Cowboy and "Indian" Film

Ortiz produced experimental works in which he used existing films as the raw material for his own art. In Cowboy and “Indian” Film, he ritually chopped up several copies of Anthony Mann’s classic Western Winchester ’73 (1950) and then randomly reassembled snippets to completely destroy the original movie’s narrative and audiovisual integrity. Ortiz considered his shaman-like process resonant with his indigenous heritage. His destructive act also criticized media depictions of Native Americans.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013

In the 1950s, Raphael Montañez Ortiz began exploring destruction as the basis for his art making. To create Cowboy and "Indian" Film, he used a tomahawk to chop up several copies of Anthony Mann's classic Western, Winchester '73 (1950). He then placed the hacked strips of film in a medicine bag, shook them while singing a war chant, and reassembled the snippets, boldly jumbling their narrative, visual, and sound elements. Ortiz used this shaman-like process to suggest and honor his Yaqui Indigenous heritage. Through his invented ritual, Ortiz sought, in his words, to "redeem the indigenous wound" of European colonialism. This work disrupts the familiar cowboy versus Indian narrative common in Western films.

Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, 2023

En la década de 1950, Raphael Montañez Ortiz empezó a estudiar la destrucción como base de su creación artística. Para crear su obra Película de "indios" y vaqueros, utilizó un tomahawk para cortar varias copias del clásico western de Anthony Mann, Winchester '73 (1950). A continuación, colocó las tiras de película cortadas en una bolsa de medicina, las agitó mientras entonaba un canto de guerra y volvió a montar los fragmentos, para combinar audazmente sus elementos narrativos, visuales y sonoros. Ortiz utilizó este proceso "chamánico" para sugerir y honrar su herencia indígena yaqui. A través de su ritual inventado, Ortiz pretendía, según sus palabras, "redimir la herida indígena" causada por el colonialismo europeo. Esta obra altera la narrativa conocida de vaqueros contra indios, habitual en las películas del oeste.

Más de un oeste: Visiones artísticas de una idea estadounidense, 2023