Zapata's essay, The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, brought to light how digital modalities are changing arts role in activism. The points brought up in her essay were not entirely new to me, but they were not points whose impact I had really paid attention to until reading her essay. For example, in the beginning of her essay, Zapata mentions how these new digital modalities allow for easier and more accessible dispersion of activist information. I found that I was able to relate to this fact because I remember how quickly movements such as that of the Black Lives Matter Movement spread on social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. While this did inspire some debate about whether this spread was productive or not, I cannot say that being on TikTok did, in my opinion, seem to allow for more eyes to view the movement. Now, one particular digital modality, a webpage, which intrigued me was Jacalyn Lopez Garcia's Glass Houses. In her website, viewers are given the experience of "walking" through Garcia's house as they click past images of portraits in her home and mundane items such as slippers. This website allows for viewers to feel as though they truly are there experiencing a tour of Garcia's home and essentially putting themselves in her shoes. This is especially important for activist movements as viewers are as better able to understand and feel what the artist does which creates a bridge in possible empathy gaps. Bridging this empathy gap allows for those who might not have been on the side of the activists to have a shift of heart and thus create change. This in addition to the fact that it is online where it is possible for nearly all of the world to view or interact with her website allows for faster results in activist goals.
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