Distortions Gallery response

Distortions: Contemporary Media Art from Mexico was one of the most enjoyable and interesting galleries at TCNJ that I have been to thus far. All of the work was either extremely interesting to me or made me think about art in a much different way than I usually would. My favorite piece was Esparza's Urban Parasites instillation. I immediately imagined what the piece would look like if encountered on the street, all these little robots moving amongst a heap of old electronics. I didn't really understand de la Garza's Trilogy of Money instillation but I'm glad I got to hear his explination during the artist talk about the focus of the aesthetics of money rather than their monetary value because it was an interesting thought. Especially when considered that de la Garza did none of the actual work he was displaying. The buzzing little motors were also fascinating to walk into the gallery and see - I thought they worked well with the parasites on the ground with the technology.

The artist talk was interesting as well. I'm glad we were shown more of Esparza's work because I found it the most interested and I really enjoyed his other works, even if they were just pictures. It was fascinating having Ricardo Miranda Zuniga traslate everything the artists were saying about their work - I didn't expect that. The performance by Ivan Abreu was very fun to walk and very cool - I loved how you could just hear small bits of the song in the ice. The use of ice on top of the record was one of the first pieces to catch my attention in the gallery and I was glad I got to see a live performance of the piece. It was interesting to know that the ice doesn't last as long here in the United States as it does in Mexico. I think the piece which I enjoyed most that wasn't at the gallery but was shown on the slideshow was the work done entirely with confetti, although I'm unsure which artist it was by. I liked the spontaneity of the piece. Overall, I think Distortions was an enjoyable gallery as well as opening to attend.