https://ramosbarajas.com RAMOSBARAJAS Thu, 06 Jul 2023 20:54:23 +0000 https://ramosbarajas.com en https://ramosbarajas.com/Overview Fri, 06 May 2022 22:56:51 +0000 RAMOSBARAJAS https://ramosbarajas.com/Overview <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1d795f6331288019882c7a713e21622170f5bf6d2271dc7b1e1400130c4a63a2/Installation-13.jpg" data-mid="142449502" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1d795f6331288019882c7a713e21622170f5bf6d2271dc7b1e1400130c4a63a2/Installation-13.jpg" /> BUSINESS AS USUAL This&nbsp; installation reimagines how to represent land in the US “West” by distorting the traditions and conventions of aesthetic landscape representation and expose their ideology of power. <img width="2200" height="1114" width_o="2200" height_o="1114" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ff7b48331da5093503b62eba3acabbcf809f1649d520c30a720a2983b250c36/Youtube-Banner-01-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="142327144" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2ff7b48331da5093503b62eba3acabbcf809f1649d520c30a720a2983b250c36/Youtube-Banner-01-copy-2.jpg" /> UNSETTLING JOURNEYS: Visual Voyages through the History of Mestizaje Unsettling Journeys is an educational YouTube channel dedicated to uncovering the histories that have shaped Mexican, Latin American, and Latinx identities by examining the arts, architecture and visual and material cultures. <img width="1200" height="630" width_o="1200" height_o="630" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a4b1c4e8214cae634ac015a2b0e63e9f61c802f3d585f7d5fcce8f78f05d27a/Facebook.jpg" data-mid="142199296" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a4b1c4e8214cae634ac015a2b0e63e9f61c802f3d585f7d5fcce8f78f05d27a/Facebook.jpg" /> FILM PROGRAMMING My film programming practice aim to unite both audience engagement and academic conversations. The objective is to re-contextualize moving image arts in a longer history of imaging technologies and visual literacy. <img width="2304" height="1296" width_o="2304" height_o="1296" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8681a548ea48d35e73415b8a05d9b807db2d764e399bc496cb751047445abb59/Fest-Header.png" data-mid="142326938" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8681a548ea48d35e73415b8a05d9b807db2d764e399bc496cb751047445abb59/Fest-Header.png" /> BORDERLESS CULTURES: Film Festival With a knowledge that popular culture constructs, informs, and reflects, Emmanuel Ramos-Barajas and Annette Rodríguez bring together films and filmmakers that offer opportunities for entertainment, education, and… well… critical dissection. The Borderless Cultures Film Festival is our offering as a way to gather across space, sharing time and ideas. https://ramosbarajas.com/About Sun, 05 Feb 2023 03:37:19 +0000 RAMOSBARAJAS https://ramosbarajas.com/About ABOUT <img src="https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-15.png"> ︎&nbsp;CV ︎ Reel ABOUT EMMANUEL RAMOS-BARAJAS Emmanuel Ramos-Barajas is a scholar, educator, and research-based image maker who studies the links between history, conquest, and landscape representation in the aridlands of the US Southwest. By investigating narratives of exploration and discovery and by distorting the established conventions of landscape art, his work manifests how images have mediated the telling of history by veiling ideologies of colonization. With a frenzied gaze through a moving car window, he places infrastructures of energy consumption at the center of our experience of “the West.” Working with different imaging technologies, his panoramic collages, experimental videos, and immersive landscapes unmask historical constructions and imagine different futures—challenging our sight and interrupting the sublime. Emmanuel is the co-creator and video producer of Unsettling Journeys, an educational YouTube channel dedicated in deconstructing Latinx identities through Art History; as well as co-curator of Borderless Cultures, a film screening project invested in the critical dissection of cinematic conventions. He has worked at The Block Museum of Art as Communications Media Coordinator and the social media company we are mitú as video producer. He received his BA from The School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA, and his MFA from the University of Illinois Chicago. // define your images here var images = [ "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/shishimecx_rio_grande_new_mexico_desert_landscape_soft_focus_fa_8410f984-8d55-43d9-b29e-7d5ffe9de84d.png", "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/shishimecx_rio_grande_new_mexico_desert_landscape_soft_focus_fa_1a854f72-6cb8-467b-b9de-cdb1fd4a1a72.png", "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-29.png", "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-27.png", "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-26.png", "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-23.png", "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-22.png", "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-20.png", 