The pop-up show Pallet was born from a cross-border commercial phenomenon. It attempts to generate a creative dynamic and space for the analysis of “found objects”—commodities—their value, functionality, cultural relevance, and aesthetic qualities. Merchandise pallets daily cross the border from San Diego to Tijuana, are dismantled, and their contents are resold piecemeal. When a merchant purchases a pallet, they frequently don’t have a clear-cut idea of what it contains. The pallet’s packaging obfuscates its contents. No itemized list of contents is included with the pallet’s bill of sale. Instead, a pallet is created with discarded merchandise from large commercial chains. Consumers have returned goods for myriad reasons—they disliked their purchases, items malfunctioned or were missing parts. But, one person’s disposable or defective purchases are another’s artistic raw materials.

Artists from both sides of the border created work with the contents of a pallet that was unpacked in front of them a month ago. Join us to see how each artist (collective) experimented with what they selected from the bundle.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTAS

Cognate Collective (SD/Tj-/Mxli)

Camilo Ontiveros (Riverside/LA)

Diana Benavídez (Sd/Tj)

David Nava (Tj)

Joe Yorty (SD)

Lizzie Zelter (NY/SD)

Luciano Pimienta (LA)

Marlon PV (Tj)

Marisa Raygoza (Tj)

Max Corona (Tj)

Omar Pimienta (Tj/SD)