Verbal Description: Gabriella Torres-Ferrer, Untitled (Valora tu mentira americana), 2018

Narrator: Valora tu mentira americana is an installation of a wooden electric post ravaged by a hurricane. The post is around 10 feet long and is installed at an angle, suggesting it was knocked over by the force of Hurricane Maria. The bottom of the post rests where the wall meets the floor, and the top of the post leans high on the opposing wall. The ravaged post has pieces of wood spliterning away and broken electrical remains. At the top of the post are gray and rusty metal prongs that perhaps once held electrical wires. A couple feet down from the top of the post, a long rusty pole juts out. At the end of the pole is a broken lamp leaning against the wall revealing a tangle of electrical wires where the lightbulb once was. Underneath the street light on the post are three long cables dangling in the air. The top two cables are fraying and beginning to unravel. The middle cable is the longest and touches the ground. On the bottom half of the post underneath the dangling cables is a beat up sign with statehood propaganda with red, white, and blue colors that pop against the weathered post. The sign is oriented vertically and the top reads “Valora tu Ciudadanía” in white text against a red background. Underneath in black text against white reads “Americana.” Below is a black triangle with a white outline and the word “garantízala” in front of a blue tinted image of the United States and Puerto Rican flags side by side, merging together. The bottom of the sign is white with grey text that reads “vota estadidad,” and in black text “11 de Junio.” The full text together translates to “Value your american citizenship, guarantee it, vote for statehood on the 11th of June”, which has a stark contrast to the title of the artwork which translates to “Value your American Lie”.