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"https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-5.png", "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-4.png", "https://files.cargocollective.com/c91666/emmanuel-ramos-barajas-headshot-3.png" ]; function getRandomImage() { // choose a random number from all available image indices var randomImage = images[Math.floor(Math.random() * images.length)]; // make the URL into a proper image tag var image = "<img src='" + randomImage + "'>"; // append to the div document.getElementById("img-load").innerHTML = image; } // Call the function to display a random image as soon as the script is executed. getRandomImage(); https://ramosbarajas.com/Business-as-Usual Wed, 11 May 2022 15:49:53 +0000 RAMOSBARAJAS https://ramosbarajas.com/Business-as-Usual BUSINESS AS USUAL <img width="2687" height="4014" width_o="2687" height_o="4014" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c62a9245423267c505c18c614e08c3d584bb1ccc089429046f2ab4275759d005/Installation-1.jpeg" data-mid="142442788" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c62a9245423267c505c18c614e08c3d584bb1ccc089429046f2ab4275759d005/Installation-1.jpeg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b99652f8b30925a455a49931d5e97c8cf4a761e9412ce095d4f911665c275ee4/Installation-2.jpeg" data-mid="142442996" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b99652f8b30925a455a49931d5e97c8cf4a761e9412ce095d4f911665c275ee4/Installation-2.jpeg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a05d7de8a17ed9cb26502da700f734e412cf4dda5b0bcf33002557792231897f/Installation-3.jpeg" data-mid="142442679" border="0" 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data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a40bd3120b9d08198ce512b739b3a465e7c9ebd0eb7493ef9f1c0af0ab761c1d/Installation-12.jpeg" data-mid="142443042" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a40bd3120b9d08198ce512b739b3a465e7c9ebd0eb7493ef9f1c0af0ab761c1d/Installation-12.jpeg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/702a3d7204a763814d184946b666682a8ceb7a5b4d8b358fb3c42fd512ee4c8d/Installation-11.jpeg" data-mid="142443064" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/702a3d7204a763814d184946b666682a8ceb7a5b4d8b358fb3c42fd512ee4c8d/Installation-11.jpeg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cd6994b9ea084b89027e25aaa6decb9e659b78483c688552b72dca0071dc6596/Installation-10.jpeg" data-mid="142443047" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cd6994b9ea084b89027e25aaa6decb9e659b78483c688552b72dca0071dc6596/Installation-10.jpeg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1d795f6331288019882c7a713e21622170f5bf6d2271dc7b1e1400130c4a63a2/Installation-13.jpg" data-mid="142442850" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1d795f6331288019882c7a713e21622170f5bf6d2271dc7b1e1400130c4a63a2/Installation-13.jpg" /> First-year Final Critique Installation Throughout history, landscape representations have depended on a poetic sensibility—one that tied scientific and aesthetic approaches to veil the ideological politics behind their production. Business As Usual brings together the research-based work I produced during the first year of my MFA. By focusing on the art produced during military expeditions of the American Southwest, I consider the histories of conquest embedded within art production.&nbsp;Recognizing that art has been employed to invent and maintain the idea of “The West” and make it serve imperial and capitalistic processes, my work wishes to denounce these ideologies must reimagine how to represent these lands.&nbsp;As such, I engages the traditions and conventions of aesthetic landscape representation with the intention of distorting and interrupting them and expose their ideology of power. <img width="1500" height="1065" width_o="1500" height_o="1065" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9448bc5f1e3ba1925dedecd55bd9a761c17e1ba9ece499580e93dcefd6f7547f/0380007.jpg" data-mid="142317788" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9448bc5f1e3ba1925dedecd55bd9a761c17e1ba9ece499580e93dcefd6f7547f/0380007.jpg" /> RESEARCHThe punitive 1849 expedition by the US Army against the Navajo and Utes Nations provides us with a case study to examine the ways in which landscape representations were employed to incorporate new areas of “the West” and to dispossess Indigenous and Mexican peoples of said lands in the age of Manifest Destiny. My intention is to make direct connections between official legislative policies of the 19th century and the artistic genre of landscape art—to make evident the violent histories of US exploration, expansion, and exploitation in the seemingly placid categories of the sublime and the picturesque. The material evidence produced during this particular expedition—James H. Simpson’s journal, Richard H. Kern’s sketches-turned-lithographs, and