Valerie
Mendoza

We Value Your Business

Affordable housing, in the U.S. and abroad, has been the focus of my research for more than ten years. When experienced in isolation, lack of affordable housing may represent a personal failure to those who face the challenge of securing an affordable place to live. When considered on a national or global scale, it becomes clear that, far from an issue of personal success or failure, this is a world-wide phenomenon that should be attributed to other factors such as the speculative real estate market, gentrification, "touristification," and the absence of meaningful government oversight. Though housing should be considered a basic, human right, all too often it becomes a game of speculation for those who can afford to play.

We Value Your Business offers what appear to be typical banking ads in the form of 8, poster-sized images. The imagery was sourced from online banking ads, featuring happy, relaxed people – a couple working on a laptop, a woman smiling down at her cell phone, family and friends at festive gatherings, etc., then digitally altered and expanded to fit the 36" x 24" aspect ratio. A large, ad-type slogan is included on each piece. Smaller text is also offered. Closer inspection reveals information of an unexpected nature: statistics on the historical rise of rent and mortgage cost in cities nationwide; descriptions of systemic racial injustice within the housing market; a historical account of the progression of homelessness in the U.S.; income inequity ranging from declining salaries to rising housing cost-to-income ratios; the additional challenges women face when attempting to purchase a home. Two of the pieces include my own, personal narrative related to the speculative real estate market, which helps reveal my investment in this subject. A third offers the lyrics and history of the song, We're in the Money, with the final piece offering solutions. The panels were printed using the metal, dye sublimation process. They include an under-layer of pastel hues (different for each panel), which stand in stark contrast to the grim information provided and the cold metal surface beneath. The series includes an optional sound piece, an instrumental version of "We're in the Money" that plays softly from an unseen speaker, like a subliminal message.

Extensive research was invested into the textual portion of the piece, gathering the necessary statistical information then re-writing it in a way that made the narrative readable for a broad audience, in addition to writing the personal pieces, and finding the lyrics, history and music for We're in the Money, before work on the images began. Though the ads were initially images of strangers, while reworking the imagery, the people in the ads came to represent friends and family members, my partner and me, as stand-ins for the average person dealing with the challenges posed by the banking industry. I also changed the imagery from color to black and white, and softened it, before layering the text over it. The imagery is relatively clear and visible from a distance, but when the viewer moves closer to read the text, the people in the images dissolve into indiscernible areas of light and dark.

Most of us do not have a particularly happy experience with our banks, yet the people in the ads I regularly receive look thrilled by the prospect of interacting with online banking. Because I am a woman with the last name of Mendoza, the targeted ads I tend to receive include women and people of color. Research reveals that people like me, women, people from the LGBTQ community, single people, pretty much anyone who isn't a straight, white, affluent man, have historically been treated poorly by the banking industry. The text is layered over the images of people, implying that we, as individuals, are often confined and limited by the systems that govern our access to desired objectives - such as purchasing a home or car, renting a home, or even obtaining a credit card or opening a bank account. While all this information exists if one digs through statistics, until recently, it was rarely spoken about. For instance, while the term, "redlining" has surfaced in the media, the finer points of the practice, as well as under-appraisal and excessive taxation in black neighborhoods are still relatively unknown. We Value Your Business illuminates information that is obscured by the pleasing images and positive messaging of the banking industry. The piece reveals facts that would otherwise remain unseen and presents, instead, a clear view of the challenges that the average, working-class citizen faces when attempting to access the financial security that is afforded to those who fit the "right" demographic.

Valerie Mendoza is based in the San Francisco Bay Area where she is also an Associate Professor at San José State University. Her work has been exhibited in France, Ireland, Mexico, Portugal, and venues throughout the United States. Full Bio/Statement: https://www.valeriemendoza.com/about-om