Abstract
For more than three decades, femicides in Ciudad Juárez have occurred systematically. Edmond Locard’s exchange principle, which maintains that the criminal inevitably leaves marks at the crime scene, establishing an exchange in which, by taking a life, he also leaves his traces, is a crucial theoretical framework for this analysis. In this context, art and the objectivity of forensic investigation are intertwined through the works Visite Ciudad Juárez by Ambra Polidori and the performance Mientras dormías by Lorena Wolffer. This analysis explores the depersonalized objectivity of forensic investigation to understand its construction. This is manifested in the disconnecting language of the criminologist, who seeks to scientifically demonstrate the occurrence of an event, focusing only on the fragments that would allow judges to determine the existence of a crime. The forensic investigator plays a crucial role in this, preparing an aseptic topography of the crime, which examines the wounds objectively, separating them from the victim’s body. The forensic perspectives that Polidori and Wolffer present through art allow for the recovery of life, even suffering. Without altering the forensic language, both artists rescue the victims’ humanity and, importantly, show the pain and denounce impunity and corruption. Their work reveals the absurdities that facilitate the elimination of traces of crime, even though they remain visible to everyone.
Presenters
Lucía MolatoreResearch Professor, Creative Studies, Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores de Querétaro S.C., Querétaro, Mexico
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Arts in Social, Political, and Community Life
KEYWORDS
EXCHANGE, PRINCIPLE, FEMINICIDES, CONTEMPORARY, ART, FORENSIC, INVESTIGATION