Edward M. Kern’s map—are all representations of the Southwestern landscape that reaffirm “discovery” as a white and Christian endeavor that ignores but simultaneously is made possible only by the aide of previous inhabitants. Accompanying the expeditions were Pueblo, Navajo and Mexican guides, scouts, and members of the volunteer militia whose very presence and expertise allowed for a cognizable “discovery” of the land. <img width="2000" height="1000" width_o="2000" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f0815349f1eb43456d55c4dd6f72ae09a64e606fe52d85fa357b280c054de32e/MAP.png" data-mid="142446672" border="0" alt="Map of the Route pursued in 1849 by the U.S. Troops [&hellip;] in an expedition against the Navajos Indians" data-caption="Map of the Route pursued in 1849 by the U.S. Troops […] in an expedition against the Navajos Indians" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f0815349f1eb43456d55c4dd6f72ae09a64e606fe52d85fa357b280c054de32e/MAP.png" /> INSTALLATIONE.M. Kern’s Map of the Route pursued in 1849 by the U.S. Troops […] in an expedition against the Navajos Indians is the foundation of Business As Usual. This cartographic landscape traces a 587.11-mile-long loop through modern-day New Mexico and Arizona. The map will be the navigating document in the gallery—however, audiences will not be retracing the troop’s steps; rather, they will retrace the ideology that made the expedition possible. In this manner, the gallery itself a becomes an artificial three-dimensional landscape representation. The walls will be “layered” to represent three key elements of landscape art: (1) the background, (2) the foreground, and (3) the middle ground. (1) The layer closest to the wall represents the background; and cartography will be the main element here. The act of surveying and mapping land exemplifies the taking a natural space and forcing it to fit onto a two-dimensional piece of paper. On the map, a solid red line represents the route taken by US troops as they surveyed. I will take this red line and copy it onto the walls, scaling to make it fit around the whole room. The result will be a seemingly abstract red line that wraps around the walls of the gallery. Understanding cartography as a distorted representation of space, my red line will be a distortion of a distortion. (2) The wall layer closest to the viewer will represent the foreground and will be composed of 8-feet long panoramic collages. These panels will be a tryptic, altogether approximately the width of two freeway lanes (24 feet). I collage Southwestern highway wall art with deconstructed landscape photographs taken frenziedly through a moving car window. Geographically, the images document freeways and landscapes in Arizona, California, Chihuahua, Nevada, New Mexico, Sonora, Texas, and Utah. Just as the freeway walls obscure our view while driving, these collages will also be symbolic obstacles to our sight in the gallery. As the most prominent aesthetic element (deceptively so) in the gallery, these collages are intended as diversions from what I consider the most important element… (3) As a key concept in landscape conventions, the middle ground is the site where ideology takes place. It sharpens and delivers the message; land as resource, land as wealth, land as power. The middle distance obscures “the fundamentally destructive character of settlement”—where the conflict between civilization and nature is visually reconciled.[1] Here, time-based media introduces a new conceptualization of the land; collapsing past and present and merging different imaging technologies. Sonically, archival narrations of the land and contemporary reviews of tourist destinations center the sublime as the experience that gives meaning and worth to the Southwest aridlands—showcasing the sublime’s historical evolution going from residing in nature to large-scale industrial projects that litter the land. Overall, the aim is to reveal how aesthetic landscape conventions have been complicit in silencing the violence of colonization, dispossession, and racialization of Indigenous, Asian, and Mexican subjects—presenting us, instead, with a charming encounter with “the land of enchantment.” [1] Miller, Angela. The Empire of the Eye. OBJECT IMAGES <img width="3050" height="500" width_o="3050" height_o="500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/50bba9294108ff688606e1175f863bf3402716968cc0353e143fb52c0c663c66/Collaged-panorama-002-copy.jpg" data-mid="142446041" border="0" alt="Collaged panorama 002 (2022), matte inkjet prints collaged on plywood, 96 x 16 in." data-caption="Collaged panorama 002 (2022), matte inkjet prints collaged on plywood, 96 x 16 in." