Francisco-Fernando Granados

2011-11-14T08:21:00.001-08:00

encounter. assisted readymade, screen grab video animation. 1:40 minutes. 2010. 
exhibited as part of Convergences: 11 Stories of Migration in International Video Works at  Kulturhuset Stockholm, Sweden. Curated by Lara Szabo Greisman.

The workdocuments a conversation between the artist and a stranger in the randomizedwebcam site Chatroulette on July 14, 2010. Upon first seeing him appear on thescreen, the stranger performs a racializing/criminalizing hailing that marksthe artist’s body as both ‘faggot’ and ‘terrorist’. In the brief encounter thanensues, the artist resists these markings by mirroring the stranger’s question,and refusing to either confirm or deny his assumptions. The conversation endswhen the artist asks the stranger to identify himself.

The artist’srefusal to confirm and embody the ‘faggot terrorist’ aims to de-stabilize thestranger’s assumptions, ultimately reversing the game of naming and applying itto the stranger. As the frames progress, the reading of the work pivots betweenallegory and documentary: the work operates to visualize perceptions andattitudes towards racialized migrants in the Euro-American imaginary, but alsoserves as an account of an incident of everyday racism and homophobia.

2011-03-14T17:55:00.001-07:00

sketch for a withdrawal study (for Manolo Lugo). digital image. 2011.

2011-03-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

sketch for a withdrawal study. digital image. 2011.

I take a series of flash photographs of a chosen subject. the subject is first surprised, then consciously poses for the camera. eventually, his interest fades and he focuses on his iPhone. he eventually withdraws from the frame.

2011-01-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

untitled (I have only ever been a lover in English), from the Contact Studies series.

20 minutes

performed as part of 'Revisiting Ephemera' at the ArtLab Gallery in the University of Western Ontario, January 10, 2011.

I press my tongue against the wall.

I salivate.

I move slowly across the space.

My tongue draws a line.

2010-12-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

untitled (I have only ever been a lover in English), from the Contact Studies series.

90 minutes

performed as part of Performance as Encounter at Toronto Free Gallery during the 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art, October 22, 2010.

I press my tongue against the wall.

I salivate.

I move slowly across the space.

My tongue draws a line.

blog by Nathalie Loveless: http://7a11d.blogspot.com/2010/10/performance-as-encounter-toronto-free.html

photographs courtesy of Henry Chan and 7a*11d International Performance Art Festival.

2010-07-06T00:28:00.000-07:00

untitled, from the Contact Studies series.
1 hour per study, 3 studies
performed as part of Everything Everyday at the Vancouver Art Gallery, October 12, 2010.

play rock en español from inside a pocket.

take off shoes and socks.

lubricate the area of contact.

lean into the wall.

parallel forehead, nose, cheekbones and jawbone to the angles of the space.

grease, sweat and heat from transfer on to the wall.

torso and legs form a triangular negative shape.

photographs by Rachel Topham, courtesy of Vanessa Kwan at Vancouver Art Gallery Public Programs.

2010-05-07T17:06:00.001-07:00

restauration. Site-specific performance/installation. 6 hours. 2010.

Materials:

- used janitorial cart
- gold leaf
- matte acrylic medium
- brush
- small portable stereo
- CDs with music selected by people in my life who do/have done janitorial work

Location:

A 6'x5x'6' area under the stairs located at the Concourse Gallery at Emily Carr University

Action/Object:

I set up the janitorial cart and the materials in the area under the stairs.

I restore the janitorial cart by applying gold leaf to its surface.

While the restoration is being performed, I listen to a compilation of songs selected for me by people in my life who do or have done janitorial work.

When people speak to me, I understand English, but I only respond to them in Spanish.

Intervention: Pablo Muñoz, artist and poet, asks me if he can recite one of his pieces while standing on the cart. I agree. He recites a critical, politicized poem about Latino refugee experience. I continue to gild. Jorge Salazar, community development worker, holds the cart in place.

Once the performance is over, the cart remains under the stairs.

Performed as part of the Emily Carr Undergraduate Exhibition 2010.

Photographs by Roya Akbari and Javier Granados. Video by Pirouz Nemati.

2010-04-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

untitled (after Fito Olivares' 'Juana La Cubana'), from the Movement Studies series. 3 minute performance. 2010.

I play the song on a boom box. I take off my socks. I stuff one down my pants and the other one in my mouth. I move my mouth to the rhythm of the music.

Photograph by Heidi Nagtegaal.

