Presentation Title
Art and Immigration: Contemporary Methods of Technology and Activism
Faculty Mentor
Ellen C. Caldwell
Start Date
17-11-2018 10:30 AM
End Date
17-11-2018 10:45 AM
Location
C153
Session
Oral 2
Type of Presentation
Oral Talk
Subject Area
behavioral_social_sciences
Abstract
This paper addresses the use of technology and contemporary artistic methods in the ongoing debate on immigrant rights. Personal electronic devices and new approaches to display practices offer immersive experiences in a technology-focused world. Through virtual reality apps and technology, artists are addressing human experiences at the Mexico–US border. Viewers are compelled to interact with reality—whether concrete or augmented. More traditional forms of public art are also explored to provide historical context of the activism behind murals and public painting. Through this study, my findings prove that artists are drawing on a rich history of social activism in order to employ distinctively contemporary and innovative techniques to engage viewers. This proves to be unique and revolutionary in that both artists and average hand-held device users interact with and face humanitarian crises in profound and personal ways.
Summary of research results to be presented
Research regarding Nancy Baker Cahill's mobile application, 4th WalI, will be discussed. The site-specific art exhibition within 4th Wall, known as Coordinates, employs the viewer's smartphone as a tool for interacting with an augmented form of reality. Included is the superimposed sculpture, Tzolk’in, created by Beatriz Cortez. The viewer can see the artwork through their electronic device when they are present at a specific location at the Rio Grande where Claudia Patricia Gómez González was killed by a U.S. border patrol agent after crossing into Texas.
Art and Immigration: Contemporary Methods of Technology and Activism
C153
This paper addresses the use of technology and contemporary artistic methods in the ongoing debate on immigrant rights. Personal electronic devices and new approaches to display practices offer immersive experiences in a technology-focused world. Through virtual reality apps and technology, artists are addressing human experiences at the Mexico–US border. Viewers are compelled to interact with reality—whether concrete or augmented. More traditional forms of public art are also explored to provide historical context of the activism behind murals and public painting. Through this study, my findings prove that artists are drawing on a rich history of social activism in order to employ distinctively contemporary and innovative techniques to engage viewers. This proves to be unique and revolutionary in that both artists and average hand-held device users interact with and face humanitarian crises in profound and personal ways.