Negotiating Latina Identity through Performance Art on the Web
April 14, 2011 § 1 Comment
Andria and I will be presenting Are You My Other? next week at the 2011 National Popular Culture Association Conference in San Antonio, TX.
Negotiating Latina Identity through Performance Art on the Web
with Maya Escobar and Andria Morales
Challenging mainstream and academic representations of Latina identity, performance artists Maya Escobar and Andria Morales publicly negate, deconstruct, and reconstruct their individual histories, identities, and conceptions of self. In their current project Are You My Other? a self-portrait dialog exchange blog, Escobar and Morales draw from popular culture, Latino/a cultural iconography, and their lived experiences to create and virtually perform conflicting representations of Latina selves. From devoted homemaker to hockey player, reggaetonera to construction worker, conceptual artist to human corn on the cob, the artists model the multiplicity of identity.
Due to their shared physical similarities, followers of their online exchange often mistake Escobar and Morales for one another. The merging of their identities is further perpetuated through their activities on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. By locating these performances within the space of the web, where they are free from restrictions of time and place, the artists are able to concurrently enact multiple personas while simultaneously forming a unified (Latina) hybrid self.
Somos Ana
March 15, 2011 § Leave a Comment
“Please die Ana, for as long as you’re here we’re not.”
-AM on Are You My Other?
Help Escobar-Morales Get To Texas!
February 23, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Andria and I are presenting Are You My Other? at the 2011 National Popular Culture Association Conference in San Antonio Texas. But in order to get there we need to collectively raise $1,500.
We bought our plane tickets yesterday, but we still need to raise a whooping $550. AND there is still time to help out! Please visit our Taking it to Texas Campaign on Are You My Other? where you can purchase The Fat Free Elotera and Escobar vs Morales postcards, Blaster Bike totes, Shomer Negiah Panties (at a super discounted price), CUSTOM photoshopped images (a la Are You My Other? style), and more…
visit our Taking it to Texas Campaign
Escobar vs Morales cards modeled here by the Wonder Women Residency Girls
Escobar-Morales
February 22, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Artist Statement and Bio
Escobar-Morales is a team comprised of Maya Escobar and Andria Morales. The two artists, based in Chicago and Philadelphia respectively, have been working together over the Internet since 2010. They produce digital media and performance art that explores the role of self-representation in visual culture and its ability to deconstruct ingrained ideological conventions. By locating their performances online where they are free from restrictions of time and place, Escobar-Morales is able to concurrently enact multiple personas while simultaneously creating a unified hybrid self.
Maya Escobar was born in Chicago, IL in 1984. Andria Morales was born in 1982 in New York, NY. Escobar received a BFA from the School of the Art Institue of Chicago (2007) and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis (2009); Morales received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania (2004) and an MFA from Tyler School of Art, Temple University (2008).
Escobar-Morales Establishes Online Marketing Agency
January 20, 2011 § Leave a Comment
As a follow up to Are You My Other? our current Internet based self-portrait dialogue exchange project, Escobar-Morales is establishing an online marketing agency. Acting as designers, distributors, and promo models, we plan to produce a series of advertisements addressing contentious topics in the news, such as Arizona’s SB-1070 and the Dream Act.
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Shomer Negiah Panties HUGE SALE!!
January 14, 2011 § 1 Comment
For a limited time Shomer Negiah Panties will be available on Are You My Other? at 1 for $15 or 2 for $20.
choose from: S-XL in Black & Hot Pink, Black & White, or White & Hot Pink
Wonder Women Residency: New News is Old News
January 10, 2011 § 1 Comment
2011 is going to be a good year. I can feel it already. In addition to our upcoming presentation at the 2011 PCA/ACA Conference this April, Andria and I were also accepted to the Wonder Woman Residency at the _gaia studio, in New Jersey. Curated by Maya Joseph-Goteiner and Doris Caçoilo, this year’s theme is: New News is Old News.
