BEHAVE

BEHAVE,

Soft sculpture , various textiles and stuffing.

2020

Mely Barragan
After leaving the Salk Institute, with my mind fully charged by my meeting with Dr. Kay, I began
looking at casual interactions with different eyes. My work has always been nourished by human
relationships, mostly focusing on specific cultural traits (identity and gender).  But, to be loyal to
this project (Trifecta), I tried to look at the reactions one has in our everyday relationships and
behaviors in a much more objective manner. My usual creative process takes me into
assemblage and collage as a way of clarifying my ideas, but there was one word, specifically,
that I haven't been able to take out of my mind.  This word, like other words that have haunted
me throughout my practice, needs to be left alone, written in capitals and splattered on a wall for
it to be observed.
Dr. Kay and I come from two different worlds, as it was evident in our meeting. We both had a
bit of trouble understanding each other just like the border area we live in; communication
sometimes struggles. Our different systems value different feelings, different outcomes, and
different ways of thought. But, there are universal actions and reactions and the word I have in
mind is almost the only attitude needed to create descent communication.
BEHAVE. Behavior is cultural, but it is also biological, and the two must coincide for that
behavior to create positive communication. As we all know when only one of these is willing to
cooperate and the other is not the result in behavior can be very negative and even life
changing. The opposite is also true––the outcome is totally different.

As shown in: TRIFECTA