Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga

Structural Patterns

Reflections on Art, Technology and Society

Archive for April, 2013

Interview with OBTRUSIV

without comments

Last Saturday, I met with Keith Estiler and Edgar De La Vega of OBTRUSIV MAG to discuss art. They’ve put the interview on their Art & Culture column, the article is titled – Pricking the Public. Here’s the video:

Ward Shelley, History of Science Fiction

without comments

I’m a big fan of Ward Shelley, particularly his performances, but equally love his brain maps. One example I just came across is “The History of Science Fiction, ver. 1:
Ward Shelley's History of Science Fiction

Written by ricardo

April 24th, 2013 at 2:46 pm

Posted in fine_arts

EXCESS NYC on DNAinfo.com

without comments

excess nyc
Sonja Sharp of DNAinfo.com was excited to discover to whom the compost and food rescue bike at the Sterling lot belonged. She got in touch with Brooke and I and ran a story on the project – Bodega Bicycle the Vehicle of Choice for Crown Heights Food Waste Crusaders. It’s perfect timing as we’ve completed our first two weeks of picking up coffee grounds from Lincoln Station.

Written by ricardo

April 20th, 2013 at 8:39 am

sean godsey | Tumblr

without comments

Sean Godsey animated GIF

sean godsey | Tumblr – Fun GIF!

Written by ricardo

April 19th, 2013 at 8:23 am

Posted in animation

Hirschhorn’s Laundrette

without comments

Hirschhorn's Laundrette

When visiting Brooke Singer’s prints at the Hudson Valley
Center for Contemporary Art (HVCAA)
as part of the ambitious Peekskill Project V, I documented Thomas Hirschhorn’s Laundrette installation that is part of the HVCCA’s permanent collection. I was immediately enthralled by Hirschhorn’s installation as I found it much more approachable than more recent sprawling installations with little way in to the tumultuous sea of media.

Laundrette of course presents a ton of appropriated media from video to magazine, newspaper, audio, book excerpts, stickers, but it is all framed in a laundromat. I spent countless hours of my childhood at a laundromat near the corner of Mission and Kingston or Eugenia Avenue, right near 30th and Mission in San Francisco and Hirschhorn’s Laundrette immediately felt familiar from the variable sized washer and driers to the soap dispensing machine.

I love the framing of this critical content – that immediately alludes to having to wash all our dirty laundry generated by the Capitalism’s insatiable desire for capital. And to inform the audience beyond the video news snippets, day time television excerpts and a gluttony of disturbing media that is being cycled in the washing and drying machines, Laundrette is fortified with quotes and texts from Nietzsche, Spinoza, Klein, Popper, Deleuze and Guatarri. And as usual with this sort of work, I love it, but walk away wondering what the point is. The people viewing it are left leaning artists or collectors that may feel guilt at their wealth, but are comforted by the labor of the artists that they support.

Thomas Hirschhorn's Laundrette

Thomas Hirschhorn's Laundrette

Thomas Hirschhorn's Laundrette

Thomas Hirschhorn's Laundrette

Thomas Hirschhorn's Laundrette

Written by ricardo

April 15th, 2013 at 11:13 am

Today – April 10th Immigration Reform March on Washington DC

without comments

I can’t be at today’s March for Full Citizenship, Rights for All Immigrants in Washington DC. However after receiving an email from Dream Activists, I took virtual and phone action. If you wish to be heard today as others march go to the Dream Activist’s page and form to help Everilda and keep her from deportation an action that could result in her death. Read her story below:

Everilda has been living in the U.S. since 1998; she was placed into deportation proceedings in 2005 after she went to the border to pick up her 8 and 10 year old kids. Everilda’s family fled Guatemala after Everilda’s sister, father and three nephews were assassinated by a gunman. They were all out-spoken activist and because of that they were killed. If deported, Everilda’s life has already been threatened and she will most likely be killed.

Because of our broken immigration system people like Everilda are being deported left and right. Let’s put a stop to that. Let’s bring Everilda home and show that we are serious in demanding reform.

And if you have time to make a phone call to ICE Director John Morton 202-732-3000 use this sample script:
“I am calling to ask for the immediate release of Everilda Sanchez (A#200-070-769), currently being held at the Calhoun County Jail in Michigan. In 2005 Everilda’s sister, an activist in Guatemala, was murdered. In 2011 Everilda’s son was deported and targeted by the same people who killed her sister. If deported Everilda will be killed. Grant discretion; let her stay!”

Written by ricardo

April 10th, 2013 at 9:40 am

EXCESS NYC Documentation

without comments

EXCESS is a community-based art project that investigates the large amounts of organic waste in urban centers and creatively employs new tactics to divert food from landfill and back to people to consume or compost. Can we make smarter urban infrastructure where edible food gets eaten, organic waste is turned into compost, compost is used to remediate contaminated lots, vacant lots are transformed into gardens and cities save money while reducing greenhouse emissions? EXCESS NYC is currently active in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

The food rescue and composting bike will be circulating in downtown Stamford, CT in conjunction with the exhibition Strange Invitation at Franklin Street Works.