irreverent Reverend Pedro Pietri, a Nuyorican-Dadaist poet and playwright. Together and under the name of El Puerto Rican Embassy, they staged readings and performances that embraced the concept of hybridity and which revolved around issues of identity and cultural resistance. Eddie often said, "We are a Spirit Republic. No one understands a rainbow better than Puerto Ricans who are a spiritual and physical combination of all the nations in the world. Wherever you go you will meet yourself."
After Eddie passed away, my collaboration with the embassy started and I began to develop it into a material space. The Reverend and I created its theoretical, physical, cultural, political, social and religious characteristics. I conceived of the citizens of this world as being out of focus and as I became aware of the creation of virtual realities in cyberspace, it seemed evident that this conceptual territory should exist in a virtual space. I designed our passport, currency, postage stamp, daily spanglish newspaper, out of focus born-again Nuyorican baptismal certificate, and intra-dimensional travel visas, and Rev. Pedro wrote the Manifesto and Spanglish National Anthem. I then started to design its web site. Another contributing factor for going into cyberspace was the realization that as a group which had separated itself ideologically from the mainstream art community, which marginalized us in the first place, we couldn't in good conscience approach their funding institutions for support to build a physical space from which to criticize them.

We are in the 21st Century and Puerto Rico is purportedly the last existing colony in the world. El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico was created as a symbolic alternative universe and as a response to the dependent mindset and out of focus self image that resulted from Puerto Ricos's 100 years of colonial association with the US. Puerto Ricans continue to be regarded as second class citizens in their own country. Puerto Rico has no representation in the Senate or House of Congressóthere is one Resident Commissioner in Washington but with no political power or influenceóand citizens on the island don't have the right to cast a vote to elect the President of the United States. This condition make Puerto Ricans politically out of focus. The perception of being out of focus is reaffirmed by the media when it continues to represent Puerto Ricans in stereotyped negative ways. This misrepresentation creates a psychic fragmentation that is psychologically unhealthy and therefore renders us socially, culturally and emotionally out of focus. As long as the United Nations does nothing to help resolve Puerto Rico's political association to the US (either grant the island independence or invite her into the union with all of the benefits of a state) El Puerto Rican Embassy will, at least symbolically, culturally and artistically serve to represent and voice our needs through the creation of this alternative space.
The Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico is a hybrid state created from an attempt to reconstruct the memory of a lost tradition merged with elements found in a new environment. From this point of resistance to cultural assimilation we created Spanglish (a mix of Spanish and English) the official language of El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico and El Passport, a multi-citizenship passport for our schizophrenic citizens (a condition created by being on two islands at the same time). We extend this symbolic document to whoever solicits it under similar circumstances. Examples would be the Irish, Palestinians or Native Americans, all of which are struggling to establish a separate independent nation. This concept of El Puerto Rican Embassy as a form of resistance began as a political thought which found its expression as an art/cultural movement.
Recently we annexed New York City to El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico, much in the same way that the US annexed Puerto Rico without its consent. We changed its name to El Hybrid State of NuYol and appointed a new clear headed out of focus Head of State (we decided to use the out of focus state to our advantage as there are obvious benefits to this condition) to govern the new territory. We also began a campaign to run an out of focus candidate against Lazio and Clinton for the Senate seat (that represents the rest of New York not annexed by El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico) left vacant by Senator Moynihan this fall.
I studied fine art at the San Francisco Art Institute and while there had the good fortune of meeting Rene Yanez, the founder of La Galeria de la Raza. We became fast friends and he named his son partly after me, Rio Adal. I became one of the Galeria's artists and was constantly in the company of muralists, poets, performance and interdisciplinary artists. I was particularly taken with a group called the Royal Chicano Air Force who also used the Chicano tradition of Aztlan as a signifier of identity. They created art and performance based on race, culture and hybridity issues. However, at that time I was under the influence of Luis Bunuel, Jorge Luis Borges and Puerto Rican jibaro folklore and spiritualism. I suppose that my early contact with these Chicano artists unconsciously inspired my later work with the Embassy, but that was still to come.




