Ponte las Pilas

Acrylic, spray paint, screenprint, toner, collage, tape, soot, clay, branches, tire, squeegee on repurposed OSB, wood, and drywall panels.

84 x 187 in. (12 elements) 2020-2025

Raymundo Tonatiuh Reynoso

My Ponte las Pilas installation is at its core an exploration of language and its power, both in my mother tongue (Spanish) and my adopted language (English.) Literally meaning (roughly) “Put in your batteries.” It is an oft-repeated phrase in Spanish intended to offer a quick encouraging course of action to address an issue being faced. It is a phrase that in English is not quite “pull yourself up by the bootstraps,” “keep your chin up,” “try hard(er),” or in the parlance of marketing and advertising, “just do it,” but nevertheless, it intends something similar.

The installation is comprised of multiple elements. It combines works from my Imaginary Found Objects series (an ongoing project that incorporates musings on imagined signage based on words, phrases, and typography inspired by vernacular graphics from my city of birth (CDMX) and the city I call home (Los Angeles); works from my Means of Production series, centering instances of the existence and resilience of working class folx in marginalized and working class communities, primarily in L.A. and incorporating the commonalities that tie us with other people across the global south and the world at large.