Maite Iribarren
Corrective Devices for an Idealized Family Structure as per the 1975 Cuban Family Code
These objects are absurdly engineered corrective devices for my family structure. Through conversations with my mother about our family in 1950s Cuba, I mapped my family's complex interpersonal relationships and translated them into a steel structure in accordance with the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Steel Construction Manual. I then referred to the Cuban Family Code, a 1975 policy that proclaimed what the role of each family member should be, in order to “fix” the family wherever it was “broken”.
Family bringer together-er, 2020
Silicone
4”x35”x38”
Slides right onto abuelo Alfredo, an L8x8x1 angle beam. Each side stretches to attach to five different beams, his wife and those kids who left Cuba. Alfredo worked in a factory in Mariel, they lived in Havana, half of his kids eventually left to the US. This all utterly invalidated their family according to the Code.
“marriage loses its meaning for the couple and for the children and, thus, for society as a whole when… the marriage is no longer the union of a man and a woman in a manner adequate to… fulfill the obligations mentioned in Articles 24-28…” Article 25 states “spouses must live together”.
Sexual reorient-er, 2020
Cast iron, steel
14”x12.5”x12.5”
Just slide any mis-oriented member into the slot, bolt them in, and crank until proper orientation is achieved.
Juvenile align-er, 2020
Silicone, steel
68”x33”x3.5”
Bend your kid, bolt them in, keep them there, in school, cooperating just like Wilfredo here.
“Partia potestas entails the following rights and duties of the parents… seeing to the education of their children;… seeing to it that they attend school;… and collaborate with educational authorities in school programs and activities; training their children to be useful citizens; inculcating them with a love for their country…”