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/50bba9294108ff688606e1175f863bf3402716968cc0353e143fb52c0c663c66/Collaged-panorama-002-copy.jpg" /> <img width="2392" height="1500" width_o="2392" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f9a9cc01311e179275d45fa86ed9c72058456837199b2a265f82978ba5835675/Collaged-panorama-002-1-of-6.jpg" data-mid="142445980" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f9a9cc01311e179275d45fa86ed9c72058456837199b2a265f82978ba5835675/Collaged-panorama-002-1-of-6.jpg" /> <img width="2687" height="1500" 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src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6b67d8fbe5d2a6f0d31b209a43729977496b4e8c35094dc0ad99913af6503674/Collaged-panorama-002-4-of-6.jpg" /> <img width="2422" height="1500" width_o="2422" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f9ec8d6a22013b8f1b3987ba256bc8ff5ab3644eabf82ff90849084ac9b3ca9a/Collaged-panorama-002-5-of-6.jpg" data-mid="142445984" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f9ec8d6a22013b8f1b3987ba256bc8ff5ab3644eabf82ff90849084ac9b3ca9a/Collaged-panorama-002-5-of-6.jpg" /> <img width="2481" height="1500" width_o="2481" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ee9162237d3da25f4e4988c32bbb4cfbbc7a9389fd0e262785340d951b1519e2/Collaged-panorama-002-6-of-6.jpg" data-mid="142445985" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ee9162237d3da25f4e4988c32bbb4cfbbc7a9389fd0e262785340d951b1519e2/Collaged-panorama-002-6-of-6.jpg" /> <img width="4000" height="706" width_o="4000" height_o="706" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3960c640eb2752d5079234d23c0da8587fc1b74f83ebd6b0bd507aa457abafc5/001.jpg" data-mid="142446518" border="0" alt="Collaged panorama 001 (2021), matte inkjet prints collaged on plywood, 96 x 16 in." data-caption="Collaged panorama 001 (2021), matte inkjet prints collaged on plywood, 96 x 16 in." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3960c640eb2752d5079234d23c0da8587fc1b74f83ebd6b0bd507aa457abafc5/001.jpg" /> <img width="2572" height="1949" width_o="2572" height_o="1949" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/725393d63a60a4f3e3277f0ed06faf11c1541dc8158efc4525862ad9a6bbd126/003.jpg" data-mid="142446519" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/725393d63a60a4f3e3277f0ed06faf11c1541dc8158efc4525862ad9a6bbd126/003.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="2330" width_o="3024" height_o="2330" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ba2c1e43c5608c758a3f8981d769e24f669b049b65dbbc3d7e6d169cfcbc6ff0/004.jpg" data-mid="142446520" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ba2c1e43c5608c758a3f8981d769e24f669b049b65dbbc3d7e6d169cfcbc6ff0/004.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="2776" width_o="3024" height_o="2776" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7979e415a5077fccf34c4437c750490485bd997ab57965a56868d183377b7f72/006.jpg" data-mid="142446522" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7979e415a5077fccf34c4437c750490485bd997ab57965a56868d183377b7f72/006.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="2599" width_o="3024" height_o="2599" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2a847ea9616e8d3a6934ddf47da11935c379ffffcf8a7a7fd2b9c4ff41d16f62/008.jpg" data-mid="142446524" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2a847ea9616e8d3a6934ddf47da11935c379ffffcf8a7a7fd2b9c4ff41d16f62/008.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="2595" width_o="3024" height_o="2595" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/970e4e28dfdb0f4e56241ac92859269c7b8eca955473181ede0a81923ff61b97/009.jpg" data-mid="142446526" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/970e4e28dfdb0f4e56241ac92859269c7b8eca955473181ede0a81923ff61b97/009.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="2576" width_o="3024" height_o="2576" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f438b157a5c0f9fd2d62dafcd405a65339fc6494487fd2224b31786a77ad4969/010.jpg" data-mid="142446529" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f438b157a5c0f9fd2d62dafcd405a65339fc6494487fd2224b31786a77ad4969/010.jpg" /> <img width="2959" height="2453" width_o="2959" height_o="2453" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3b1229be21bc0a20a08333cda4469abdc3c42dbfe77faef095e81368579381f3/011.jpg" data-mid="142446531" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3b1229be21bc0a20a08333cda4469abdc3c42dbfe77faef095e81368579381f3/011.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="2269" width_o="1500" height_o="2269" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/177ad53e830bb4dca86ae8700465a1b1e6073e23b9b4ddb93630ee3d6ed0eb97/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001.jpg" data-mid="142448407" border="0" alt="Collapsed landscapes (Area 001) (2022) matte inkjet print 31 x 44 in." data-caption="Collapsed landscapes (Area 001) (2022) matte inkjet print 31 x 44 in." