Alex Rivera comes to Rice University
Today Alex Rivera came to the Rice Media Center to discuss and present selections from his filmography, which all deal with the issues of immigration and borders. Most pertinent to my thesis was the ‘Border Trilogy’, 3 short films showing different aspects of the border issue. In the films the mobility of capital is contrasted with the immobility of people in a specific and personal way. This same idea is also framed as the idea of dead labor (already picked produce) versus living labor (potential agricultural workers). Border wall huggings, an invasion of shipping containers, and truck sized x-ray machines all make an appearance. Another rocking project is the ‘Low Drone’, which is a kind of pimped out low-rider spy drone. Both links are posted below.
We also saw the trailer for his new movie Sleep Dealer, which presents a kind of dystopian sci-fi universe where poor workers in Mexico remotely operate agricultural robots working on American farms. It is an image of the end game in the gradual progression towards the complete detachment of people from their labor. http://sleepdealer.com/
Check out the rest of his work here: http://www.alexrivera.com