2010-04-30T01:18:00.000-07:00

untitled (spatial profiling), from the Contact Studies series. Drawing installation. 2010.

my face touches the wall.
I repeatedly outline my profile using a red marker as I move through space.
an abstract pattern results.

Inspired by Margaret Dragu's 'Eine Kleine Nacht Radio,' 1999.

Photographs by Catherine Dong and Heidi Nagtegaal.

2010-04-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

untitled, from the Contact Studies Series, performance for video, 7 minutes 46 seconds, 2010.

2010-04-27T13:34:00.001-07:00

untitled, from the Contact Studies Series, performance, 2010.

I apply lipstick to my beard and moustache. I ask randomly selected people around me for a kiss. The transfer of pigment records the contact between us.

Performed during ‘Prance,’ an alternative queer community event at Gallery Gachet, Vancouver. Inspired by Margaret Dragu's 'Eine Kleine Nacht Radio,' 1999.

Photograph features artist Heidi Naagtegal and was taken by a kind stranger at the party.

2010-04-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

untitled, from the Contact Studies series, books, 6’x 7’x 8’, 2010.

2010-04-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

untitled, from the Contact Studies series, ink and water on paper, 16’ x 12’, 2010.

untitled, from the Contact Studies series, ink and water on paper, 16’ x 12’, 2010.

2010-04-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

untitled (Granville Island), from the Stillness Studies series, performance - 3 hours per session/4 sessions, 2010.

Performed during the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. I stand at the entrance of Emily Carr University, close enough to the door so that people have to negotiate their relationship to me as they enter or exit the space, but not so close so that I block anybody's movement. People choose how to respond to my body. I choose how to respond to them.

Performed as part of the show "CODE.LIVE," in collaboration with code.lab, a project by M. Simon Levin and Jer Thorpe.

Photographs by Sandeep Johal and code.lab volunteers.

Click here to read more about the project

2010-02-26T01:04:00.000-08:00

with glowing hearts (Toronto), performance, 2009.

I paint a medal-like shape on my clothing using gold spray-paint, forming a brief toxic cloud.

Photograph by Tara McMullen.

2010-02-24T16:25:00.000-08:00

with glowing hearts (Vancouver), performance, 2008.

I paint a medal-like shape on my clothing using gold spray-paint, forming a brief toxic cloud.

Public intervention.

Photograph by Anna Harvey.

2010-02-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

the window under the table, performance/installation, 2009.

I use my nose and my breath to write a message on a gold-leafed surface approximately the size of tombstone.

Performed as part of the show ‘My Mother Worked in a Factory’ at The Brow Gallery, Emily Carr University, Vancouver.

Photograph and video by Nathalie Lozano.

2010-02-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

settlement, gold leaf and maple syrup on concrete, dimensions variable, 2008.

cross #1, ready-made broom and gold leaf on stairway, dimensions variable, 2008.

cross #2, ready-made broom and gold leaf on stairway, dimensions variable, 2008.

untitled (after El sueño de la Malinche by Antonio Ruiz), in collaboration with Javier Granados, performance, 2009.

A young Latin American man sleeps on a gilt pillow. Private intervention.

2010-02-23T16:05:00.000-08:00

The Dedication, video, 4 minutes, 2008.

... it seems crucial to recognize, not only that the anguish and the opacity of the "I" is witnessed by the other, but that the other can become the name for one's anguish and opacity

-- Judith Butler, Giving an Account of Oneself

2010-02-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

purifagia, performance, 2008.

I fellate a bar of soap until my mouth is full of foam. I wash my hands using the foam.

Performed as part of “Pressure to Perform” at VIVO Media Arts Centre, Vancouver.

Photographs by Jackie Amsden.

2010-02-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

Impossible Desire, performance, 2007.

I consume a bridal bouquet wearing a tuxedo in a popular destination where (mostly heterosexual) couples get their wedding pictures taken.

Performed as part of “Public Displays of Affection” for the 2007 LIVE Performance Art Biennial, Vancouver.

Photograph by Ikbal Singh. Video courtesy of the LIVE Performance Art Biennale.

2010-02-23T15:30:00.000-08:00

Exile, performance, 2007.

I cut off my clothes. I put on winter clothing accessories while semi-nude. I suck on my arms until they are marked. I cover the marks with make-up.

Performed as part of “body” at the Concourse Gallery, Emily Carr University, Vanocuver.

Photograph by Ikbal Singh.