Funk’d Up – Interactive Sculpture

In Funk’d Up, I have created a nostalgic trip down 1980s arcade culture through a custom built videogame cabinet. Accompanied by funk music as an audible invitation to interactivity, viewers are encouraged to select and insert their desired 8-track tape that’s pre-recorded with a sub-genre of funk. Guests control the video experience, harmonizing rhythms of the funk through a digital form of beat-boxing. Funk’d Up appeals to all: as those who grew up playing upright arcade games will remember the form while lovers of music will recognize the groove.

Subcultures, community identity and ethnic associations are at the root of Americana. Often cast aside and stereotyped, these subcultures provide a rich and undeniable presence in mainstream pop culture. Through the use of emerging technologies married with obsolete form, I regenerate an aesthetic experience of these subcultures. Every artwork I create embodies the style, look and feel of a bygone era, staying true to the aesthetics. From the reconfiguring of a 1940′ slide projector to 8-track tapes, I strive to be as true to the technology of the period as possible while incorporating new modes of technology to serve my New Media intentions.

I am a Chica-New Media artist, priding myself as a creator and an aficionado of the obsolete – using personal experience and cultural identity as a framework for my artistic expression.

Ricardo Cortez aka Tijuana Rick rcortez1967@gmail.com