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/177ad53e830bb4dca86ae8700465a1b1e6073e23b9b4ddb93630ee3d6ed0eb97/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001.jpg" /> <img width="2372" height="1500" width_o="2372" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/919984e607df259461fae2799a1e7be4cce052dffee975e9bcb4abac9e9a9113/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001-4-of-4.jpg" data-mid="142448406" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/919984e607df259461fae2799a1e7be4cce052dffee975e9bcb4abac9e9a9113/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001-4-of-4.jpg" /> <img width="1979" height="1500" width_o="1979" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be942d0468f4c9a8992ce9b685c835dc2e5e9100c59a7301f600de210fd822a2/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001-3-of-4.jpg" data-mid="142448405" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/be942d0468f4c9a8992ce9b685c835dc2e5e9100c59a7301f600de210fd822a2/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001-3-of-4.jpg" /> <img width="2021" height="1500" width_o="2021" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f922adc535c53e757a7994ddd97550997f1ab632e9896427c6a9257f097ef97c/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001-2-of-4.jpg" data-mid="142448404" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f922adc535c53e757a7994ddd97550997f1ab632e9896427c6a9257f097ef97c/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001-2-of-4.jpg" /> <img width="1986" height="1500" width_o="1986" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c82ffc180833a09df964108c5e4e325adff2cbbfe4e2427e7a17ca860ed88a4/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001-1-of-4.jpg" data-mid="142448403" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2c82ffc180833a09df964108c5e4e325adff2cbbfe4e2427e7a17ca860ed88a4/Collapsed-landscapes-Area-001-1-of-4.jpg" /> VIDEO https://ramosbarajas.com/Unsettling-Journeys Wed, 11 May 2022 15:49:19 +0000 RAMOSBARAJAS https://ramosbarajas.com/Unsettling-Journeys UNSETTLING JOURNEYS est. 2019 <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bd5f16f313e86905e9b121dca710e2381bb7171e2a5f36398bb5c02906518c7e/THUMB.png" data-mid="142438908" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bd5f16f313e86905e9b121dca710e2381bb7171e2a5f36398bb5c02906518c7e/THUMB.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5ac560ba92e409f4cefb68eeec75813e171b63a7e788a9c5103ccc19cf46be36/Artboard-1.jpg" data-mid="142439174" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5ac560ba92e409f4cefb68eeec75813e171b63a7e788a9c5103ccc19cf46be36/Artboard-1.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/69d3dd8c6dd5f491d05cfd4d3c3477b048dbf476e5b9e8f268074e05f76ad0f0/Artboard-1.png" data-mid="142439067" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/69d3dd8c6dd5f491d05cfd4d3c3477b048dbf476e5b9e8f268074e05f76ad0f0/Artboard-1.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ad2061b0dd21b49d4f8249af081f53084ec436a2bfcb11b9e6a0511461c7164b/Artboard-4Lesson22.jpg" data-mid="142439066" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ad2061b0dd21b49d4f8249af081f53084ec436a2bfcb11b9e6a0511461c7164b/Artboard-4Lesson22.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1500" width_o="1500" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/58c97cd204d12370fa5d781f355a36ed6f11b3e9880f780e493c623c5b3c3458/Artboard-1.png" data-mid="142317933" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/58c97cd204d12370fa5d781f355a36ed6f11b3e9880f780e493c623c5b3c3458/Artboard-1.png" /> Unsettling Journeys is an educational YouTube channel dedicated to uncovering the histories that have shaped Mexican, Latin American, and Latinx identities by examining the arts, architecture and visual and material cultures (think paintings, posters, calendars, tshirts, and tote bags). The arts created before the invasion of Tenochtitlán, during the colonial period, around the waves of Independence, and into our contemporary world have played a central role in&nbsp; solidifying of our identities—mainly by anchoring our feelings to shifting colonies, empires, and nations. We break down the complicated stories of our past by looking at everything from pyramids to movies to untangle the messy history of art in the Americas and the role it plays in our imaginations. Subscribe and join our journey to disrupt history, dismantle its myths, and deconstruct Latinx identities. <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5ac560ba92e409f4cefb68eeec75813e171b63a7e788a9c5103ccc19cf46be36/Artboard-1.jpg" data-mid="142439174" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5ac560ba92e409f4cefb68eeec75813e171b63a7e788a9c5103ccc19cf46be36/Artboard-1.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3e7eb15fdd49150c73454bce3a3de9ea9210681b716c2c4f77ecd44612ab85aa/Artboard-2.jpg" data-mid="142439176" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3e7eb15fdd49150c73454bce3a3de9ea9210681b716c2c4f77ecd44612ab85aa/Artboard-2.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ce2850f571ccb66dc13c4d14fe91a0bade16fbe07c6083667bbc009a4fa783d/Artboard-3.jpg" data-mid="142439341" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2ce2850f571ccb66dc13c4d14fe91a0bade16fbe07c6083667bbc009a4fa783d/Artboard-3.