WAR (The Lexus and the Olive Tree), 2022 - ongoing
Engraved brass ZIPPO lighter.
In 2022, I met George, a Vietnam War veteran at a McDonald’s in Torreón, my hometown, who was a fan of the franchise. George, the name of this former soldier, frequented the fast food restaurant on Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays to play dominoes with his friends. I started a brief relationship with him, as the last time I saw him was in early 2023. During this time, I spoke with him about the reasons why he migrated to Torreón from the United States, his experience in Vietnam, how he lived through the period of narcotrafficking violence in Torreón, my desire to become a soldier to fight organized crime, and finally, the intentions of the United States to intervene militarily in Mexico to combat drug cartels, considering some of them as terrorist groups.
This event led me to start researching the global role McDonald’s plays in order to connect it to my immediate context. To do this, I link George Ritzer’s theoretical proposal on “The McDonaldization of Society” and Thomas L. Friedman’s studies with “The Theory of the Golden Arches for Conflict Prevention” found in his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree.
The connection I make is an attempt to establish the roles McDonald’s plays in the social sphere, as well as the relationship this multinational company has with the establishment of the military hegemony of the United States and its NATO allies. This, in turn, allows me to pose a question that connects George, the Vietnam veteran in Torreón, and me: What would happen to Mexico’s McDonald’s if the United States decided to escalate its military actions to fight the cartels in the country?
George never wanted to collaborate with me in any project, instead he threatened me. But in the end, he gave me his Vietnam era ZIPPO with which I made a souvenir for him with the name of his squad, just as the soldiers used to do with their ZIPPO’s back in Vietnam. George really loved McDonald’s, maybe because it was the closest he had to his homeland in Torreon, so it felt like that branc of McDondald’s was some kind of embassy or geopolitical affairs center.
A proposal for the new NATO flag considering the Golden Arches from McDonald’s as the protector of the NATO emblem. On it, we see a compass, a symbol that according to NATO symbology represents the “right path of its members”. This compass is being protected by two Golden Arches, an architecture symbol that resembles the strong structure of McDonald’s.
Acrylic lightbox.
I took a McDonald’s sign from an old McDondald’s restaurant that got renewed, fliped it and installed a light system within it to make a W. The W is for WAR, just as can be seen on George’s ZIPPO.