Week 9: Chicanafuturism

Chicanafuturism is a term coined by the author of Deus ex Machina: Tradition, Technology, and the Chicanafuturist, Catherine S. Ramirez, which refers to the "Chicano cultural production that tends to cultural transformations resulting from new and everyday technologies (including their detritus); that excavates, creates, and alters narratives of identity, technology, and the future; that interrogates the promises of science and technology; and that redefines humanism and the human" (Ramirez, 157-158). As an example of what chicanafuturism is, Catherine S. Ramirez delves into artist Marion Martinez's works shown in the Cyber Arte exhibition held by Museum of International For Art (moifa) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Marion Martinez is a New Mexico native who has broken artistic, cultural, and social barriers through her artwork made with recycled computer hardware. Martinez categorizes her work as folk art as a result of her resourcefulness with available computer hardware that has been disposed of and/or is hoarded in acquaintances' garages. This feat not only allows for Martinez's work to be categorized as folk art, but also because of its religious and symbolic contents. Marion Martinez's art incorporates her spirituality, creativity, and activism. 

I believe Marion Martinez's work is both innovative and powerful. I was very much drawn to her piece titled Blessings from the Little Flower (1998), even though it was not one of Martinez's four works displayed at the exhibition. This piece depicts Saint Thérèse (aka: "Little flower") with 700 pcb mother board that is placed where her stomach is, which places technology at the core of where life forms. Martinez's work as a santera -- a commonly male-dominated profession just like science and technology, breaks down borders within the profession, cultural traditions, and narratives. Marion Martinez contradicts the false narratives and stereotypes of New Mexico as a states, its population, and history. Her works explore issues of ethnic/racial racism, exploitation, and erasure of New Mexico's Chicano/Latino population. This false "Hispanic" narrative dominates tourist descriptions of what charming attractions are native to the state of New Mexico. These "in the past" descriptions of regions and the Chicano/Latino population as people who are stagnant and primitive, thus they are unable to contribute to the present's and future's technological advances. 

I really admire her work because not only is it creative and detailed, but it also speaks on greater issues having to do with history, representation, racism, narratives, spirituality, culture, and much much more.