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ad2061b0dd21b49d4f8249af081f53084ec436a2bfcb11b9e6a0511461c7164b/Artboard-4Lesson22.jpg" data-mid="142439066" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ad2061b0dd21b49d4f8249af081f53084ec436a2bfcb11b9e6a0511461c7164b/Artboard-4Lesson22.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b2b2a1d901430d13396866872ec12e1612b6e7c56a5046e6f18226a2bbfcb359/Artboard-2.png" data-mid="142439068" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b2b2a1d901430d13396866872ec12e1612b6e7c56a5046e6f18226a2bbfcb359/Artboard-2.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9f2172e0691a823651f1597a4d416fc13d5b11305f5f3c94ae4fbfa91748ca7c/Artboard-3.png" data-mid="142439069" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9f2172e0691a823651f1597a4d416fc13d5b11305f5f3c94ae4fbfa91748ca7c/Artboard-3.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/69d3dd8c6dd5f491d05cfd4d3c3477b048dbf476e5b9e8f268074e05f76ad0f0/Artboard-1.png" data-mid="142439067" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/69d3dd8c6dd5f491d05cfd4d3c3477b048dbf476e5b9e8f268074e05f76ad0f0/Artboard-1.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6fe2e19048ad35fad023863b9d8f954343012995f3bc80f4ce9131f0eefaa754/Artboard-5Lesson22.jpg" data-mid="142439070" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6fe2e19048ad35fad023863b9d8f954343012995f3bc80f4ce9131f0eefaa754/Artboard-5Lesson22.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bd5f16f313e86905e9b121dca710e2381bb7171e2a5f36398bb5c02906518c7e/THUMB.png" data-mid="142438908" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bd5f16f313e86905e9b121dca710e2381bb7171e2a5f36398bb5c02906518c7e/THUMB.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/783e3e1ed75fa3c4f1b4f7d83d441ef09a95b7eeb2cab98178e31dba16503107/FRIDA-Thumb-YT.jpg" data-mid="142439475" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/783e3e1ed75fa3c4f1b4f7d83d441ef09a95b7eeb2cab98178e31dba16503107/FRIDA-Thumb-YT.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0ec628c7575a31c99699380dcb4cb85f0bea4ad8eba36dc15a28c541b51415f0/BONUS.jpg" data-mid="142439177" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0ec628c7575a31c99699380dcb4cb85f0bea4ad8eba36dc15a28c541b51415f0/BONUS.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/43c43e5774501cc4f3dc22f0357a0932f543fbf91852a5c1c82520dbe8ef9261/Dia-de-Muertos.jpg" data-mid="142440364" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/43c43e5774501cc4f3dc22f0357a0932f543fbf91852a5c1c82520dbe8ef9261/Dia-de-Muertos.jpg" /> https://ramosbarajas.com/Film-Programming Fri, 06 May 2022 22:56:50 +0000 RAMOSBARAJAS https://ramosbarajas.com/Film-Programming CONTENT WARNING: Cinema Conventions as Violence A screening project Content Warning is an ongoing screening project that aims to disrupt&nbsp;the hierarchies of the screen. This&nbsp;project contends with the responsibilities and implications of screening films with skewed spatial and racialized representations by re-contextualizing moving image arts in a longer history of imaging technologies and visual literacy. Thinking of conventions as visual shortcuts, the goal is to expose the ways in which we have been trained to watch and analyze films. By reading film history and conventions against the grain, this project aims develop new ways of seeing and to collapse the illusion of continuity. At a moment of cultural reckoning in regards to these issues, re-articulating film’s future possible forms is an urgent task.&nbsp; Past Programs Teasers of Empire1930s Action-Adventure Trailers and the Spectacle of Imperialism May 26, 2022 <img width="1200" height="630" width_o="1200" height_o="630" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a4b1c4e8214cae634ac015a2b0e63e9f61c802f3d585f7d5fcce8f78f05d27a/Facebook.jpg" data-mid="142321614" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a4b1c4e8214cae634ac015a2b0e63e9f61c802f3d585f7d5fcce8f78f05d27a/Facebook.jpg" /> (Various artists; 1931 - 1940; 35mm &amp; digital, ~32 min.) Teasers of Empire interweaves a selection of fifteen 35mm trailers from the Academy Film Archive with commentary by guest scholars to examine the connections between the Action-Adventure genre and the history of imperialism. Early sound films can help elucidate how Hollywood filmmaking practices and genre tropes developed in conjunction with dominant colonial narratives and audience tastes. Despite the technical mastery displayed by these films, screening them today presents a challenge given that many of them contain harmful stereotypes about minoritized peoples. Examining 1930s Action-Adventure trailers with this critical lens offers us an opportunity to study how the genre was shaped by borrowed colonial artistic and literary conventions that naturalized discourses of empire, conquest, and modernity, without reactivating the violence of screening the films in their entirety. The program was structured around three sections, with guest scholars responding to the trailers in each. Ariel Rogers, Associate Professor in the Department of Radio/Television/Film&nbsp; at Northwestern respond to&nbsp;Stealing “Paradise.”