32 Cans
32 photographic prints + exchange system
California Supermarket in Calexico, CA is located a block away from the US/Mexico border. We visit and photograph 32 canned food items commonly used to prepare meals at Migrant shelters along the border. The photographs are printed, exhibited and sold in gallery — each print is sold for the exact price of the item in the picture (e.g. the campbell’s soup can print seen above is sold for $1.29, the same price as the actual can in the store). The funds from the sale of each print go to purchasing the can in the picture after the exhibition, and subsequently given as donation to the Hotel del Migrante – a shelter for recently deported migrants in Mexicali, B.C.
During the last installation of the project at Grand Central Art Center, a total of 206 prints were sold, leading to the purchase of 206 cans. The rematerialized cans were then driven across the border and donated to the Hotel del Migrante.