April 10, 1998
Contact: Carmen Ramos Chandler,
(818) 677-2130
cchandler@exec.csun.edu
"The Mex Files," written by POCHO Magazine creators Lalo Lopez and Esteban Zul, satirizes the position of today's Chicano in mainstream America. The show begins at 8 p.m.
The production is a multimedia, "poli-sci-fi mextravaganza" featuring live comedy sketches, videos, animation and a live feed from the "Chicano Rover."
"The Mex Files" chronicles what happens when a couch potato's television viewing is interrupted by the broadcast of a live press conference from the fictitious National Pochismo Institute where alarmed researchers try to alert the world about the impending extinction of the Chicano and his culture.
Lopez is a Los Angeles-based writer, visual artist and performer. Zul is an Oakland-based writer, recording artist, visual artist and performer. They created POCHO Magazine in the early 1990s.
"Pocho" is a pejorative term by Mexican nationals to identify Mexican-Americans who have grown up in the United States. Lopez and Zul have taken the term and turned it into political satire.
"Part of the POCHO aesthetic is not only the use of political satire but the manner in which it is used," the pair claim.
"One primary example of the POCHO aesthetic is appropriation," they said. "POCHO swipes pop culture icons and symbolism, effectively warping them for use in the alternate POCHO universe, converting the message into one that speaks to the Chicano of today."
Tickets for "The Mex Files" are $10 general admission, $8 faculty and seniors, $5 for students. They are available at the University Student Union ticket office, (818) 677-3093, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. General admission tickets are also available at all Ticket Master outlets.
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