This
hybridized video performance piece explores the concept
of "mestizaje," the Spanish term used to describe
the race mixture of Spanish and indigenous blood as a
result of colonialism, from a perspective informed by
history, contemporary culture and racial formation and
creative, spiritual speculation about the future. Otalvaro-Hormillosa
weaves video, sound and performance to illustrate the
contradictory aspects of "mestizaje" in which
the genocide and rape of one race led to the painful creation
of a new race. By redefining mestizaje to incorporate
mixed race and queer identities which take on countless
forms as in the case of multicultural San Francisco, Otalvaro-Hormillosa
paints a picture of the revolutionary potential for such
subversive, yet fluid identities to dismantle the binaries
created by colonial constructs relating to race and gender.
Theories of contact between ancient civilizations and
extraterrestrials influence Otalvaro's artistic vision
of a cosmic "mestizaje" in which the impending
transformation of the world as we know it may lead to
possibilities for the creation of a new existence and
way of being. Collaborating artists include Lorraine Bautista,
Chris Hill, Stuart Port, Heather Cox, Bill Sievert, May
Ling Su, S. Trotter, Allyn Nobles, e-mael, Veronica Majano,
Carmen Reginato, and Leticia Hernandez.
This project is funded by a San Francisco Art Commission
Individual Artist Grant, the Potrero Nuevo Fund Prize
(a program administered by New Langton
Arts) and the Zellerbach Family Fund.
Sound design by Melissa Dougherty. Photo
credit: Lou DeMatteis and Noah Otalvaro (grey backdrop
images).
Videographer credit: Chip Lord
Live
sound on video clips of performance in glass case: Guillermo
Galindo
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