Border Blasters, TJ/SD Radio & Television Desintegrador de Fronteras

Exhibition dates in San Diego, Bonita Museum: July 12 – August 17, 2024
Reception: July 13, 5 – 8pm
Art Car painting w/ Renee Richetts, SDCounty Arts & Culture commissioner: July 13 12noon – 4pm

QUADRAs FRONTERAs performance: Sat. August 17 (5pm – 8pm)

Exhibition date in Tijuana, IMAC: August 22 – September 14, 2024
Reception: Thursday, August 22, 12noon

Curators: Diana Benavídez, Bill Perrine and Itza Vilaboy
Read: KPBS Museum Arts Brief article

Border Blasters is an exhibition and programming exploring the impact of TJ/SD radio/television/music in the region.  The exhibition, curated by Diana Benavídez, Bill Perrine and Itza Vilaboy, presents creatives utilizing sound and visuals to transcend the physical border. The exhibition includes installations by Baja and San Diego based artists. Many of us first experienced the border region through our radios and televisions. Border Blasters presents opportunities to explore the unique history and the impacts of the airwaves on people on both sides of the border.

Desintegrador de Fronteras: Exposición de Radio y Televisión es una exposición y programación que explora el impacto de la radio, televisión y música de TJ/SD en la región. La exposición, curada por Diana Benavídez, Bill Perrine, y Itza Vilaboy, presenta creativos que utilizan el sonido y las imágenes para trascender la frontera física. La exposición incluye instalaciones de artistas de Baja y San Diego. Muchos de nosotros encontramos por primera vez la región fronteriza por nuestros radios y televisiones. Desintegrador de Fronteras presenta oportunidades para explorar esta historia única y los impactos de las ondas del aire en las personas de ambos lados de la frontera.

Limited Edition Silkscreen “Border Blaster” posters by artist Aaron DeMuth available in the museum

 

Artists in the Exhibition:

Armando de la Torre, Elijah Rubottom, Diana Benavidez & India Thompson,
Grisel Marquez, Esther Gamez Rubio, Maricruz Alvarado, Sarah Attwood
Gerardo Yepiz. Electronic Disturbance Theater, Jason Soares, Hans Fjellestad,
Sam Lopez
UT Article 8/4/24

History of Bands featured:

The Zeros
Nortec and Trummerflora Collectives
Tijuana No! and the Venegas Family
The Penetrators
La Cruz
Borracho y Loco

Scene’s including:
Diamanda Galás
91X and Iguanas (venue)
Wolfman Jack
XETV 6
XETRA

This exhibition will have a catalog available.

Thank you to our partner: Tijuana Historical Archive (AHT), the Tijuana History Museum (MuHTi)

The Tijuana History Museum
IMAC / IMAC en espanol

Artist Esther Gamez Rubio and family

 

  Cross-border Nortec and Trummerflora histories featured in the exhibition

 

Videos:

• (9 minutes)Color Photography in Tijuana/San Diego/Long Beach in the early 1970’s about the early days of Color Photography in Tijuana with Jose Luis Venega Julia Edith y José Luis: Una Mirada Íntima con Fotografías de la Familia Venegas Percevault; Amantes de la Cultura y las Artes, fundada en 1966 en la Frontera Tijuana-San Diego.

Listen:

• KPBS Interview with curators: https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2024/07/11/san-diego-weekend-arts-events-border-blasters-chopin-and-so-much-visual-art
• KNSJ-FM 89.1 Cartas_ek_ STATIKAs: https://spinitron.com/KNSJ/pl/19232738/CARTAS-EK-STATICA
• Border Blasters collaborative Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6pkntNQtg518KRfjZKBNMU

Watch:

• Video short: QUADRAs FRONTERAs sound installation (band practice) https://youtube.com/shorts/-GcNY7IITg4?si=GSWHXcElKphq3Z8u
• Video: Broadcasting from the Museum, Electronic Disturbance Theater with member Brett Stalbaum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdt6OcITcI4

 

The Zeros:  Wikipedia: Punk rock band, formed in 1976 in Chula Vista, California. The band was originally composed of Javier Escovedo (younger brother of Alejandro Escovedo, older brother of Mario Escovedo of The Dragons) on vocals/guitar and Robert Lopez (later known as El Vez) on guitar, who were both attending Chula Vista High School; Hector Penalosa, (bass), and Baba Chenelle, (drums), who attended Sweetwater High School. 

Tijuana No!:  Cross border roots in late 80’s ska and punk. from Tijuana, Baja California, México.  The band included the unique vocals of Julieta Venegas, who started a solo career after the band.  From Wikipedia: In the beginning, their name was Radio Chantaje (Blackmail Radio), and later they became No, but upon the knowledge of another band called the same, they changed their name to No de Tijuana (Not From Tijuana), to later just shorten it to Tijuana No!. They were characterized by the social criticism in their lyrics, where they also showed their support to the EZLN, and referred to their songs to racial, cultural, international, and governmental problems, like the immigration policies in the United States. In 1991 they recorded their first album under an independent label, and one year later (1992) they released the same album (with some design changes) under Culebra Records (BMG), who gave them international recognition promoting the single Pobre de Ti (Poor You)

 

Nortec Collective:  Wikipedia: The Collective was a musical ensemble formed by various individual one- or two-man production projects. The group came together in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Their genre mixes electronic music with musical elements and instrumentation of tambora and norteño music, resulting in the nortec (“norteño” + “techno”) style. The various projects began producing and performing nortec music around 1999. In 2001, they were signed to a recording contract with Palm Pictures, and released their first album, Tijuana Session Volume 1, under the name Nortec Collective. The line-up for that album included Bostich, Clorofila, Fussible, Hiperboreal, Panoptica, Plankton Man and Terrestre. The latter two would leave Nortec Collective in 2002.

Diamanda Galás: https://diamandagalas.com/

 

©© | Cog•nate Collective “California Mia” mix: https://soundcloud.com/cognate/california-mia-mix?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharingAbout the collective: Somos un colectivo de arte binacional analizando e intentando transformar el tipo de intercambio social, cultural y económico que ocurre a través de la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México por medio de la cultura popular.  We are a binational art collective analyzing and seeking to transform the types of social, cultural and economic exchanges that occur across the U.S.-Mexico border through popular culture.

This exhibition will have a catalog available.  Thank you to everyone who has shared their personal stories for this exhibition

Support from San Diego County Board of Supervisors, District 1