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Artist draws the U.S.–Mexico border outside Houston

Thin Red Line

Artist draws the U.S.–Mexico border outside Houston

Artist Molly Gochman is drawing her newest land art piece directly on the surface of the earth, at a large enough scale that it will only be legible as a whole to passengers flying in or out of the nearby George Bush International Airport in Houston. Border US-MX, 2018, International Airport Houston will be a temporary artwork in the shape of the U.S.–Mexico border drawn in a bright red color in the middle of a highway interchange.

Gochman said in a statement that the work is meant to raise awareness about human trafficking. Her ongoing Red Sand Project is a participatory artwork that invites people to fill in cracks with red sand, and then document and share the result to encourage discussion and activism on the issue. Gochman said in a statement: “The undulating, irregular border of Texas—created by the natural curves of Rio Grande—in contrast with the straight lines and edges of the other states, highlights the arbitrary ways in which borders are drawn.”

The 650-foot-long work evolved out of “the ways in which borders and migration connect to vulnerabilities and susceptibility to exploitation,” Gochman said in a statement. The work will be up through the end of April.


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