Author: gduranbarraza

My former Master’s student Persia Campbell did a short film as her Master’s research project. We are happy because it was accepted this year for the El Paso film festival. I’m very proud to be part of this as director of the director 🙂

I went to the University of Arizona to give a talk last Spring (April 2019) about Identity from a perspective of Psychology, Fashion, and Art to Queer, Trans, People of Color, and 2 Spirit (QTPOC + 2SPIRIT). I was very nervous but I had a great time.

 Self-fulfilling Prophecy 2018

In the middle of November 2018 we had our fantastic festival. Thanks to all participants we had a great time.

What are prophecies? Are they revealed, created, or both? Since time immemorial, humans have used them to define reality, and today more so than ever. As a result, humans are cyborg-simians badly in need of vis viva^[1]: spaces of complete freedom where reality is shaped outside globalized forces. Nominators^[2] use information to create prophecies that mold our behavior, allowing them to control it. Multitude^[3] can deform what nominators had established by escaping the globalized reality for brief instances in time. This year, Project Space Festival Juárez aims to seek true moments of freedom.

As the concept of globalization is revealed, we define ourselves as without borders or nations. Following this idea, the festival is about generating collaborations between artists from Berlin and Juárez, prophesying that everything local is global and vice versa.

Project Space Festival Juárez is a seven-day celebration taking place during the second week of November, and is the result of a collaboration with the founders of Project Space Festival Berlin.

^[1]Hardt, M. and Negri, T. (2000). Empire. Harvard University Press.

^[2] Particular dominating forces, they can be part of governments but also corporations.

^[3]While it means ‘people’, Hardt and Negri used it because it fits better the current struggles as it is more open, indeterminate and a-telelological than the word ‘people’. A clear example of a multitude is Occupy Wall Street.

¿Qué es una profecía? ¿Puede ser revelada, creada, o las dos? Desde tiempo inmemorial, los humanos las usaban para definir la realidad, y hoy más que nunca. Por consecuencia, los humanos son cyborg-simians en gran necesidad de vis viva[1]: espacios de completa libertad donde la realidad se forma fuera de las fuerzas globalizantes. Los nominadores[2] usan la información para crear profecías que rigen nuestro comportamiento, permitiéndoles controlarlo. Multitud[3] puede deformar lo que los nominadores han establecido al escapar de la realidad globalizada por periodos cortos de tiempo. Este año, Project Space Festival aspira a encontrar verdaderos momentos de libertad.

Al revelar el concepto de globalización, nos definimos a nosotros mismos fuera de fronteras y naciones. Siguiendo esta idea, el motivo del festival es generar colaboraciones entre artistas de Juárez y Berlín, profesando que todo lo local es global y viceversa.

Project Space Festival Juárez es una celebración de siete días durante la segunda semana de noviembre y es el resultado de una colaboración con las fundadoras de Project Space Festival Berlín.

[1]Hardt, M. and Negri, T. (2000). Empire. Harvard University Press.

[2] Fuerzas dominantes particulares que pueden formar parte de un gobierno pero también de corporaciones.

[3] Mientras que significa ‘gente’, Hardt and Negri lo usaron porque refleja mejor las luchas actuales al ser más abierto, indeterminado, y a-teleológico que la palabra ‘gente’. Un ejemplo claro de multitud sería Occupy Wall Street.

PROGRAM

Our festival this year was inspired by the book Emipire (2000) from Michael Hardt and Tony Negri. We wandered to find true places of freedom where we as a community could define our reality.

Currently Juárez is considered one of the most globalized and dangerous cities. As most of these definitions come from outside, we considered important to define ourselves and find meaning from the inside.

Este año nuestro festival se inspire en el libro Imperio (2000) de Michael Hardt y Tony Negri. Deambulamos como comunidad para encontrar lugares de verdadera libertad para definir nuestra realidad.

Actualmente Juárez es considerada una de las ciudades más globalizadas y peligrosas. Mientras que estas etiquetas vienen desde fuera, consideramos importante definirnos a nosotros mismos y encontrar significados desde dentro.

