"Cosecha mecánica"
2020 / Germany / digital video / 3:08 / HD / 16:9 / single channel split screen / stereo
Non-playable latinx characters work in endless loops alongside propagandistic praise of cheap Mexican labor. Somewhere on a field a worker sings: "Lo que quiero es una máquina lechuguera" ("All I want is a salad harvesting machine")
„Cosecha mecánica“ ("Mechanical harvest") juxtaposes the 1950s US propaganda film „Why braceros?“, contemporary audio field-recordings and background characters of a video game– to visually explore how work is reshaped and its value redefined to suit our consumerist needs.
When one of the NPCs frees himself from the endless loop of field work, he finds himself on top of a hill, looking at a derailed freight train. All the while goods keep circulating in the world of US regulated exploitation.
„Cosecha mecánica“ appropriates propagandistic material and consumerist technology to form a visual counter-narrative.
Awards:
"Experimental award" at Watersprite Film Festival (UK)
"Represented" main award at Wild Out Video Festival (Taiwan)
nominated for the VideoDOX award of Underdox (Germany)
Exhibitions:
"KIRJASTO/LIBRARY" at Forum Box Gallery, Helsinki, Finland (as "STOOP LABOR")
Curated by Jonni Korhonen, Lin Chih Tung, Noora Lehtovuori & Ria Andrews
https://forumbox.fi/en/exhibition/kirjasto-library/
Screenings:
Milan Machinima Festival 2021, Università IULM Milan (Italy)
Ibrida Media Arts Festival (Italy)
23rd Equinoxio Film Festival Bogotá (Colombia)
LAN festival audiovisual obrero / working class festival (Spain)
Wild Out Video Festival (Taiwan)
Zlatý Voči / Golden Eyes Film Festival (Czech Republic)
Bizarrya (Protugal)
VideoDOX - Video Art Biennale (Germany)
Videotitlán (Peru & Mexico)
ULTRACinema (Mexico)
Digital Arts Festival Sofia (Bulgaria)
Alternative Film/Video (Serbia)
NodoCCS VII Festival Video (Venezuela & Spain)
Veracruz World Film Festival (Mexico)
La mida no importa (Spain)
17th Festival Transterritorial de Cine Underground (Argentina)
Watersprite Cambridge International Student Film Festival (United Kingdom)
Regensburg International Short Film Week (Germany)
Video Art Festival Turku (Finland)
Esto es para esto (Spain)
Festival Render (Peru)
Splice Film Fest New York (USA)
Lectures:
Featured in "Everyday Daylight -The Hyperreal Normality of Video Games", Interactive in-game lecture performance by Total Refusal and Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis, produced by La Gaîté Lyrique, Centre culturel suisse & Kunstraum Niederösterreich
23rd Equinoxio Film Festival Bogotá (Colombia)
LAN festival audiovisual obrero / working class festival (Spain)
Wild Out Video Festival (Taiwan)
Zlatý Voči / Golden Eyes Film Festival (Czech Republic)
Bizarrya (Protugal)
VideoDOX - Video Art Biennale (Germany)
Videotitlán (Peru & Mexico)
ULTRACinema (Mexico)
Digital Arts Festival Sofia (Bulgaria)
Alternative Film/Video (Serbia)
NodoCCS VII Festival Video (Venezuela & Spain)
Veracruz World Film Festival (Mexico)
La mida no importa (Spain)
17th Festival Transterritorial de Cine Underground (Argentina)
Watersprite Cambridge International Student Film Festival (United Kingdom)
Regensburg International Short Film Week (Germany)
Video Art Festival Turku (Finland)
Esto es para esto (Spain)
Festival Render (Peru)
Splice Film Fest New York (USA)
Lectures:
Featured in "Everyday Daylight -The Hyperreal Normality of Video Games", Interactive in-game lecture performance by Total Refusal and Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis, produced by La Gaîté Lyrique, Centre culturel suisse & Kunstraum Niederösterreich
Exhibition documentation KIRJASTO / LIBRARY at Forum Box Gallery Helsinki Finland
Photographies by Noora Lehtovuori
Photographies by Noora Lehtovuori
