YOSHUA OKÓN

Okón collaborated with a group of Third Reich devotees, an odd amalgam of hard-boiled fascists, World War II history buffs, insignia fetishists, and weekend hobbyists. The title refers to a street in Mexico City where the group holds weekly meetings and that is named, coincidentally, for the librettist of the Mexican national anthem, “Mexicans, at the cry of war” (Mexicanos, al grito de guerra). Members agreed to participate in a series of orchestrated situations, which were recorded on video.

Bocanegra: A Walk In the Park. Group members, wearing their original antique uniforms, parade in goose-step around a local park, their march trapped in a never-ending loop, headed nowhere.

Bocanegra: The Salute, includes seven 10” monitors placed on the floor, where all the members of the group salute the camera Nazi style.

Bocanegra: The Movie, is written and directed by Manolo, a member of the group, and produced by Okón. The resulting short movie,  titled Masturbanfuhrer, is about a character (Ejaculhector) who is sexually aroused by the mere look of Hitler's portrait.

Bocanegra: The Gathering. The group celebrates their march with drinks at their weekly meeting. Besides performing bomb evacuations, allegiance ceremonies and songs in broken German, as they get drunker and drunker they forget their fictional roles and begin to discuss their ideas and beliefs only to find out they disagree on most points. The evening ends in fighting and crying.