Poetic Operations: Trans of Color Art in Digital Media

Micha Cardenas uses algorithmic analysis to explore how trans and gender-non-conforming artists rewrite algorithms to counter violence and develop strategies for liberation. She focuses on how these artists use digital media, artwork, and poetry to articulate trans of color strategies for safety and survival.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 25 March 2022
Publisher: Duke University Press

Artist and theorist Micha Cárdenas delves into the realm of contemporary digital media, art, and poetry, exploring the intersection of trans of color strategies for safety and survival. Drawing upon decolonial theory, women of color feminism, media theory, and queer of color critique, Cárdenas develops a groundbreaking method known as algorithmic analysis. She perceives algorithms as intricate sets of instructions, akin to recipes, designed to accomplish specific tasks. Cárdenas dissects these algorithms into their constituent parts, known as operations, to gain a deeper understanding of their workings. By concentrating on these operations, Cárdenas uncovers how trans and gender-non-conforming artists, particularly artists of color, rewrite algorithms to challenge violence and cultivate strategies for liberation.

Through her meticulous examinations of Giuseppe Campuzano's holographic art, Esdras Parra's and Kai Cheng Thom's poetry, Mattie Brice's digital games, Janelle Monáe's music videos, and her own artistic practice, Cárdenas showcases the transformative power of algorithmic analysis. She reveals how this approach offers novel ways of comprehending the intricate dynamics of identity and oppression, as well as the complex intersections of gender, sexuality, and race. By delving into the intricacies of these artistic expressions, Cárdenas expands our understanding of the world and empowers individuals to rewrite the narratives that perpetuate harm and injustice.

Through her innovative approach, Micha Cárdenas emerges as a visionary artist and thinker, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and challenging us to reimagine the possibilities for trans of color survival and liberation in the digital age.

Weight: 476g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478015031