		Interview of ADAL by Berta Jottar, conducted over the coconet (This interview in progress is being conducted in English for the benefit of the monolingual reader)
		Berta Jottar: Your work has usually produced conceptual territories that are "alternative" in the sense that they provide and perform a dialogue, but are also tinted with a dark humor and critique. The Puerto Rican Embassy is an ongoing project that has shifted from a virtual space (web site) to a material one. What are your motivations in continuing to construct and elaborate this national and spiritual territory? Has your experience living in California, and its Chicano tradition of using Aztlan as a signifier of identity, served as a model or inspiration for the Embassy? ADAL: El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico and its embassy (El Puerto Rican Embassy) were developed from an idea into an imaginary landscape; that is, a space in the Nuyorican imagination where the creative source is located. The concept of the Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico/El Puerto Rican Embassy was developed by Eduardo Figueroa, founder of the New Rican Village in Loisaida and the notoriously irreverent Reverend Pedro Pietri, a Nuyorican-Dadaist poet and playwright. Together and under the name of El Puerto Rican Embassy, they staged readings and performances that embraced the concept of hybridity and which revolved around issues of identity and cultural resistance. Eddie often said, "We are a Spirit Republic. No one understands a rainbow better than Puerto Ricans who are a spiritual and physical combination of all the nations in the world. Wherever you go you will meet yourself." After Eddie passed away, my collaboration with the embassy started and I began to develop it into a material space. The Reverend and I created its theoretical, physical, cultural, political, social and religious characteristics. I conceived of the citizens of this world as being out of focus and as I became aware of the creation of virtual realities in cyberspace, it seemed evident that this conceptual territory should exist in a virtual space. I designed our passport, currency, postage stamp, daily spanglish newspaper, out of focus born-again Nuyorican baptismal certificate, and intra-dimensional travel visas, and Rev. Pedro wrote the Manifesto and Spanglish National Anthem. I then started to design its web site. Another contributing factor for going into cyberspace was the realization that as a group which had separated itself ideologically from the mainstream art community, which marginalized us in the first place, we couldn't in good conscience approach their funding institutions for support to build a physical space from which to criticize them.


		We are in the 21st Century and Puerto Rico is purportedly the last existing colony in the world. El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico was created as a symbolic alternative universe and as a response to the dependent mindset and out of focus self image that resulted from Puerto Ricos's 100 years of colonial association with the US. Puerto Ricans continue to be regarded as second class citizens in their own country. Puerto Rico has no representation in the Senate or House of Congressóthere is one Resident Commissioner in Washington but with no political power or influenceóand citizens on the island don't have the right to cast a vote to elect the President of the United States. This condition make Puerto Ricans politically out of focus. The perception of being out of focus is reaffirmed by the media when it continues to represent Puerto Ricans in stereotyped negative ways. This misrepresentation creates a psychic fragmentation that is psychologically unhealthy and therefore renders us socially, culturally and emotionally out of focus. As long as the United Nations does nothing to help resolve Puerto Rico's political association to the US (either grant the island independence or invite her into the union with all of the benefits of a state) El Puerto Rican Embassy will, at least symbolically, culturally and artistically serve to represent and voice our needs through the creation of this alternative space. The Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico is a hybrid state created from an attempt to reconstruct the memory of a lost tradition merged with elements found in a new environment. From this point of resistance to cultural assimilation we created Spanglish (a mix of Spanish and English) the official language of El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico and El Passport, a multi-citizenship passport for our schizophrenic citizens (a condition created by being on two islands at the same time). We extend this symbolic document to whoever solicits it under similar circumstances. Examples would be the Irish, Palestinians or Native Americans, all of which are struggling to establish a separate independent nation. This concept of El Puerto Rican Embassy as a form of resistance began as a political thought which found its expression as an art/cultural movement. Recently we annexed New York City to El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico, much in the same way that the US annexed Puerto Rico without its consent. We changed its name to El Hybrid State of NuYol and appointed a new clear headed out of focus Head of State (we decided to use the out of focus state to our advantage as there are obvious benefits to this condition) to govern the new territory. We also began a campaign to run an out of focus candidate against Lazio and Clinton for the Senate seat (that represents the rest of New York not annexed by El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico) left vacant by Senator Moynihan this fall. I studied fine art at the San Francisco Art Institute and while there had the good fortune of meeting Rene Yanez, the founder of La Galeria de la Raza. We became fast friends and he named his son partly after me, Rio Adal. I became one of the Galeria's artists and was constantly in the company of muralists, poets, performance and interdisciplinary artists. I was particularly taken with a group called the Royal Chicano Air Force who also used the Chicano tradition of Aztlan as a signifier of identity. They created art and performance based on race, culture and hybridity issues. However, at that time I was under the influence of Luis Bunuel, Jorge Luis Borges and Puerto Rican jibaro folklore and spiritualism. I suppose that my early contact with these Chicano artists unconsciously inspired my later work with the Embassy, but that was still to come.