MEXICAN FEET SAVED

Artist Judi Werthein has designed special border "crossing trainers" – Brincos (Spanish for "jump") – that she distributes free to Mexicans hoping to illegally enter the US by walking from Tijuana to San Diego. According to the BBC, it's all about the poor Mexicans' feet:

"If they go through the sierra, they walk eight hours. Their feet get hurt. There's a lot of stones and there are snakes, tarantulas. So that's why it is a little boot," she says.

The Brinco is an ankle-high trainer which is green, red, black and yellow.

An Aztec eagle is embroidered on the heel. On the toe is the American eagle found on the US quarter, to represent the American dream the migrants are chasing.

A map - printed on the shoe's removable insole - shows the most popular illegal routes from Tijuana into San Diego.

As the distance from Tijuana to San Diego is only around 16 miles (26 km) this is about something other than Mexican feet:

A few days after passing out shoes for free to migrants, Werthein begins selling the shoes at a hip boutique trainer store in downtown San Diego.

The shop sells only limited edition trainers. A pair of Werthein's Brincos are displayed on a pedestal under glass with a price tag of $215 (£125).

Not only are the shoes making Werthein a celebrity they're money makers:

Only 1,000 pairs of the “Brinco” sneakers (it means “Jump” in Spanish) have been made — in China, for $17 each. The shoes were introduced in August at inSite, an art exhibition in San Diego and Tijuana whose sponsors include nonprofit foundations and private collectors.

Benefactors put up $40,000 for the project; Werthein gets a $5,000 stipend, plus expenses.

inSite_05 has a photo of the Brincos and offers this useful summary:

In a single object Judi reveals the contradictions between fashion, competition in the manufacturing industry, and migratory flows, themes that lie and the heart of the dynamics of labor geography in today’s world.

Whatever; only a lefty would pay $215 for shoes that fucking ugly.

Via: Articulate.