We began with a workshop with Anna Zett and PPKK (Schönfeld & Scoufaras) to activate the exhibition OU’ALL: A participatory installation for the community in Juarez to address issues of symbolic translation and alternative border handling. It involves sculptural installation, children’s games, video technology, tarot reading, astrology/astronomy, and musical improvisation. A conceptual playground was created across multiple rooms and performed by participants from the workshop and visitors.

Comenzamos un taller con Anna Zett and PPKK (Schönfeld & Scoufaras) para activar la exhibición OU’ALL: Una instalación participativa para la comunidad de Juárez atendiendo temas de traducción simbólica y formas alternas de manejar las fronteras. Esto involucra instalación escultórica, juegos de niños, video tecnología, lectura del tarot, astronomía/astrología, e improvisación musical. Un espacio de juegos conceptual se creo a lo largo de varias salas donde los participantes y visitantes interactuaron a través de un performance.

Ou’All

FLAMING CREATURES with Roberto Cárdenas and Israel Gómez was an accumulation of ceremonial acts—the sensation of an endless free fall: VJs, burning sculptures, cellist, interactive performances, and monsters. A suggestion of death, all deaths are our own. It was an attempt to show the magic and the terror of free spaces.

FLAMING CREATURES con Roberto Cárdenas e Israel Gómez fue una acumulación de actos ceremoniales—la sensación de una caída libre interminable: VJs,  esculturas quemándose, chelista, performance interactivos, y monstruos. Una sugerencia de muerte, todas las muertes son las nuestras. Fue un intento por mostrar la magia y el terror de los espacios libres.

Flaming Creatures

THE BODY IS A CAGE, THE BODY IS CAGED was a curated by Lior Shamriz. He describes the screening as:

Bodies that move and/or fail to move through the human grid, from borders to cultural mythologies of gender and class. The body is the “I”-Object, our degraded camera-obscura. Anna Zett investigates how dinosaurs came to play a pivotal role in the mythical imagination of the US, whereas Matthew Lax ironically stages what our zeitgeist dictates to be the new kind of body, the computer-generated one, a byproduct of the global hi-tech industry. Cary Cronenwett laments the death of a soulmate who dreamt of pirates navigating through gender. Jaakko Palasvuo addresses a tourist in Milan, while my characters are immigrants in Berlin with a broken sense of home. Forough Farrokhzad documents people in a leper colony, prevented from transitioning back to society. Heinz Emigholz films Robert Maillart’s beamless arched bridges as Neha Choksi crosses water on a boat of melting ice.

EL CUERPO ES UNA CARCEL, EL CUERPO ES ENCARCELADO fue curada por Lior Shamriz. El describe la muestra como:

Cuerpos que se mueven y/o fracasan al moverse a través de los ejes humanos, desde fronteras hasta mitologías de género y clase. El cuerpo es el “Yo”-Objeto, nuestra degradada cámara-obscura. Anna Zett investiga cómo dinosaurios llegaron a jugar un rol esencial en la imaginación mítica de los Estados Unidos, mientras que Mattew Lax de manera irónica pone en escena lo que el  espíritu de nuestra era dicta como el nuevo tipo de cuerpo, el generado por computadora, un subproducto de la alta tecnología global. Cary Cronenwett lamenta la muerte de su alma gemela quien soñó con piratas navegando entre géneros. Jaakko Palasvuotrata el tema de un turista en Milan, mientras que mis personajes son inmigrantes en Berlín con un sentido de hogar roto. Forough Farrokhzad documenta gente con lepra atrapada en un asilo, y que no dejan regresar a la sociedad. Heinz Emigholz filma los puentes sin vigas de Robert Maillart mientras que Neha Choksi cruza agua en una lancha de hielo que se derrite.

The Body is a Cage, The Body is Caged

I was invited to give a talk at my alma mater. It was a lot of fun and I was honored to be able to talk about my development as a researcher and professor.

I’m very happy to announce that my Ph.D. student Atenas Campbell is currently a visiting research student at Leiden University, Holland.

Last Fall, I directed this project called Se despide, de lo que se perdió for a Multidisciplinary Art Class. Students worked around the concept of masculinity. It is important to mention that all students were women. They decided to capture in video masculine sadness.  For that, they interviewed their male friends and recorded their faces, looking for sad expressions.  Also they did a mashup out of many movies showing sad men.

