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Papapapa

Alex Rivera

1997 00:26:45 United StatesEnglishColorMono4:3Video

Description

An experimental video about immigration. Looking at the potato (which was first cultivated in Peru) Papapapá paints a picture of a vegetable that has traveled and been transformed—following the migrating potato North where it becomes the potato chip, the couch potato, and the french fry. Papapapá simultaneously follows another Peruvian in motion, the artist’s father, Augusto Rivera. The stories of the two immigrants, the potato and Papa Rivera, converge as Augusto becomes a Peruvian couch potato, sitting on an American sofa, eating potato chips and watching Spanish language television.

This title is also available on Betraying Amnesia: Latin America Video Portraiture and The New McLennium.

About Alex Rivera

While attending Hampshire College, Alex Rivera’s interests turned to media and politics, particularly the politics of race in the “information age.” His work, which incorporates digital animation, addresses contemporary political concerns with guts, personality, and humor. In addition to video, Rivera works in the media of web sites, t-shirts, cable TV ads, and comics. Rivera currently lives in New York but connects with friends living across the globe.