The S Stands For
The S stands for stop asking me stupid fucking questions. - May, 2018
A moment of frustration.
Your body is an organic battery, energy coursing from the core of your being and through your flesh. Three paintings - a circle, an X, an O, both black on white with cords drooping down - hang in front of you with headphones beside. Headphones on, you reach out to the paintings, and as your fingers make contact, you close a loop. A deep, soothing voice is piped into your ears
A body is a mind
A mind is a body
You are a body, moving through space
You are a mind, moving through space
You are a collection of biological, digital decay
A reprogrammed paradox of pixels
S Rodriguez rejects the separation of physical and digital, utilizing the viewer’s body to complete circuits and activate the work. Through this installation, limiting the full experience to one viewer at a time, creates an intimate experience. What would otherwise be a one-sided conversation is reliant on your embrace of the work. Break the loop, and your time with the artist comes to an abrupt end. While other artists may present these sorts of dialogue freely, requesting only your time and patience, Rodriguez pulls you in close, whispering into your ear as you listen to them.
CAST YOURSELF AS A CATACLYSM. DESTROY PRE CONCEIVED NOTIONS OF POST INTERNET IDENTITIES. EXIST IN BETWEEN. EXIST OUTSIDE OF.
This aggressive affection is prevalent in their work. Rodriguez is a community-minded artist & advocate who through their own work & collaborative efforts. One such collaboration is Paraspace Books, a pop-up bookstore that Rodriguez founded alongside the thoughtful, intrepid Sara Balabanlilar promoting scifi & queer/POC-centric literary works. They are dedicated, not only through their work but their life, to ensuring that marginalized voices are heard and understood.
Rodriguez’s interest in the cross-sections of digital and physical extends beyond its natural conductivity. They look to an array of inspirations that share a common thread of body modification, both technological and biological.
More often than not, Rodriguez presents themself as aloof, self-deprecating or shifting compliments back to the person giving them. They speak humbly about their work, second-guessing its value. The artist, though, has a deep interest and investment in the Houston arts community.
