The New Children's Museum -- Animal Art -- Julio Morales


Julio Morales in collaboration with David Goldberg, Zebra Crossing, 2009.

Zebra Crossing
Why do zebras have stripes? Morales takes this simple question as the basis of an interactive sound and video installation that explores issues of global adaptation, cultural assimilation and the strategy of camouflage. He accomplishes this by comparing zebras in the wild to the “zonkeys” or “Tijuana Zebras"— donkeys painted to resemble zebras that serve as tourist photo-ops on the streets of Tijuana, Mexico. Visitors are invited to participate in Morales installation by answering a series of questions related to issues of identity, blending in, and standing out in contemporary society. Answers trigger a unique playback sequence that the visitor can then manipulate with a DJ/VJ mixer setup. The result is a customized graphic-based movie and audio soundtrack mix.

About Julio Morales
Bay Area artist Julio Morales works in a variety of disciplines including photography, interactive media, sound works, public art and video installation. Morales’ work explores issues of labor, memory, surveillance technologies, and identity strategies. Morales studied at the San Francisco Art Institute where he is currently a visiting faculty in the New Genres Department. He has exhibited extensively both in the US and internationally including solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; Peres Projects in Los Angeles; the Biennal of Graphic Arts in San Juan, Puerto Rico; ARCO in Madrid, Spain; and at Fototeca in Havana, Cuba. Morales received a Bay Area Award in Performance from New Langton Arts, as well as fellowships from The Rockefeller Foundation; The Fleishhacker Foundation; and The Creative Work Fund.

QUESTION & ANSWER
 Q: If you could become any type of animal, what would you be?  
A: Jaguar.

Q: Favorite food?
  A: Pasta.

Q: What do you do regularly to help save the environment?  
A: I recycle, reduce waste, and drive a small car.

Q: Favorite smells?
 A: Garlic and butter.

Q: Favorite sound? 
A: A Spanish guitar.

Q: What was your first pet?
  A: A cat named Poopy.

Q: What is an unusual fact about you?
A: I like to cook and play guitar. I can’t do a handstand, roll a penny off my nose, or separate my toes.

Q: Favorite game?  
A: The Tijuana version of hide-and-seek where everyone is a different character.

Q: What band or musician best represents you?
  A: David Bowie and Perez Prado who invented mambo and electronic music.

Q: Do you talk to animals?
 A: I talk to my cat Charlie.

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