In the Court of the Conqueror is the first collaboration between Ortiz y Sanchez. The work features Sanchez's original text and performance with Ortiz's video projections. In the Court of the Conqueror weaves together Sanchez's Ecuadorean ancestry with the lens of US indigenous sovereignty. The work was commissioned by Abrons Arts Center, NY and is currently traveling throughout the US.
sitting on a park bench while unlocking the cages of captivity explores the interplay between our dreams and the realities of our existence. The first iteration of this performance/artwork came to form at the invitation of MoreArts as a companion work to Fred Wilson’s site-specific installation Mind Forged Manacles located in Columbus Park at Borough Hall, Brooklyn. sitting on a park bench while unlocking the cages of captivity was presented as a two-hour live performance with video projections on May 9, 2023 as an acknowledgement of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Only the Imagination Can Unlock the Cages of Captivity is the second iteration of sitting on a park bench while unlocking the cages of captivity. This new version looks to the same subjects as the inaugural installation, those that question the intersection of the dream space and realities faced by existence. This work continues Ortiz y Sanchez’s exploration of the theater of meaning when words and images enter the spaces of performance and visual art anew.