“MONUMENTS TO THE PLURIVERSE: A transfronteriza nepantlera’s approach to rasquache anticolonial artisanal or utilitarian new media art production” presented by Gallegos
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Virtual (full papers)
Presentation Title:
- MONUMENTS TO THE PLURIVERSE: A transfronteriza nepantlera’s approach to rasquache anticolonial artisanal or utilitarian new media art production
Presentation Subtheme:
- Speculative practices
Presenter(s):
Abstract:
In my explorations through new media art, I delve into expressing the intricate experience of inhabiting Nepantla—a non-place like the Borgian aleph, encapsulating all places simultaneously—a perpetu-al crossroads. This exploration is deeply entwined with my identity as a transfronteriza, constantly navigating the complexities of existence along the US-Mexico border. It is also intertwined with my experiences as a “first-generation” Chicana and descendant of Indigenous Californian and Baja Californians, as I long and search to reclaim a seized Indigeneity. I do this in acute awareness of the profound political ramifications that Mexican de-Indigenization has had on our communities, still currently facing coloniality as decon-textualized and severely minoritized peoples.
This autoethnography-based article explains my perspectives, approach, theoretical background, and resources while defining my interpretation of transfronteriza nepantlera sensibility and meth-ods. I aim to share some of the intricacies of the creative process for crafting no-muralismo or Xicanx Indígena Transfronteriza Immersive Muralism—a fusion of rasquache, anticolonial, and tech-driven artisanal/utilitarian art introduced by my VR piece, The Coyolxauhqui Imperative 2020. My core objective is to question the parameters that define new media art and VR world-making while destigmatizing the processes involved by inviting community members to share the diversity of experimental culturally driven ways in which it is possible to engage in new media art.
