Rasquachismo

Rasquachismo (also known as rascuachismo or rasquache/rascuache style) is a theory developed by Chicano scholar Tomás Ybarra-Frausto to describe "a perspective of the oppressed, a view from los de abajo" in working class Chicano communities that uses elements of "hybridization, juxtaposition and integration" as a means of empowerment and resistance.^[1][2][3] Rasquachismo is commonly used to describe the aesthetics present in working class Chicano art and Mexican art movements that "make the most from the least."^[4] It has been described as a worldview, the "view of the oppressed, which combines inventiveness with a survivalist attitude."^[5][6] Artists often represent experiences of their own life in the "barrio" or the experiences of being Mexican and Chicano. This art movement has also been defined by artists and scholar Amalia Mesa-Bains "as a survivalist irreverence ('based on sustaining elements of Mexican tradition and lived encounters in a hostile environment') that functioned as a vehicle of cultural continuity."

A rasquache-style ornamented car, Mission District, San Francisco

Rasquachismo is rooted in the older term rasquache, which is the English form of the Spanish term rascuache,^[7] of Nahuatl origin.^[8] While the term was widely used as a classist slur, it has been reclaimed to highlight the creativity and uniqueness in Chicano and Mexican working-class communities.^[2][8] Beyond being simply frugal, the rasquache philosophy also involves inventing new uses for conventional objects. This may mean giving a new function to something that would conventionally be considered broken or otherwise 'useless.'^[5]

Term

Rasquachismo is rooted in the term rasquache, which is the English form of the Spanish term rascuache,^[7] of Nahuatl origin.^[8] The Spanish term is used in Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras and has negative connotations, since it is used to describe anything lower class or impoverished.^[8] In this context, rasquache is used to mean "ghetto." Behaviors such as reusing plastic utensils and zip lock bags could be described as "rasquache" in a negative way by people of upper classes.^[5] Ybarra-Frausto coined the term rasquachismo in 1989.^[3]

Development

The Chicano movement began to develop in the 1960s, focusing primarily on the struggles and identity of Mexican-Americans.^[9] This allowed Chicano art to also begin in the 1960s, when artists used different media to highlight the social and cultural aspects of being Mexican-American. This movement became a form of resistance for Chicanos to represent themselves in a political and social climate that directly attacked Latinos.^[10]

According to Ybarra-Frausto, rasquachismo codifies all Chicano cultural production, including theater, literature and plastic arts. The scholar notes that although Mexican vernacular rasquache traditions influence Chicano art, the rasquachismo that has evolved in the United States presents a "bicultural sensibility."^[10] The central themes of Chicano art include identity, religion, immigration, racism and classism. Chicano art tends to be political as it can critique the American government and society, functioning as a form of protest where vibrant colors are combined with the attitude and elements of rasquachismo.^[11]

Artistic context

In the artistic context, the term is used to describe art that overcomes material and professional limitations faced by artists. Rasquache art uses the most basic, simple, quick, and crude means necessary to create the desired expression, in essence, creating the most from the least. The term can also be used to reference the bicultural inspiration from which these artists draw inspiration.^[4]

Amalia Mesa-Bains, artist and writer, writes that "In rasquachismo, the irreverent and spontaneous are employed to make the most from the least... one has a stance that is both defiant and inventive. Aesthetic expression comes from discards, fragments, even recycled everyday materials... The capacity to hold life together with bits of string, old coffee cans, and broken mirrors in a dazzling gesture of aesthetic bravado is at the heart of rasquachismo."^[4] When employed by female artists, she calls it Domesticana, but cautions that these terms should not be understood as applying to all Chicano artists.^[12] Making the most with the least is a statement of irreverence and is both "defiant and inventive."^[5]

Parameters of "Rasquachismo"

There has been questioning of whether this art form can be considered fine art due to its use of unconventional materials and how the art movement has been recorded.^[13] According to contemporary academic analysis, rasquachismo as an artistic sensibility is characterized by its "perspective of the oppressed" that arises from basic necessity and is based on ingenuity and resistance.^[11]

The main parameter to be included as part of this art movement through the repurposing of certain objects as the movement stemmed from resourcefulness as a response to the lived reality among poor and working-class Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.^[14] Artists employ different media from serigraphs, paintings, ofrendas, or objects found within Latino households. This art form primarily focuses on the experiences of those who are working class, lower income and identify as Mexican or Chicano.

The blending of different media and the repurposing of objects allows the art form to be accessible, crossing boundaries between repurposing art and fine arts. Artists can adopt an assemblage aesthetic and found objects, demonstrating creative reuse, while others possess an ethic of defiance and non-conformity.^[11] Rasquachismo was not created to oppose the standard of fine art, but as a result of communities seeking to create art based on their ingenuity, experiences and creativity. Reusing objects found within a Latino household adds to the aesthetics^[15] of rasquachismo.

Artists

Ester Hernández

Ester Hernández, born in the San Joaquin Valley in California, is known for her print work and serigraphs within the Chicano art movement.^[16] A Chicana artist of Yaqui and Mexican heritage, she comes from a family of farm workers and was a pioneer activist of the Chicano Arts Movement since the 1960s.^[17] Her art centers on Indigenous and Latina women, employing political iconographies to address themes of social justice, civil rights and the farm workers movement.

Her most recognized work is Sun Mad (1982), a serigraph that critiques American agribusiness by transforming the iconic Sun Maid Raisins image into a skeleton, to highlight the toxic effects of pesticides on farm workers and the environment.^[18][19] The work was later reworked as a multidimensional installation at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, incorporating rasquache elements such as an ofrenda with objects associated with farm workers. This piece exemplifies how rasquachismo can be multifaceted in its political message while centering Chicano identity.

Amalia Mesa-Bains

Amalia Mesa-Bains, born in Santa Clara, California, is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and author known for coining the term "domesticana".^[15] MacArthur Fellowship recipient in 1993, she specializes in installations that explore gender dynamics within Chicana culture.^[20]

Her essay "Domesticana: The Sensibility of Chicana Rasquache" (1995) theorizes domesticana as an "aesthetic modality that testifies to the artistic counter-narratives of the domestic vernacular" of Chicana women.^[21] Her installations repurpose Mexican household objects, transforming home altar practices into contemporary works.^[20] In her work Cihuateotl with Mirror in Private Landscapes and Public Territories (1997), the sculpture combines mixed media including LED lighting, candles, crushed glass and blown glass.

Quotes on Rasquachismo

According to Chicana/o art scholar Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, rasquachismo should be considered first as an attitude and a sensibility, and secondarily as a set of formal art qualities...

— Josh T. Franco, Latino collections specialist for the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art^[6]

See also

• Self Help Graphics & Art
• DIY ethic
• Repurposing
• Border art