Soul and Sole Repair Shoppe was conceived originally by Adrian Rivas of Gallery 727, who invited me to manifest the idea. Part of the gallery’s ECCCE project, where the depth of the gallery was limited to about 6 feet and treated as if it were a storefront, Sole and Soul Repair Shoppe became a space where many histories, actions, signs and images came together at the service of a generous act. Against a backdrop of Chicano propaganda from the 70s and 80s, a radio playing vintage and contemporary rolas and a George Lopez candle burning brightly, I shined the shoes of passersby.

The relation between people's struggles and the presence of the shoe/foot as a symbol of movement or The Movement was mixed in this performance with a subservient , and in this case, generous act. Shining the shoes of sometimes weary passersby with "Shining Blood Shoe Polish" and calling the spirit of the August 29th Chicano Moratorium Against the Vietnam war while being fully aware of patina and nostalgia, this piece was made in part to challenge nationalist assumptions of victory, sacrifice and spirituality. It was also made to shine the shoes of people who needed their shoes shined and their feet massaged.