&nbsp;Rochona Majumdar, Associate Professor in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations and the Department of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago responded to Outpost Under Attack. And Emily Lyon, Northwestern PhD Candidate in History responded to&nbsp;US History as Entertainment.&nbsp;Afterwards, Emmanuel Ramos-Barajas moderated a conversation with all three guests. Unweaving the Myth of “The West:” An Anti-Colonial Screening of John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939) ︎ WATCH February 22, 2022 <img width="2200" height="1400" width_o="2200" height_o="1400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/10d0214f577e3232599ae471dc731bc47644ca8951ded6ee1c2ea569922c4947/Artboard-3002.jpg" data-mid="142321076" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/10d0214f577e3232599ae471dc731bc47644ca8951ded6ee1c2ea569922c4947/Artboard-3002.jpg" /> (John Ford, 1939, 96 min.) The Western has been described as the “great American form,” and seemingly the most purely “American” genre. While the Western’s popularity has waned in recent decades, the conventions and tropes it generated—most visible today in action-adventure and superhero films—continue to influence our expectations for contemporary storytelling. Despite its significant impact on the global popular imaginary, most conversations on the Western do not contemplate its insidious properties: namely, the ways in which these romanticized plots continue to shape our understanding of history and to normalize hierarchies in our social and spatial relations. This screening of John Ford’s Stagecoach was followed by a conversation between UIC History Professor Jeffrey Sklansky and Art History Assistant Professor Emmanuel Ortega to discuss the Western’s entanglement of art, history, and politics—focusing particularly on the racialized representation and cinematic conventions of this early formative Western. Moderated by Emmanuel Ramos-Barajas. https://ramosbarajas.com/Borderless-Cultures Wed, 11 May 2022 17:29:56 +0000 RAMOSBARAJAS https://ramosbarajas.com/Borderless-Cultures BORDERLESS CULTURES Film Festival <img width="2304" height="1296" width_o="2304" height_o="1296" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8681a548ea48d35e73415b8a05d9b807db2d764e399bc496cb751047445abb59/Fest-Header.png" data-mid="142347876" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8681a548ea48d35e73415b8a05d9b807db2d764e399bc496cb751047445abb59/Fest-Header.png" /> Conceived between collaborators and colleagues on opposite coasts, we proposed sharing and discussing films that tell us something about the racialization of U.S. Latinx peoples. As we found ourselves increasingly screen-bound for connection, in the words of Ramos-Barajas, we realized that “a different approach requires a different approach.” Thus, we began the process of selecting films that are otherwise not in wide releases and inviting discussants and filmmakers to talk with us and viewers about Latinx peoples and film. With a knowledge that popular culture constructs, informs, and reflects, Emmanuel Ramos-Barajas and Dr.&nbsp;Annette Rodríguez bring together films and filmmakers that offer opportunities for entertainment, education, and… well… critical dissection.&nbsp;Bringing his talents as a director, producer and media coordinator, Ramos-Barajas thinks through narrative and artistic vision, while Rodríguez fixates on historical context and the value of scholarly analysis. Borderless Cultures Film Festival is our offering as a way to gather across space, sharing time and ideas. &nbsp; Program&nbsp;Syllabi&nbsp;📖 In addition to my curatorial role in programming the films, I contributed by planning and designing a syllabus for each of the screenings. These syllabi offer additional teaching and learning resources. Find and share them below.&nbsp; Past Programs Relinking Past &amp; Present ︎ WATCH ︎ SYLLABUS&nbsp; April 21, 2021 <img width="1280" height="400" width_o="1280" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5f24cbd1301b36cfaff136f27c622f0289cbee62fdb14c6a73df3b69afd0db32/Salt-of-the-Earth-Graphics-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="142346704" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5f24cbd1301b36cfaff136f27c622f0289cbee62fdb14c6a73df3b69afd0db32/Salt-of-the-Earth-Graphics-copy-2.jpg" /> Contemporary Pueblo Women(Beverly Singer, 2021, 70 min) The Blank Stare at Movie Indians(Beverly Singer, 2010/2021, 13 min) Frontera! Revolt and Rebellion on the Rio Grande(John Jota Leaños, 2014, 19 min) Within popular media representations of Native Americans, stereotypes reign. One can argue this has been the case since the invention of&nbsp; the European printing press—where mass imaging technologies allowed Western perspectives to position themselves as scientific and