TEETER-TOTTER WALL

Designers: Ronald Rael, Virginia San Fratello, Rael San Fratello (United States); Collaborator: Collectivo Chopeke (Mexico); Locations: Anapra, Chihuahua, Mexico and Sunland Park, New Mexico, USA; Year: 2019

Two communities in Mexico and the United States, long separated by a border wall, came together to play on three oversized teeter-totters that spanned the US-Mexico border. The wall itself acted as a fulcrum for the teeter-totter installation. Echoing US-Mexico relations, movements and actions taken on one side of the border directly impacted the other, as children and adults alike enjoyed the see-saws. The installation temporarily transformed this small section of the border into a space of hope and elation, exposing the borderlands as a place where women and children live with dignity in spite of the xenophobia and violence perpetuated by the wall and its construction.

Image: View of Mexico side of teeter-totters installed at the US-Mexico border; Courtesy of Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello