Juan Bastardo

(HONEY, HONEY, HONEY, HONEY, HONEY) CHANTING THE FAILURE OF THE PROMISED LAND.

Year: 2023
honey - honey - honey - juan bastardo
Under the statement of “a land flowing with milk and honey” −this pledge or the desire of a place where there is no pain, and no fear− I took honey as main element in this work, focusing on a predominant idea: the failure of the dream of the Promised Land.
honey - honey - honey - juan -bastardo - land - of - milk - and - mexicali - bienial

In “(Honey, honey, honey, honey, honey)…,” we hear a fragment of “Everything is Honey” a musical composition from the 2011 Winnie the Pooh film, a pleasant song that is heard while Pooh begins to dream not only about their favorite snack but also a dreamed honey land.

honey - honey - honey - juan bastardo
honey - honey - honey - juan bastardo - mexicali biennial
The song, and its chorus in particular, allows one to rethink the idea that all human beings share the same dream: a society that guarantees equality and a place where one can live in prosperity. But in the artwork, honey has two opposite meanings.
honey - honey - honey - juan bastardo - mexicali biennial
honey - honey - honey - juan bastardo
honey - honey - honey - juan bastardo
honey - honey - honey - juan bastardo - mexicali biennial
honey - honey - honey - juan bastardo - mexicali biennial
honey - honey - honey - juan bastardo

On the one hand, honey may well be understood as a substance of abundance, lushness, or fortune par excellence. On the other hand, the repetitive chorus and the fake honey could hardly represent honey as a blessing. At best they might represent an obsession, a marginal economy, scarcity, and destruction. Here, the failure of the idea of a Promise Land is that the pledge will never be attained on earth, but the dream or delusion of it remains and will remain until the end of times.

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