La Paletera

Culture is a lived experience, a process societies use to channel shared meaning and action.

For this project, I decided to create a piece that sparked curiosity for the Dominican culture. As an expatriate, it became apparent to me how much more I could easily reference or at times identify myself with this world. I find it gratifying to engage in the raw reality of the streets since there is something fulfilling about experiencing and appreciating critically but most importantly, curiously; for you will most likely find rewarding aspects, but you will also find honest realities.

I decided to create a piece using audio and visual documentation which would capture the essence of this culture. Dominicans are loud, so to comment on their natural noisiness as well as their auditory originality, I incorporated ambient sound recordings.

The various ambient textures I collected are triggered through a handmade custom soundboard installed on a crafted wooden console. I also designed and printed a series of pamphlets inspired by commercial and religious ephemera to accompany this display.

This project is an ethnographic study celebrating the customs, religion, politics, social etiquette, humor, work ethic and industriousness of working-class Dominicans. It is a hymn to the “tigueraje.”