Alcala, Helena (Week 7: Claudia Zapata)

    In Claudia Zapata’s essay entitled Chicanx Graphics In the Digital Age, Zapata highlights the kind of transformative qualities technology had on Chicanx art and political graphics. She mentions that while it did change the way art was made, digital art/technology used to make said art was not used to replace or overshadow more traditional art but instead to “...diversify graphic outputs…” ( Zapata 130). On top of that, it gave artists a new output to display their messages, using virtual reality, augmented reality, etc. digital art enhanced traditional printed art too in a way keep chicanx art alive. What it really did was branch out its reach and broaden the audience that was able to view said art. Zapata provides many examples but the one I found the most impactful was the work called I Am Alex Nieto and My Life Matters. This piece was for Alex Nieto, a resident of Bernal Heights who was killed by San Francisco police. Artist Jesus Barraza created limited-edition downloadable prints of Nieto's portrait, mourners and protesters used this print at rallies and for political actions. The accessibility of this print highlights the “principles of Xicanisma and Zapatismo” which means “to create artwork accessible to “communities who inspire it” (Zapata 144). Barraza comments on how using his portrait reclaims the story, it takes it away from the “states truth” and represents the truth of the people/community. The image used to show Barraza's poster is a woman holding up the print at a protest and that may have only been possible because of how accessible to the public Barraza made it. Digital Art and its accessibility give communities a chance to be involved, open-sourced artwork makes it easy for people to spread the message past a certain group of people into a wider audience.