Tiempo, a 2D and 3D animation by Federico Cuatlacuatl was shown as a single channel video, along with two other pieces by the artist, at Currents New Media 2019.
Tiempo from federico cuatlacuatl on Vimeo.
Single Channel 9 minute looping video: “Tiempo” is a video and animation that used various techniques and methods in the production stages: live action footage, 3D animation, and 2D animation. This project explores the perception of time from an immigrant’s experience and perspective. The visualization of the past, present, and future becomes a poetic approach through the scope of personification: the past misses me and begs me not to abandon it or forget it while the present needs me next to it at all times, and the future has always been desperately awaiting for my arrival.
Born in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, Federico Cuatlacuatl is an indigenous artist based in Virginia. He grew up in Indiana and received his MFA in 2015, specializing in Digital Arts from Bowling Green State University. Federico’s work is invested in disseminating topics of Latinx immigration, social art practice, and cultural sustainability. Building from his own experience growing up as an undocumented immigrant and previously holding DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), Federico’s research is primarily concerned with pressing realities in current social, political, and cultural issues that Latinx undocumented immigrants face in the U.S. Federico’s independent productions have been screened in various national and international film festivals. As founder and director of the Rasquache Artist Residency in Puebla, Mexico, he actively stays involved in socially engaged works and binational endeavors.
