Whitney Stolich | Third Space

Third Space consists of sixteen images, 32 inches x 77 inches, and are color type C prints. These images were taken along the 2,000-mile United States and Mexico border. There is one image for every twin border town with in the series. The term “twin” is commonly used to reference border towns where one can cross back and forth entering either Mexico or the United States. Each single image incorporates two images, which diffuse into one incorporating both sides of each “twin” border city.

My last series, Landuse, investigated urbanization concentrating on reality, yet also imagination. Third Space focuses on urbanization again, but this time points at a very real phenomenon: interdependent cultures that have become so closely linked that their urban spatial qualities have diffused together. The US/Mexico border is the largest and most active border in the world. More than 300,000 people cross daily that are legal, and many more who are not. Another monumental change that has caused interdependence to the border cities came with NAFTA when US owned plants were built on both sides. This twin plant system has caused a surge of workers to migrate to the northern border cities.

It is not my intention to adjudicate the multiplicity of conflicting perceptions of the border with this work. Instead, the border is seen as a “third space” between two contiguous nations. It is a place of inter-connection, interdependence, globalism, and transnationalism. Third Space depicts spatial qualities in detail, which inform the place of the border. The distinctive patterns that form because of the transborder interdependence are not only spatial, but also social, economic and cultural. Within both sides of the political boundary differences become blurred. Third Space elicits complex ideas and notions by visualizing the border through work that underscores the dichotomies and paradoxes that illustrate the urbanization diffusion and interconnection of the border cities.

For example in image #16 a hydroelectric plant is shown which is in Eagle Pass, Texas. The other part of the image shows a sub station in Piedras Negras, Mexico. These cites often have voltage instability and feed electricity back and forth when either one needs help. This image exemplifies their connection and their need for shared resources. Image #7 shows two stucco middle class houses: one in Presidio, Texas and the other in Ojinaga, Mexico. Here you can see both houses incorporate the same architectural styles with arches and ornate fences around the homes. Each is made from stucco and each is painted with bright colors. There is a front patio outside of both houses. Both of the homes are aligned next to dirt roads. There is very clear connection spatially and culturally within this image.