Week 9 Tradition, Technology, and the Chicana Futurist Art of Marion C. Martinez Blog Post

     Before taking this course, I've only heard of Afro-Futurism and cyber artists briefly; these artists use technology when formulating and producing their artwork. Using tradition and Technology, the new to merge and create artworks.

In reading "Tradition, Technology and the Chicana futurist art of Marion C. Martinez "by Catherine Ramirez, I was interested in the artist Marion C. Martinez because she uses traditional catholic images and has parts of computer components and circuits boards. When looking at her artwork, you can see the disks and such, all found material. I found it similar to assemblage art this when artists used mixed media or found objects to create and repurpose them to something new. Nonetheless, I was fascinated by how Martinez chooses to compose her sculpture, and I'm confused about how I haven't heard of this artist before. I'm also curious about how Martinez choose the composition of the found materials since they align with La Virgen's colors.

I was not surprised to read that Charles Briggs critique of Martinez Oratorio a la Vigencita, 2000 artwork that he found the work primitive, primitive has been a negative term used by art historians when describing the Caribbean arts or mesoamerican arts and has been used as a derogatory term meaning the artwork was lesser than, thankfully now art historians stray away from using this term and is looked down upon if it is used. 

I agree that racism maintains relevant in the art world: "The primitive being Hispanos and the enlightened being white" another reason I think that Latinx and Chicanx are exuded for the art space is that often when I'm looking for courses to take, I usually never encounter a Chicanx or Latinx contemporary art history. And I do believe many artists and material can be taught in course a such.

 Interesting to learn about the Machine. I've read the theory of Antonio Benitez Rojo the Repeating Island. He connected the machine to the Caribbeans, also being a product of consumption to the imagery being produced as a false mask and reframing so it would be able to be sold to tourists without actually showing the exploitation of the labor of the plantations and the Caribbean slaves. And this really left a stain or embedding with what we view as the Caribbean currently, for instance, palm trees, and coconuts, bananas, botanical specimens brought by colonization to create an ideal island to consume visually but also in person. And if we still google the Caribbean, we see the same tropes that were created so the Caribbeans can be viewed as a product. Tourism in relation to Mexico or, for instance, Cancun would be the same. Tourism also capitalizes on tradition and culture and exploits it. It has become a commodity; Cancun is filled with hotels and seems to be only known as a travel location. Locals are forced to be accustomed to working. And they themselves become a commodity for tourists.  

Lastly, I really appreciated that Martinez's artwork encompasses both technology and science. Despite having critiques like Briggs belittle artists for breaking out of what is accepted, it does challenge what is stereotyped. Artists aren't lesser or shouldn't be considered primitive because they combine tradition into their artwork.

Marion C Martinez  Guadalupe 

Cancun