Libertad Guerra – “Noricua”

Noricua as imagined by Libertad Guerra, One of fifteen islands fabricated by Greg Sholette based on ideas proposed by invited collaborators, Mixed media (paper, sand, plastic, wire, resin), 2012

Dear Greg,

These are some explorations of a Noricua That Never Was as proposed by Edwin Torres and elaborated on by me. It is an in-the-works Noricua, a Noricua in constant re-invention, that will adapt to the changing landscape represented as a mobile shape (Calder). Let us indigenous Noricuas align our beginnings within our DNA. A kitchen-sink approach to fringing and flexing the Noricua mindscape, which aligns itself with Boricua’s multi-versed bochincherias. As the alter-icua Noricua Judy Garland said, “Todo, we’re not in Ghetto anymore.” A land that never was.

The ungraspable kinetic which defines poetry is what empowers Noricua-a language-based reality at home with syntax and modality before physical interference. The shadow we cast, at odds with our relation to the sun-the Caribbean sun that every true Noricua calls home. Our perspective to a larger light, a heavenly association to what nothing could be-Sol Power…an entity beyond mere belief, the power of Non, of No. Could there be a funnel shaped vortex that hovers inexplicably over Noricua? A grand beacon guiding lost ships into their self-reflective flytraps?

What is our vegetation, our currency, our disambiguation? The zero flag is a humble reminder of our beginnings. A hula-hoop of cacti in tremendous ring shape, an empty void where we choose our government. No money is the currency of choice. Tropicalia/Nopicalia. Trees that need no water or sun populate the island. Not artificial, perhaps. The landscape is not barren though, not a dessert but grass that also needs no water…. perhaps a beautiful colorless grass-the rare no-grass needing an average rainfall of nil.

In this way, Noricua is the universe. The small island that isn’t, becoming the center of id/ego/displacement/question. Noricua is about our desire for understanding, for human contact, for mutual borders consisting of none.

- Libertad

Libertad Guerra is a co-founder of Spanic Attack: a South Bronx-based, multi-arts collective, that is focused on the social and artistic strategies of Latinos and Latin American expatriates.

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