New News is Old News
In our society, the importance of news has shifted; some would argue that it has been elasticized or else devalued. As the blogosphere replaces the daily newspaper as the purveyor and distributor of breaking news, the reporting of events is no longer filtered by the journalist/editor. Instead the voice of news is replaced by a dynamic exchange of information.
Already, online, the same article that has appeared black on white in the early print edition has been updated, corrected or even replaced on the web. Newspaper stories no longer fit the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of news as “a report of recent events: previously unknown information.” In many respects, we have created an endless source of updated information online, a bottomless pit of patter. We cannot possibly consume all the news and commentary published online, and while few people have the time to read the entire newspaper, even fewer can keep up with the minute-to-minute updates via Twitter, blogs, online publications, and RSS feeds.
A residency that focuses on the ways in which news is presented, represented, distributed, and modified within the space of the web… hmm… can you think of anything more perfect for us?
So what are we doing?
I won’t spill all the beans yet, but here is an excerpt from our preliminary proposal:
Our project takes its cue from the recent Buy Life Digital Death campaign, where celebrities volunteered their virtual lives (activity on Twitter and Facebook) with the goal of raising $1 million for children and families in Africa and India affected by HIV/AIDS. We were fascinated by their use of highly stylized, seductive images of Kim Kardashian (and other participating celebrities) lying in a coffin, and the role these images play in the dissemination of news coverage surrounding this HIV/AIDS campaign.
Almost immediately following Digital Death’s inception, images of a “dead” Kardashian started appearing in news stories everywhere from CNN to Gawker. Now layered with multiple levels of history and meaning, screenshots of the sultry Kardashian lying in a coffin, continue to be re-distributed on personal blogs, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter pages…
Stay tuned for more project updates here and on Are You My Other?
All I want for my birthday is to go to Texas
January 9, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Tomorrow I turn 27. And everyone keeps asking me what I want, what I need. Things may be tight, but I have what I need: a roof over my head, food to eat, an adoring husband and wonderful family and friends.
But what I want more than anything, is to be able to go to Texas with my collaborator Andria Morales. She and I were just accepted to the 2011 National Popular Culture Association Conference in San Antonio Texas, where we will be presenting our self portrait dialog exchange project Are You My Other? We are thrilled about this opportunity and think it is the perfect place to situate our work. But after totaling our expected expenses, we realized that collectively we need to come up with $1,500 just to make it happen.
So Andria and I are launching our first-ever Are You My Other? fundraising campaign Taking it to Texas. In exchange for donations, we are offering Are You My Other? goodies, alongside favorites from our individual bodies of work… but at a fraction of the price!
Maya Escobar, Shomer Negiah Panties, 2005-present
Andria Bibiloni, Blaster Bike, 2007
Gallery of Gifs pt 2
January 5, 2011 § Leave a Comment
If you enjoyed Gallery of Gifs (pt 1) check out these bad boys:
(click images to view posts on Are You My Other?)
Finding Frida on Are You My Other?
December 6, 2010 § 1 Comment
Earlier this week AM and I decided to add a search function to Are You My Other?
We quickly discovered the unthinkable…
Our fame-seeking Fat Free Elotera is NOT #1 search on our blog. Instead, this slot belongs to the one and only Frida Kahlo.
Hmm… I wonder how our little Elotera will respond.
AM + ME Open Studios
November 24, 2010 § Leave a Comment
AM and I visit each other’s Studios on Are You My Other?
AM studio
ME Studio
Ian Weaver, The Black Knights of the Black Bottom, and Are You My Other?
November 18, 2010 § 1 Comment
On the afternoon of November 18, 2010, on the Island of Facebook, history was made…
in response to the Fat Free Elotera post:
Ian Weaver: I take ALL the credit for this (and future) collaborations between these two exceptional artists….! [just needed to make sure I put in that legal boilerplate stuff, just a formality]
Andria Morales: No doubt! We are eternally grateful to the prolific genius of Ian Weaver for the inspired notion of pairing us together.
