This installation was made up of three painted wooden panels: the US and Mexican flags, and a bullet-riddled white panel representing a white flag in between them. Under the white flag sits a pile of spent ammo collected from the La Cieneguilla land grant area in Santa Fe during several cleanings performed by the artist.

Collecting shells is not only an act of care for public land, but also a way to represent lives lost as a result of the code-named "Fast and Furious" program run secretly by the U.S. government under the Bush and Obama administrations. The goal of this program was to track guns sold under ATF jurisdiction in hopes of arresting kingpin cartel members. However, less than one third of these guns were ever recovered and the influx of weapons ultimately exacerbated ongoing violence in Mexico. This botched attempt at taking down the cartels was covered up by the US Government, overlooked by the media, and all but forgotten by the American public.

"Fast and Furious" was one notable example of how easy access to guns in the US directly impacts violence in Mexico. Mexico has incredibly strict gun control. There is only one place in the entire country where one can purchase a firearm: a military fortress with lengthy processes in place to obtain a gun. However, gun violence related to the drug trade and President Felipe Calderon's "war on drugs" has claimed over 300,000 lives since 2006, with missing individuals numbering over 60,000. Inherently tied to impoverished conditions in Mexico worsened by NAFTA as well as economic dependence on the US, this exhibition prompts viewers to examine how complex global systems connect lived realities across lines of class and imagined national identities.

The first iteration of this installation was created at the Ralph Coe Center in Santa Fe, NM. Above photos credited to Chelsea Darter.