Email sent to Helmut Waszkis - author of Dr. Moritz (Don Mauricio) Hochschild 1881-1965 describing briefly my art approach and my grant proposal projeto MAPA DO TRAJETO DA BOLSA VITAE:
14/07/2003
Hello Mr. Waszkis,
My research aims at tracing and mapping visually (photos, drawings) and through stories (text) the lives of the various people who participated in the accumulation of Hochschild's group's money. Once the companies were sold some of the money became the funds for Lampadia Foundation and its parent foundations in latin America, right? There's a map there can you imagine it visually? It's the flow of different efforts that combined resulted in the funds that I am applying for now. I don't see it as Hochschild's money alone.
So Hochschild's and Weinberg's stories will be only one part of this research.I intend to study the lives of the people who worked in the companies, mines, etc as well.
My work became known in two stages first in 1988, when I decided that "my life was art" and that I would look for one evidence a day of the fact that I was alive. And I have been doing that ever since. And second more recently when I refused sponsorship from companies that are not ethical. This second stage has made me well known and anonymous (and poor) at the same time. I have people writing their thesis about my work, giving lectures about it, but I cannot find a place to exhibit.(I can explain this in more detail if you wish)
Last month I attended a course in Woods Hole - Cape Cod, Boston, with several american intellectuals including Noam Chomsky. There it became clear to me something that I had been thinking about. I am becoming some kind of martyr in the name of art, and that is not what I wish. It's not something positive for me being part of the art community. All artists are getting their hands dirty - so to speak - and I am this clean artist that does not corrupt. This is not what I had in mind when the work started, but it has become that way.
I decided to apply for Vitae as a new approach to the issue of being funded by money that "isn't ethical". We all need money. We all do something to get it. So I decided that a good way to start a third stage in my process would be to actually create a story for any money I receive. The story should take in consideration the different groups involved in it.
I think it's quite moving to know that Moritz might have helped 10000 jews.
I also know a bit about the working conditions of miners in Bolivia and that is not very nice. But what would matter to me is the work people have done, in spite of all kinds of difficulties.
We know that there are always problems around big money. I came to the conclusion that refusing to deal with that is a mistake.
Your book will be instrumental as a guide book for my maps.
I will start from Chile - that's where Hochschild started, isn't it? and then move on to Bolivia, etc.
Well feel free to ask if something is not clear.
Sincerely,
Ana Amorim
