Chavez, Lilibeth (week 7)

Claudia Zapata’s work titled, The Printing Revolution, delineates the role that technology has played in the development of Chicanx art. Prior to reading her work I was unaware that the historical understanding for chicanx graphics was considered to almost exclusively print based in forms of posters and two dimensional work on print paper. However as technology and media has evolved, it has expanded how Chicanx artists can begin a dialogue “between the artist and their chosen medium,” (Zapata, 129). I found interesting how Zapata makes clear that technological advances and its interplay with Chicanx art should not be considered a dissolution of the traditional print media associated with Chicanx art, but instead as an additional opportunity to display art of political resistance. As mentioned by Zapata in her work, “you're not going to walk into a protest with your computer monitor,” implying that despite the present high technological state, print media is still necessary to print digital artwork. The internet and media has opened a new field of recognition not only for artwork, but for political causes as well. The case of Al Gore mentioned by Zapata poses a great example. His use of the internet and media during his campaign was considered at the time revolutionary, garnering a whole new crowd and demographic of support. In the case of Alma Lopez, and her work Our Lady, technology allowed her to disseminate and magnify the reach of her work through digitized postcards, photographs, and digital graphics. I found it interesting how Zapata proceeds to refer to this as “digital rasquachismo,” such that it allows the artist to make the most of their work by manipulating not only the reach but the capacities that media offers. For many artists, it has become easier to circulate work in current day as a result of social media platforms like instagram. I find that I come across at least 3 different prosocial or political artwork pieces circulating through my follower’s stories, and at least double that number on my explore page on a daily basis. As a result I have become more informed not only about certain political and social causes but also have come to know more artists who otherwise I would have had to travel to an art museum to come to know.