Different, naturally is a documentary style parody highlighting the “scientific” work of a fictitious character, Dr. Nancy Roberts. On  October 23rd, during InSite05, artist Valerie Mendoza took on the persona of Roberts and collected air, soil and water samples on both sides of the Mexican-US border at Imperial Beach, California and Tijuana, Mexico. Through interviews with Roberts and footage of the collection process, Different, naturally reveals the goal of her research: to prove that naturally existing factors in the physical environments of the US and Mexico account for the dramatic social and economic differences between the two countries. This piece was inspired by the current revival of essentialist scientific research, often paid  for by large, multinational corporations which stand to benefit greatly from the “facts” discovered and potential changes in public opinion engendered by them.