CERTIFIED 

an installation located in the Variable space 

As I mentioned last week during our discussion, I have struggled with accepting my presence on the Deep End Ranch in regards to finding my purpose there. As we talk about site specificity, we can start to think of the term as " a problem idea".  The specific in my case is what becomes a certain type of politic; a specific context, debate, audience, community, project, not a genre nor a place. With this approach I came to terms with what I, or an artist, can contribute to a site work by bringing my personal interests of the current state of the auto industry, immigration rights into conversation with our current contributions on the ranch. As the world economy had been greatly effected by the auto industry plunge so has the city of Santa Paula. In the year 2008, 881 new auto dealerships have closed their doors. California has the largest percentage of closed dealerships in the US. 

The reality is that just down the street a Ford dealership and a Chrysler dealership have closed their doors for good. This effects California tax laws in a very significant way not too mention all the local jobs that were lost. Here is a letter of concern from the California New Car Dealers Association addressing this years projections.

But, not only is California concerned with it's auto sales declining more than anywhere in the world but immigration has been on it's hot plate for quite a while. Immigration laws, workers rights, undocumented migrants all are relevant topics surrounding the Deep End Ranch as it sits in the citrus capital of the world. I propose to invite my own personal experiences with immigration and the auto industry to raise the notion that these issues are complex, broad, and have great resonance in Ventura county. 

CERTIFIED will question what it means to be eligible for American citizenship. What used to once stand for a gateway into freedom, a thriving economy with great accomplishments now can be examined for it's failures even through the lens of the auto industry.