The final show happened in a cantina (a bar). The decision was made based on the tendency of  men going to a bar when they are sad. So in this bar called La Tuna, students installed a projector to show the video of their sad friends. Within the TV sets across the bar, they installed the mashup. Also, they created phrases using cut-up techniques, introducing elements of chance. These phrases were originally taken from the interviews with their male friends and implied some unsatisfied longing or desire. Thus, the phrases that satisfied the criteria were written, then cut into parts, then rearranged randomly to form a new phrase such as: Dondé está el amor, no sé cómo (Where is the love, I don’t know how). The phrases were written on different mirrors across the bar using lipstick.

Finally I got the approval from Matthias Fritsch (visual artist from Berlin) to upload his magnific experimental video Season 10 with music from OCHOCARAS (visual artist and music producer from Juarez). This video was presented during Project Space Festival Juarez 2016 which I was lucky to direct.

I collaborated with theater actor and director Sebastién Lange during this workshop. The workshop was about erasing the borders between the visual arts and theater. Students were either actors or visual artists. This is what it happened.

Brainstorm during workshop: 

 

Theater exercise during the workshop:

 

First prototype: 

 

Second prototype: 

 

 

The following is an art project that I curated last November. We are planning to do this festival every two years. For more information go to projectspacefestivaljuarez.com

Project Space Festival Juárez was lead by the question: Is it possible to have a deeper understanding of the identity of Juárez by reflecting upon the meaning of a celebration? Artists from Berlin and Juárez have been invited to collaborate and generate a visual dialogue addressing the idea of a celebration.

Juárez is known for its nightlife, which began to grow during the prohibition period in the United States. People from the north would come every weekend to Juárez to have a good time. There were many nightclubs and shows every night. It was seen as a no mans land of freedom and decadence. However, a few years ago, Juárez was rated as the most violent city of the world. The main cause of the violence was narco-traffic.

With the Project Space Festival Juárez, the organizers start a discussion about different aspects of celebration and its meaning for Juárez.

Project Space Festival surgió de la pregunta: ¿Es posible obtener un entendimiento más profundo de la identidad de Juárez mediante una reflexión de la celebración y lo que ésta significa? Artistas de Berlín y Juárez han sido invitados a colaborar y generar diálogo visual que desarrolle la idea de la celebración.

Juárez es conocido por su vida nocturna, que se empezó a gestar durante la era de la prohibición en Estados Unidos; personas del norte venían cada fin de semana a la ciudad a pasar un buen rato. En aquella época había muchos clubes nocturnos y shows en vivo diferentes cada noche.

Era como una tierra de nadie de libertad y decadencia. Sin embargo, hace unos años Juárez fue calificada como la ciudad más violenta del mundo. El principal motivo de esta violencia fue el narcotráfico.

Con el Project Space Festival Juárez, los organizadores invitan a una discusión sobre los distintos aspectos de la celebración y su significado para la ciudad.

PROGRAM

24-28 November 2016

Day 1

“Acción y Muestra”

with/con: Matthias Fritsch, Dj OCHOCARAS; VJs: Carolina Arroyo, Daniel PG, and eseChuy.
Location: Outside Museo de Arte Ciudad Juárez

with/con: Sarah Schoenfeld, Stine Marie Jacobsen, Juan Flores, Nayeli Hernández, Adrian Ricalday, Alexandra César, Ivan de Anda, Fabian Escarzaga.
Location/Lugar: Video Room at Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez

Day 2

“Anniversary”

with/con: Boris Eldgasden, Alicia Fernández, DJ Pleasurekraft
Location: Hardpop

Day 3

“Claiming Space!”                                                                                                                                       with/con: Nora Mayr, co-founder of Project Space Festival Berlin

Mayr began by presenting a little bit of the history of Project Space Festival Berlin then she focused on what is a project space? and the different independent spaces currently in Berlin. A project space should be an independent space (or not even necessary a  specific space), that escapes the classical white cube,  that is non-profit and preferably financially independent from institutions. Such financial independence allows a freedom in terms of creativity and timing. Such spaces are able to do what they want whenever they want. Then she described some of the 150 independent spaces in Berlin. She ended her talk by saying: “So I would say if you want to be seen, if you want to help others to be seen. If you don’t see the exhibitions or events you like. Just do it yourself. There is nothing that can stop you. No reason why not to do it. Believe that in what is interesting for you most likely is also interesting for other people out there. Test out see how it works”.

