Art Against Racism. Works By Santiago Sierra As a Voice Against Racism

In my paper I would like to present an artist who is socially engaged and whose works refers to very important social issue – exploitation of workers and cheap work force. Santiago Sierra, born in 1966 in Madrid, is the best known contemporary Spanish artist, who lives and works in Mexico City. Main topics of his works are: critic of capitalism, underpaid labourer completing menial tasks and immigration. It is said that he get involved in social engaged art when he realised how little money get Mexican workers for performing gruelling work. His social background also has a big influence on his work, because he comes from a working-class family. 

In my presentation I will discuss some of Santiago Sierra works, which can be understood as statement about (or rather against) racism. As we consider racism as invention of modernism we can also see some direct link between racism and capitalism, cheap labour force and illegal immigrants. We can also easily match those factors: being subjected by racism is often connected with being illegal immigrant who delivers low paid menial work. Furthermore, as we can learn from Loic Wacquant that racism has always been a convenient excuse to justify exploitation of some groups of people. Almost every economic system needs some resources to exploit to exist. Especially capitalism. In capitalism racism has its economic function: it lowers cost of production and stabilizes hierarchy. Similar functions also have illegal immigrants, who are necessary in the system, because capitalism still needs people to complete menial tasks for small salaries. Employing illegal immigrant for lower wages may be justified by racism – they are no us, they are foreigners, they not equal to us.