INSPECTED




INSPECTED is a public art project about Puerto Rican experiences with inspections and seizures of their organic items by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service.

It follows this inspection’s design object: a neon sticker labeling Puerto Ricans “INSPECTED” for plant pests that can “threaten” American agriculture. As there is no inspection of organic items entering Puerto Rico, the sticker reminds us of how Puerto Rico’s colonial status introduces exceptional regulations on everyday life.

The airport is a threshold between Puerto Rico and its diaspora. This project explores the inspection as a site of both colonial intervention and everyday resistance through the fruits, vegetables, plants, seeds, and recipes we circulate to sustain relationships from afar.

The project includes:

  • A multichannel art installation in Puerto Rico, New York, and London
  • A WhatsApp Voice Note Archive of inspection stories  
  • A mixtape 
  • A re-designed sticker