Eat More Media

  se fue el tiempo     I fell in love with a lot of the distorted examples that Johnie showed us in class, especially, The Red Crayola. As soon as I got back to my dorm for class that day, I got to work. I wanted it to feel fast, but I didn't want it to be fast, so I put my bpm on 68 and started programming the drums that you hear in the song. It's a pretty simple pattern. However, I went and reprogrammed them after, adding, removing, and repeating various elements, giving the drums a more chaotic element that sort of engulfs you into the song itself.  I am also a big fan of JPEGMafia, an independent rap artist who has dropped some of the most amazing music in the last few years.  I wanted the lead to reflect that, so I went for this guitar MIDI plug-in, and I got a version of the melody that you hear in the background. After this, I transposed it a bit so that darker more somber tone would come through, and then I ad...

      Window           My parents left Mexico when they were about 19-20 years old. They left their families and had me at the young age of 21. 20 years later, I left my home to go to college; I left my family too. I wonder what they thought when they walked around their new neighborhood, did they feel scared, did they feel angry?  As I walked around the Appleton houses shooting, I thought about the way I felt. I felt scared. I felt watched, as if at any moment an owner would yell at me to get off their property. Regardless, I embraced the discomfort. I found myself looking for ways to intrude. If you were a homeowner, and saw me in front of your house, mysteriously shooting multiple angles, would YOU feel scared? Why?  It might seem a bit insensitive and weird to go around shooting houses you've never been in, but I found this to be more therapeutic than anything. It felt good to explore. It felt good to intrude. I found mysel...

Through her minimalist approach to the genocide of the indigenous peoples in the US, Valeria Tatera shines a bright light at the underbelly of the beast who has tried to remain in its own shadow. She displays a blunt message, but it is that, which makes her a brave beacon of hope for the indigenous peoples of America. When McLuhan says “...minority groups can no longer be contained-- ignored,” this is what he means. As an indigenous woman, Tatera tackles major systems of governance and control, exposing and displaying their atrocities.  Some might say that her choice of medium is attached to minimalism, but I would actually pair it with something that is more complex. This piece is hidden in plain sight. Its message is coded with a language that not many might understand. Because of this, it becomes a link between several generations, not only in the past, since you’re linking to your history and culture by creating the art in the first place, but also in the future, leaving your a...

    I really wanted to explore the moving parts and changes of media in the last few decades. Because of that, I decided to create a soundtrack for this movie on Ableton , I used a variety of sounds from various libraries in my hard drive to create what is essentially a 1-minute noise track infused with media liquid.   My Ableton Channel Rack for this track      For that though, I had to really delve into the idea of movement, honing on forward movement as one of my primary themes. I wanted to support some of the ideas that McLuhan puts forth in the book. Here, his seemingly Marxist-attached ideas flourish by asserting that our use of media has been far too focused on the weathering idea of labor exploitation.       By introducing the soundtrack as a continuous movement of the background, I was able to create a contrast between humankind and our peculiar attachment to the past. Nostalgia is a blinding beauty. Our ability to remember...

       On page 24, Marshall McLuhan says “We have become irrevocably involved with, and responsible for, each other.” I find this to be a very important quote because it really encompasses a lot of my core feelings for art. For as long as I can remember, I have had the incessant need to constantly keep creating. Whether it’s short videos on my parents phone when I was an 8 year old or an entire mixtape that I made this past summer as a way to cope with the internal and external forces that were working upon me, I’ve always had an obligation to publish my ideas as a sort of personal archive.  My Bandcamp            Recently, I have also developed the belief that art is inherently political. It helps societies watch their own; It helps people express themselves and create languages, through which they can communicate their grievances and pains. Because of this, I feel I have an immense social responsibility to art. I must continu...