objective. Five hundred years later, imaging technologies have become more accessible than ever before, and peoples who were always represented by others now have the opportunity to represent themselves. However, the violent legacies of imagining technologies have to be recontextualized, for we cannot undo harm by merely reversing the formula. This screening explores the power of storytelling that imagines new indigenous representation in popular media, film and documentaries. Framed through Dr. Beverly Singer’s 2021 documentary feature film&nbsp;Journeys and Pathways: Oral Histories of Contemporary Pueblo Women, her 2015 short&nbsp;The Blank Stare at Movie Indians and John Jota Leaños’&nbsp;2014 short animated documentary&nbsp;Frontera!, this conversation interrogates the role of images in distorting realities and how moving images may be used to subvert and counteract colonial fantasies of “authenticity.” Directors Dr. Beverly Singer and Professor John Jota Leaños joined us to delve into their films. Refocusing Latinx Labor ︎ WATCH ︎ SYLLABUS March 3, 2021 <img width="1280" height="400" width_o="1280" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dd35a529f7f10b9f3da3f2da88b651b180ba9ddc5e2e6982f3b6867a963867d2/Salt-of-the-Earth-Graphics-copy-2NEw.jpg" data-mid="142346748" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dd35a529f7f10b9f3da3f2da88b651b180ba9ddc5e2e6982f3b6867a963867d2/Salt-of-the-Earth-Graphics-copy-2NEw.jpg" /> Salt of the Earth(Herbert J. Biberman &amp; Michael Wilson, USA, 1954, 92 min) Why Cybraceros?(Alex Rivera, USA, 1997, 5 min) The production history of Salt of the Earth is a long and complicated one, but it always overshadows the revolutionary content of the film, effectively erasing Latinx labor.&nbsp;The film admirably tackles ideas of race, class, gender and national identity by rejecting the American dream in favor of basic human rights with an intersectional feminist challenge to white patriarchy and machismo. With such a potent legacy, this conversation begins by asking why many latinx representations in pop cultures during the subsequent 70 years have failed to uphold the messages of this film. By pairing up the film with Alex Rivera’s short Why Cybraceros?&nbsp;we aim to refocus the conversation on the Latinx labor depicted in the film. In his films, Rivera constantly plays with the push and pull of the U.S. being comfortable with cheap and expendable immigrant labor, but constantly undermining the humanity of those whose bodies carry it out. Director Alex Rivera and scholar Dr. Irene Mata joined us after the screenings to delve into the themes of the films, the nature of history and what it takes shift the narratives that have been told about Latinx peoples in the US. Recentering Latinx History ︎ WATCH ︎ SYLLABUS October 28, 2020 <img width="2160" height="1080" width_o="2160" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/52e1f1f605cbec7edec993dc0e1c9e549653b2290abc4c3320a7cd809075aeab/Murrieta002.png" data-mid="142346670" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/52e1f1f605cbec7edec993dc0e1c9e549653b2290abc4c3320a7cd809075aeab/Murrieta002.png" /> The Head of Joaquin Murrieta(John J. Valadez, USA, 2016, 30 min) For over a decade filmmaker John J. Valadez searched for the remains of Joaquin Murrieta, a legendary Mexican outlaw who blazed a trail of revenge across California until he was reportedly caught and decapitated in the summer of 1853. A hundred and sixty-two years later Valadez embarks on a quixotic, cross-country road trip through history, myth and memory to bury the fabled head of Joaquin Murrieta. Along the way he discovers chilling parallels with his own family story. Using ground breaking scholarship and working with a team of leading historians from across the United States, The Head of Joaquin Murrieta&nbsp;provides a view of U.S. history from a decidedly Chicano perspective. Deeply personal, irreverent and entertaining, the film tears open a painful and long ignored historical trauma. Filmmaker John Valadez joined us after the screening to address the issues at the center of his documentary: land dispossession, racialized violence, and what it means to tell and retell the story of Joaquin Murrieta. Supported by the Humanities for the Public Good Initiative and the Critical Ethnic Studies Collective at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. https://ramosbarajas.com/Untitled-Page Thu, 06 Jul 2023 20:54:23 +0000 RAMOSBARAJAS https://ramosbarajas.com/Untitled-Page Random Audio Playback Start Playback // HTML element references const startButton = document.getElementById('start-button'); // Add event listener to the start button startButton.addEventListener('click', randomizePlayback); // Rest of the code... // Function to randomize and play audio clips function randomizePlayback() { // Disable the start button during playback startButton.disabled = true; // Reset voice and sound counts let voiceCount = 0; let soundCount = 0; // Rest of the code... }