Mayr empezó presentando un poco de la historia del Project Space Festival Berlín y después pasó a la pregunta ¿qué es un Project Space? Y los distintos espacios independientes actualmente activos en aquella ciudad. Un Project Space debe ser un espacio independiente (a veces ni siquiera tiene que ser un espacio en específico), que evite ser el tradicional cubo blanco, sin ánimo de lucro y financieramente independiente de las instituciones. Tal independencia permite una mayor creatividad y libertad respecto al tiempo de exhibición al público; estos lugares tienen la libertad de hacer lo que quieran cuando quieran. Después de esto describió algunos de los 150 espacios independientes de Berlín.

Terminó su plática diciendo: “Así que les diría, si quieren ser vistos y quieren ayudar a que otros sean vistos, si no se presentan las exhibiciones o los eventos que ustedes quieren ver, háganlo ustedes mismos. Nada los puede detener. No hay motivo para no hacerlo, crean que lo que para ustedes es interesante debe serlo para otras personas. Prueben a ver qué funciona”.

Artist Talk                                                                                                                                                   with/con: Stine Marie Jacobsen

Jacobsen talked about three of her projects. As an artist she works with topics related to language, ethics, and violence. One of her more recent projects is called Law Shifters, which began in 2015 and it is still going. It is about working with teenagers in a workshop where they are asked to generate their own laws. They generate laws in relation to freedom and immigration.  Once their laws are written, a lawyer translates them into the technical language of the law. Once the laws are ready, they are engraved or printed in different materials. The second project she talked about is called German for Artists which is a book with simple german phrases that are related to contemporary art. She mentioned that when she began doing this work, she began to improve her german a lot, therefore discovering that the best way to learn a language is by teaching it to others. The third project presented was Direct Approach where Jacobsen interviews people about violent movies they have seen. The idea is generating a safe space where people can talk about violence. At the end of the process, participants created a poster about the movie they talked about.

Jacobsen habló sobre tres de sus proyectos; como artista trabaja con tópicos relacionados con el lenguaje, la ética y la violencia. Uno de sus proyectos más recientes se llama Law Shifters, empezó en 2015 y sigue activo; en éste se trabaja con adolescentes en un taller en el que se les propone que generen sus propias leyes, generalmente las hacen referentes a la libertad y la migración, y una vez escritas un abogado las traduce al lenguaje técnico de la Ley; ya listas se graban o se imprimen en distintos materiales. El segundo proyecto del que habló fue German for Artists, que es un libro con frases comunes en alemán que pueden ser asociadas con el arte contemporáneo; mencionó que cuando empezó a realizar este trabajo su dominio del alemán mejoró mucho, descubriendo así que la mejor forma de aprender un lenguaje es enseñándolo. El tercer proyecto presentado fue Direct Approach, en el que Jacobsen entrevista a personas sobre las películas violentas que han visto; aquí la idea es crear un espacio seguro en el que las personas puedan hablar de la violencia; al terminar el proceso, los participantes crean un afiche sobre la película de la que hayan hablado.

Location/Lugar: Centro Cultural de las Fronteras

Day 4

“Lucha Libre”

with/con: Trimegistro & Aereo vs. Akantus & Fussion; Diosa del Ring vs Zafiro; Mini Fussion & Mundano vs. Centinela & Mr. Alfa; Rabia vs. Kempo Jr. Moderator: Cassandro el Exótico
Location/Lugar: Bazar del Muno at Plaza Benito Juárez

Day 5

“La Fiesta”

with/con: Sébastien Lange, Perla de la Rosa, Christian Javier Valenzuela.
Location/Lugar: Telón de Arena

Very happy to be part of this project. Artists’ Exercises is a platform for sharing and distributing fragments of artists’ educational strategies-with contributions from over fifty international artists. If you want to learn more about it, follow the following link: http://www.artistsexercises.org/