Maya Escobar: YES!!! So true- we are Are You My Other? because of this Fine Man. We keep trying to figure out just how to pay homage… Latina Black Bottom promo girls? Just saying 
Ian Weaver: By commenting on my post you have in effect given me the legal authority to profit in part from any future performances, lectures, presentations, and sales of related merchandise. I will work out the percentages later with my BB lawyer, but for conversation sake, let’s just say if you perform jointly at, say, the Mattress Factory or the Renaissance Society that I will net 33.33% of profits from said performance.
Again, I will get my BB lawyer to draw up the papers
Andria Morales: Did we just get served??? So much for the We ♥ BB Knights campaign…
Ian Weaver: Nooooo! You haven’t been served! I can’t do that online; you will be formally served in person presently (I think someone is at your door; delivery guy??? Flowers By Irene???)
Maya Escobar: I think a cut of all “BB profits” is totally fair and should be required.. LOL.. “profit” what an interesting concept… “to make money from art”… am I dreaming? But hey Ian if you can work us in to an of the aforementioned “performances, lectures, presentations, and sales of related merchandise” and oh “performances at, say, the Mattress Factory or the Renaissance Society” Are You My Other? would be eternally grateful.
Ian Weaver: Done! I am on the phone with Hamza was we speak. I will work the Pittsburgh angle after the holidays.
And seriously, fantastic work by both of you! I got on the blog; really interesting! I am having Maya present in my spring Research class for artists, and if I had the dough I would fly you out Andria and have you guys co-present. But, that would blow my transfer student’s minds!
Andria Morales: I think Maya and I meeting each other in person would blow OUR minds. Lets start a fundraiser!
Maya Escobar: Wow, wow, wow!!! Is it okay with the two of you if I screen-shot this convo and re-post? Ian, I am going to try to see if there are any opps to lecture in other SAIC departments that week so that we could get funding for Andria to come in.
Andria Morales: Summon your internet powers
Ian Weaver: GO FOR IT! I AM OPEN TO IT!!
Elotes
November 12, 2010 § 3 Comments
¿Sabes una cosa? ¡A los Chicagüenses les encanta comer elotes! En el verano, puedes encontrar elotes en muchos vecindarios, especialmente en los parques.
Aquí hay una colección de vídeos donde el tema principal son los elotes. Si tú tienes un vídeo de elotes, por favor compártelo aquí.
Y pronto tendremos recetas saludables e interesantes de elotes en Are You My Other?
AM I her or is she ME: The Chronicles of The Fat Free Elotera
November 11, 2010 § 7 Comments
The Fat Free Elotera is a (developing) character on Are You My Other? The Battle Between The Self and The Other, an ongoing self-portrait dialog exchange project, produced by myself (ME) and Philadelphia-based performance and installation artist Andria Morales (AM). Through a series of weekly exchanged blog posts, Andria and I publicly negate, deconstruct, and reconstruct our individual histories, identities, and conceptions of self.
Click on images below to experience the creation of our latest persona.
On Being Pauly D by DJ Pauly D
September 27, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Over at Are You My Other? AM and I have been having some pretty intense conversations about what it means to become oneself. Needless to say, when I saw this video of DJ Pauly D as DJ Pauly D, I was speechless.
and…
because this is somehow oddly fascinating and YES because we are still watching
want more? here is a recent Snooki tumbl.
gallery of gifs
September 7, 2010 § 1 Comment
I hate that I don’t know what is coming next
August 19, 2010 § 4 Comments
repost from Are You My Other?
I hate it. How can this be? I have a masters degree. Maybe art was the wrong way to go. But now that I am here, now that I have been systematically trained to see the world as an artist would, where does that leave me? I feel like I am no longer capable of normalcy. Not that being normal is what I want.
I guess I also love not knowing what it is coming next.
xoxo
ME
