Art Outlet Ofrenda, Washington, DC
October 31-November 1, 2008

(Originally written on August 14, 2009)

Art Outlet sponsored this local event known as Ofrenda that was designed to honor the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead celebration. The organization called for art projects that was based on that theme. I decided to do a traditional Day of the Dead altar that would honor the memories of two friends who passed away in 2007. One of them, Julie, was brutally murdered by her boyfriend. The other one, drex, lost his struggle with cancer just four months later.

Since I had never done a traditional altar before, I did a lot of Google searches and I viewed photos of various Day of the Dead altars. I managed to purchase some Mexican sugar skulls through an online site. I purchased decorations through budget places like Target, Party City, Michaels Arts & Crafts, A.C. Moore, and Jo-Ann's Fabrics & Crafts. I used the same tables and table cloth as what I've used when I worked as a vendor in craft shows.

To portray the friendly skeletons that typically grace a traditional Mexican Day of the Dead altar, I took my various dolls and created paper skull masks. I attached the masks to each doll face using temporary Artists Tape. I followed Mexican tradition by decorating the altar with candy, flowers, candles, a glass of water, and fresh produce.

The biggest challenge was the fact that my hip had gotten so bad that my mobility was challenged. It took me much longer for me to erect the altar than it would've had I done this project a year or two ago. By the time I was done, sunset was just an hour away. I took a bunch of pictures while it was still daylight. I took a break and waited for the sun to set. When it got dark, I took more pictures in the dark.

I waited until the next day to dismantle the altar. Then I sifted through my photos and selected the ones that I liked the best and put them in a giant frame.

This video is basically a slideshow that shows not only the original photos I took of the altar but also what the completed project looked like when it was framed and on display at the Ofrenda event. It also includes a close-up of the two Mexican-imported sugar skulls used on the altar as well as a roll call of all the dolls that I used on the altar.

I managed to bring the picture to the restaurant where the Ofrenda event was held. It was a struggle because of my bad hip. In fact, my hip was such a struggle that I decided to skip the party that was held on the first night of the event on October 31. (I stayed home giving candy to local trick or treaters instead.) I went to the event on the following afternoon where I shot a video of the entire Ofrenda exhibit. The picture quality is not that great because I tried to shoot it using the iSight webcam that's built into my MacBook. (My videocamera suffered an meltdown and I couldn't find anyone willing to fix it because it's an older camera that still used DV tape while the stores were starting to sell videocameras that used SD memory cards instead of tape.) But it should give you an idea as to how other people created art using the Day of the Dead as the theme.

Two weeks after shooting that video, I underwent a hip replacement, which solved a lot of my health problems.

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