Judi Werthein was born in 1967 in New York. She lives and works in a city called Brooklyn. Since she was a child, Werthien has been involved in art work and that is where she gets her inspiration. One of Werthein’s artwork is the Brinco. This is a type of a high-top tennis shoe found in Mexico and the United States of America.
It was devised by Werthein and given out to a large number of Mexicans who were preparing to migrate (illegally) into the United States soil. Brinco was originally designed and equipped to help illegal immigrants to trek to the USA. The term Brinco refers to the act of crossing the border from Mexico to the United States. Werthein’s shoes had a compass and a flashlight to help the immigrants who crossed at night (The Balkans project 5).
They also had painkillers to help immigrants who might be injured along the way. They also had a pocket where the immigrants could hide money and a map to help them as they crossed over to the USA. The toe of the shoe was embroidered with an American Eagle which represented their dream land.
Werthein’s shoes were sold in most parts of America especially at the border as a special and unique art object at the price of $200 per pair. The proceeds from the sale were used to provide necessities for the people living in Tijuana. The estimated number of shoes given to the Mexican immigrants was 1000 which were produced in China.
This caused a lot of controversy in the United States since they wondered why they too could not be given the shoe freely (Regine 2). This made Werthein to be a frequent guest in talk shows and was a main feature in news. However, she received some bad mails from people who did not support her project.
Werthein’s pair of shoes was simple and was produced using cheap labor which was available in the global market. To reduce the tensions ignited by the mobility in the global market by factories that were also seeking for cheap labor, Werthein shoes were manufactured in China following strategies and models used by other factories operating outside the United States in disheartened economies.
Werthein’s project arbitrates on the global flow of labor and goods and also concentrates on issues of trade across borders among others. It also addresses the inconsistencies between competition and fashion in factories and the theme behind the concepts of labor geography in the global market (Anon. “The Irresistible force” 7).
Werthein shoes were later sold in other parts of the world, for instance De Apple where Werthein set up a Brinco shop. The profit realized from the sale of the shoes was used to support the immigrants living in Tijuana. Inspired by her new project, Werthein went to study in India, where she got a chance to observe the farmers who used to collect seeds of cereals, beans and rice, to breed them for better farming. Werthein was really moved by their creativity and wanted to transfer her experience to improve farming in Scandinavia.
She started by planting some traditional potatoes (the staple food) which she found out that place and they could be used in a variety of ways. Using the potato, Werthein was able to understand the cultural aspects related to the consumption of potatoes, the regulation imposed on the production of agricultural products, and the problems associated with those regulations.
Works Cited
Anon. “The Irresistible force.” Romanian Cultural Institute, 2007. Web.
Regine. “Trainers for border crossers.” Creative commons, 2010. Web.
The Balkans project. “Words and art from the Balkans;” Balkans project, 2010. Web.