San Diego | Artbound

San Diego

Like much of Southern California, San Diego County embodies the social, political and artistic extremes of the region. San Diego is a military area, a border town, a retirement community, an occupied territory and a vacation destination all in one. These sub-cultures produce and provide distinct ecosytems for the area’s residents, generating narratives that often contradict and collide with each other. The art community has responded to these contradictions for generations, ignoring them in some case as an act of political defiance, and in others, embracing them in their totality. The area’s physical and imaginary line has become a laboratory for experimentation as artists explore the militarized territory of the border.

San Diego + Cultural Politics

Tracing the U.S. / Mexico Border Wall

Artists, art historians, and students gathered to draw the most southwestern edge of the U.S./Mexico border as part of a continued investigation by Incendiary Traces.

San Diego + Visual Arts

The Journey to Border Monument Number 140

David Taylor set out to photograph each of the 276 obelisks installed by the International Boundary Commission following the Mexican/American War.

San Diego + Cultural Politics

A Brief History of Border Walls

Incendiary Traces lists historical and contemporary border walls to provide some global and historical context for understanding Southern California's contested US/Mexico border.

San Diego + Multi-Disciplinary

From the Center of the Margin: Contemporary Art Galleries in Downtown Tijuana

by Misael Diaz

May 20, 2013 1:00 PM

After violence desolated the city center of Tijuana starting in 2007, artists and musicians began to reimagine the function of this area, known as "El Centro" -- the historic tourist district that stretches about 10 blocks along Avenida Revolucion -- by opening small independent, largely self-funded art galleries and spaces.

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Los Angeles + Music

Tidal Waves and Quiet: The Heavy Dynamics of Sleep Lady

by Drew Tewksbury

May 16, 2013 1:00 AM

Sleep Lady guitarist Michael Hayden exlains how the musical environment of San Diego cultivates his band and why instrumental can often say more than music with words.

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San Diego + Film/Media Arts

From Mexican to American: Louis Hock's Decades of Documenting Immigrant Life

by Misael Diaz

May 8, 2013 1:00 AM

Louis Hock documented the experiences of his Los Analos neighbors, undocumented Mexican working class immigrant families, by filming the day-to-day lives of four families.

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San Diego + Music

Sonidero Travesura: The Baja Roar of a Digital Tiger

by Misael Diaz

April 22, 2013 1:00 AM

Tijuana-based group Sonidero Travesura fuse cumbia, krautrock, and synth-pop to create their unique, ever-transforming sound.

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San Diego + Visual Arts

Body of Work: David Adey's Ambitous Experiments

by Kinsee Morlan

April 11, 2013 1:00 AM

David Adey is the type of artist whose complex ideas and concepts are often too time-consuming or expensive for him to actually bring to life -- but for his big solo show next year, Adey is going bigger and more complex than he's ever gone before.

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