Art as Resistance

"A banana from my country can travel easier than me"

says Benito Banana (alias Hatuey Ramos-Fermin) .

Conceptual artist Hatuey Ramos-Fermin puts on a banana suit to accentuate how bananas have no problem at security points.

How is this Resistance? When you see Benito Banana, it makes you laugh, and then you think about how silly it is that a banana can go everywhere, but a person cannot! Since you are a human being that can think through things, you mull over the banana situation - maybe you recently returned from a foreign country and ended up behind a grandmother who had over stayed her visa at Christmas. ICE officers make her cry. You feel bad, but maybe you still tell yourself that immigration needs to be controlled, even if grandmothers are made to cry.

You may dream about Benito Banana. Maybe a few days later you'll be at the grocery store - passing by the bananas - you chuckle to yourself about Benito's outfit - and then it dawns on you that our immigration system treats people pretty badly.

Resistance can be used when you can influence someone into thinking about things in a more humane way. Resistance can be used to reduce hate by informing people (i.e. undocumented immigrants do pay taxes, and are funding our social security deficit). Resistance can create change.

below is a video describing how Benito's banana suit was made: