Occupy Art (Art of the Occupied)

Art is often down played in the media. The media indulges in atrocities, deaths and explosions, and most often ignores positive action, such as art. Media so often becomes a spectacle, and it only serves to distract people from the true context in which events occur. Art, on the other hand, makes people think, to consider issues critically and analyze them from different points of view. This form of artistic and creative analysis has been flourishing in the Arab Spring, Occupied Wall Street, and movements for change throughout the world. It is this force that traditional media and systems of power dislike, because it gives a human face to global dilemmas.

Apr 13 2013	Manufacturing Consent: The Beginning of the Age of Consumerism
We human beings are a made of hidden drives and unconscious desires. For centuries, governments and the powerful factions of society have been trying to control these hidden forces. The battle over our minds has shaped the course of history. This inner war has not been linear; on the contrary, it is like a video loop, continually repeating itself throughout history. The human mind is an unruly subject, it is hard to control and delve int0 its shadowy inner workings.

Apr 13 2013

Manufacturing Consent: The Beginning of the Age of Consumerism

We human beings are a made of hidden drives and unconscious desires. For centuries, governments and the powerful factions of society have been trying to control these hidden forces. The battle over our minds has shaped the course of history. This inner war has not been linear; on the contrary, it is like a video loop, continually repeating itself throughout history. The human mind is an unruly subject, it is hard to control and delve int0 its shadowy inner workings.

Dec 18 2012	Newtown Killings and Our Culture of Spectacle
Outside my window is an American flag. It sits stiffly, halfway down the pole, damp in the rain. When a tragedy occurs, the flag is lowered to half-mast. It is an act of national sadness, signifying our unified shock and grief. After the mass killings in Newton, our country has gone into mourning. The shock of hearing that 27 people have died, 20 of them children, still resonate within us.

Aug 07 2012	A Dramatic Conclusion
The Pozos Project came to a dramatic conclusion, at least for the second video group and I, with the final documentary. After having been zombies and gangsters, this group had a new challenge. Their task was to represent an aspect of their life, of their reality. They chose to make a documentary about their family, and the instruments and music their parents created. At the beginning of the course, I presented all of the groups with a similar proposal. We were all going to make small documentaries, which captured t

Aug 07 2012

A Dramatic Conclusion

The Pozos Project came to a dramatic conclusion, at least for the second video group and I, with the final documentary. After having been zombies and gangsters, this group had a new challenge. Their task was to represent an aspect of their life, of their reality. They chose to make a documentary about their family, and the instruments and music their parents created. At the beginning of the course, I presented all of the groups with a similar proposal. We were all going to make small documentaries, which captured t

Aug 04 2012	Gangsters in Pozos
The second video the youth made was a gangster film. They were inspired after making the first movie and started planning the second video just hours after having watched the final version of their zombie flic. These videos were designed as exercises that caught the student’s interest, while at the same time teaching them how to create and make a film. I had only intended to work on one fictional piece with the students before moving on to documentary. But I too was caught up in the excitement of the students. They had a clear idea and artistic vision, so I all

Aug 04 2012

Gangsters in Pozos

The second video the youth made was a gangster film. They were inspired after making the first movie and started planning the second video just hours after having watched the final version of their zombie flic. These videos were designed as exercises that caught the student’s interest, while at the same time teaching them how to create and make a film. I had only intended to work on one fictional piece with the students before moving on to documentary. But I too was caught up in the excitement of the students. They had a clear idea and artistic vision, so I all

Jul 30 2012	Zombies and the Beginning of the Creative Process
The Pozos Project was officially concluded on Saturday, the 28 of July. On Friday, the second group and I finished the last video, a documentary about their parents. On Saturday morning I gave all the students a DVD of their finished work, concluding a month worth of intense workshops. In the early afternoon we had our final “comida” with Geoff and Janice, the other assistants, and some of the assistants' parents. It was sad to say goodbye to the all the people with whom we had worked so intensely. We had become a family, for we had taught and lived together, c

Jul 30 2012

Zombies and the Beginning of the Creative Process

The Pozos Project was officially concluded on Saturday, the 28 of July. On Friday, the second group and I finished the last video, a documentary about their parents. On Saturday morning I gave all the students a DVD of their finished work, concluding a month worth of intense workshops. In the early afternoon we had our final “comida” with Geoff and Janice, the other assistants, and some of the assistants' parents. It was sad to say goodbye to the all the people with whom we had worked so intensely. We had become a family, for we had taught and lived together, c

Jul 21 2012	The Danger in Teaching Art as a "Foreigner"
In the early morning, the streets of Pozos are virtually empty. People wake up slowly, roused by the crowing of roosters and the chatter of birds. The clouds come down from the mountains, filling the lonely streets with a thick mist that resembles the ghost of people from another time.

Jul 14 2012	Artistic Update
It is early in the morning and the lights have flickered on and off all night. At 2 a.m.

Jul 04 2012	After the Elections
July 1st has passed and, throughout Mexico, votes have been cast and counted. The electoral commission (the IFEG) has announced that the PRI candidate Pena Nieto has won the election. While President Felipe Calderon and the media have pledged to support Pena Nieto, the leftist candidate who came in second place by seven points, Andres Mauel Lopez Obrador, claims that the elections were fraudulent. There have been reports of irregularities at many polling stations, and documented evidence of votes being bought in favor of particular candidates. There

Jul 04 2012

After the Elections

July 1st has passed and, throughout Mexico, votes have been cast and counted. The electoral commission (the IFEG) has announced that the PRI candidate Pena Nieto has won the election. While President Felipe Calderon and the media have pledged to support Pena Nieto, the leftist candidate who came in second place by seven points, Andres Mauel Lopez Obrador, claims that the elections were fraudulent. There have been reports of irregularities at many polling stations, and documented evidence of votes being bought in favor of particular candidates. There

Jun 30 2012	Campaign Posters
I have just arrived in Pozos, a small mining town in central Mexico. Pozos used to be a ghost town, and the population, which once had thrived on the wealth from the silver mines, slowly disappeared. Recently however Pozos had been rediscovered and the population has slowly trickled back. It is now a small sleepy town, and has also become a haven for American and Canadian artists. I came to Pozos to work on a project with Prof.

Jun 30 2012

Campaign Posters

I have just arrived in Pozos, a small mining town in central Mexico. Pozos used to be a ghost town, and the population, which once had thrived on the wealth from the silver mines, slowly disappeared. Recently however Pozos had been rediscovered and the population has slowly trickled back. It is now a small sleepy town, and has also become a haven for American and Canadian artists. I came to Pozos to work on a project with Prof.

Jun 22 2012	#Yo soy 132
In the previous post, I laid out the relationship between the television network Televisa and the PRI candidate Peña Nieto. I also discussed the documents recently released by the Guardian and how they shed light on the relationship between certain political factions and the television station, and how they all contributed to create the media spectacle of P Peña Nieto. While media spectacles at times appear to be undefeatable, they are in essence lies, for they distract us from the true historical context of present day events. These lies, or misrepresent

Jun 22 2012

#Yo soy 132

In the previous post, I laid out the relationship between the television network Televisa and the PRI candidate Peña Nieto. I also discussed the documents recently released by the Guardian and how they shed light on the relationship between certain political factions and the television station, and how they all contributed to create the media spectacle of P Peña Nieto. While media spectacles at times appear to be undefeatable, they are in essence lies, for they distract us from the true historical context of present day events. These lies, or misrepresent