A strange pick up truck that slices itself apart and hydraulically dances its own mechanical ballet has been sighted close to the 10 Freeway. Images of phallic creatures of the cosmic race drinking beer and in revolutionary outfits are done by abducted artisans in Tijuana. Thirty-nine people wear black Nike sneakers, crossing the gate to heaven in Rancho Santa Fe near San Diego. These and other extraordinary phenomena point to a vanguard deconstruction of modernism that asks the question: Can we consider Art the creation of aliens of exceptional ability?

Alien refers directly to notion of the other in Americawhere many consider folks south of the border as literally out of this world. A hybrid of Low Rider and Pop cultures, Ortiz's Alien Toy is a cruising multimedia installation that rides through different contexts. Merging the car and the media in a representation machine, Alien Toy drives home the chaos and dystopia in B-movies, television, and sci-fi the cultural detritus of the post industrial age. Also on view will be Ortiz's altered toy cars which inspired the collaboration with Muoz; a model of Ch Guevara's green Impala glimpsed in a Cuban Museum; drawings and sketches of Alien Toy and other projects; and old movie banners dealing directly with UFOs and aliens.

January 10 to February 20, 1998

7 x 9 inches, 1998

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