Rodriguez, Sasha (Extra Credit Art In Uncertain Times - X as Intersection Latinx Artists in Conversation Series)

At the launch of the "X as Intersection: Latinx Artists in Conversation" series we were introduced to four different and very unique Latinx artists who together made up a variety of different methods of art. Some were painters, photographers, or even performance artists. All using their medium to express themselves and be included in the conversation.  Before talking about my favorite piece that was shown I want to mention something that I thought was interesting that was brought up. 

These artists were invited to speak and present art because some of their artwork demonstrated modes of activism. I thought that artists who share work that might be considered a political or social commentary that was intentional. That it was the purpose of their work and they would want to be considered activists. After being able to listen to the webinar I learned that is not true.

 

In fact, half the artists who spoke did not consider themselves activists. They made the art because they felt there was a need for these pieces to be seen by others. Elia Alba doesn’t consider herself an activist but is conscious of the political statements she wants to address, she can not not create that art. Coco Fusco mentioned that being an artist who identifies as being an activist is hard. They get judged by the are community as work not being as art but as activism especially for artists of color. The community has tried to diminish the work of artists who want to identify themselves as both and try to label them as one or the other but overlap happens. 

 

Christina Fernandez was another artist who doesn’t associate herself as an activist. She makes objects that she cares about. How it is received in the world and who sees it she and every artist have little control over but she creates because it needs to be shared. 

It was disheartening to know that work she created in the political aspect that was made a decade ago; none of these problems are solved. My favorite piece that was shown was by Christina Fernandez. It was a piece that why she created it was to bring attention to farmworkers who have passed due to poor conditions in the field and she showed them by putting rows of dirt with their names on index cards. There were so many names and that is just a very small part that we were brought aware of. It is such a moving piece and because of climate change conditions have gotten worse along with more deaths due to overheating. She is bringing “Untitled Farmworkers (1989)” back for a reinstallment to try and bring awareness to new people. I think this piece is powerful because it really shows how art, a photo, can lead to showing you the world in a new way. It makes those statistics you see of deaths so much more personal and I hope motivates change and gets seen by people who can make that change.