HKG-ORD (mule)
2007
x-ray, elephant ivory buddah smuggled vaginally from HKG-ORD, receipt, plane ticket
17 x 42
This work is intended to explore the precarious relationship to illegality that the individual has when crossing international borders. the elephant ivory buddah was smuggled vaginally in an act which is often referred to as ‘body packing’ from Hong Kong where it was legally obtained into the US where it is illegal to import. The traveling buddah was chosen because of his transnational significance and to allude to my own status as a tourist. The vaginal transport also references legend of Siddhartha’s conception (Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side,26 and ten months later Siddhartha was born.) -NM
