🎙️ PARA/normal Borders Podcast with Ed Gomez and Ricardo Dominguez 🎙️
Ricardo Dominguez is a founding member of Critical Art Ensemble and Electronic Disturbance Theater, two collectives that helped define the landscape of digital civil disobedience that emerged in the 1990s. In this episode, Ricardo traces the origins of his practice to a formative moment in early childhood: the instant he poured warm milk onto his beloved RCA television and watched it explode. This gesture inspired Ricardo’s artistic practice, one which is committed to the destruction of repressive technologies and the formation of digital solidarity networks.
Raised in Las Vegas amid the dazzling lights of the Strip and the spectral glow of nuclear radiation, Ricardo quickly identified the systems of surveillance, stimulation, and subjugation that shape our world. After a car breakdown stranded him in Tallahassee, he co-founded Critical Art Ensemble and began experimenting with ways to resist virtual capitalism. This work would eventually culminate in the framework for Electronic Civil Disobedience. The Zapatista uprising of 1994, intersecting with the rise of internet browsers, transformed his collective’s clandestine tactics into a more public, poetic practice of digital resistance. Ricardo is a professor of Visual Arts at University of California, San Diego.
Together, Ed and Ricardo explore how digital networks open portals across borders, creating opportunities for collective action that disrupt the systems of domination that loom like ghostly specters in our lives.
See more from Ricardo!
https://ricardodominguez.net
Instagram: @ricardodominguez6503 / https://www.instagram.com/ricardodominguez6503/?hl=en
The PARA/normal Borders Podcast is made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. Additional supportmade possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org.
Photo Credits and Image Sources:
[6:18] Las Vegas Fremont St. postcard, circa 1972. Courtesy of Las Vegas Historical Society. Image credit unknown photographer.
[6:32] Still of Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), set in Las Vegas. Courtesy of EON Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Image credit 007.com.
[7:25] Spectators watching a nuclear bomb test at the Nevada Test Site in 1962. Courtesy Atomic Heritage Foundation / National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Image credit unknown photographer, via ahf.nuclearmuseum.org
[9:17] Cover of Learning from Las Vegas (1972,) by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour. Courtesy of Harper’s Books. Image credit MIT Press.
[12:12] Photograph of Teatro Campesino performance. Courtesy of American Theatre Magazine. Image credit El Teatro Campesino archive (unknown photographer).
[12:56] Film poster for Vanishing Point (1971). Courtesy of 20th Century Fox. / Film poster for Dirty Harry (1971). Courtesy of Warner Bros. Image credit Bill Gold.
[13:48] Interior of Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, FL. Courtesy of Asolo Repertory Theatre. Image credit: unknown photographer, via asolorep.org.
[14:10] Promotional poster for the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. Courtesy of the Circus Encyclopedia. Image credit Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College.
[15:17] Critical Art Ensemble in 1987, including Ricardo Dominguez (second from right). Courtesy of Rhizome.org. Image credit Critical Art Ensemble archive.
[15:35] Still from TRON (1982), featuring Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan. Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
[18:47] Portrait of nanotechnologist and author K. Eric Drexler in 1996. Courtesy of Science Photo Library. Image credit Peter Menzel.
[21:09] Original promotional poster for The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973). Courtesy of Suns Cinema. Image credit United Artists.
[23:38] Homepage for thing.net, a pioneering net.art platform founded by artist Wolfgang Staehle in 1991. Courtesy of thing.net.
[25:46] Screenshot of the NCSA Mosaic web browser for Windows, circa 1993. Courtesy of Wired. Image credit National Center for Supercomputing Applications / University of Illinois.
[26:48] Embroidered Zapatista textile artwork stating: “Saludamos a todas las mujeres de México y el mundo” (“We salute all the women of Mexico and the world”). Courtesy of The Guardian (CPA Australia). Image credit unknown photographer.
[27:10] “The Voice of the Rebels Has Mexicans in His Spell,” by Julia Preston, published in The New York Times, February 8, 1994. Courtesy of The New York Times. Image credit José Luis Magaña.
[27:55] Photograph of EZLN militants during the January 1994 occupation of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, from article “Happy 20th Birthday, Zapatistas” by Daniel Hernandez, published in VICE, January 10, 2014. Courtesy of VICE. Image credit Antonio Turok.
[29:05] Sandy Stone’s ACTLab. https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/1998-05-15/523487/
[30:36] Illustration featuring Don Durito from The Story of the Little Metal Top (La Historia del Topito Metálico), by Subcomandante Marcos, published in 1995. Courtesy of Chiapas95 Archive / Prof. Harry Cleaver, UT Austin.
* Visual portion of the recording from this point is reconstructed using AI technology due to camera malfunction. Many of the visual resources beginning now are also AI generated, to continue thematic experimentation. Ricardo Dominguez is shown is black and white to differentiate the change.
[35:26] Manufacturing Consent by Chomsky
[35:57] Richard Nixon speaking with U.S. soldiers at 1st Infantry Division’s Di An base camp in South Vietnam on July 30, 1969. Courtesy of Stars and Stripes. Image credit Jim Clare.
[36:10] Rush Limbaugh in his radio studio on Jan. 12, 1965. Courtesy of Corbis via Getty Images. Image credit Mark Peterson.
[37:26] Still from Independence Day (1996) in which aliens destroy the White House. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox. Image credit 20th Century Fox.
[38:45] Max Ernst, The Triumph of Surrealism, 1937. Courtesy of The Menil Collection, Houston / © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
[38:49] Fortunato Depero, Skyscrapers and Tunnels (New York), 1930. Courtesy of Archivio Depero / MART, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto.
[40:58] “Paranormal entities, phantasmas, chupacabras, and aliens that move through borders,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[41:54] Casa la linea arte contemporáneo in Calexico, CA. Courtesy of MexiCali Biennial.
[42:04 ] “The U.S./Mexico border as a concrete space and an ectoplasmic space,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[43:26] “The U.S. – Mexico Border as a PARAunNormal Space with violence and epidermal logic of the border,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[44:40] – Satellite image of Delicias, Chihuahua. Courtesy of México Desconocido. Image credit Google Earth.
[45:23] “A ghostly figure in a bed under the covers,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[45:48] – Portrait of Pancho Villa on horse. Courtesy of Library of Congress. Image credit Bain News Service.
[46:12] “Ghosts guarding treasure during the Mexican Revolution,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[46:27] “Digging for gold during the Mexican Revolution while ghosts look on,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[46:53] “A witch in a mine with oncoming lights,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[47:17] “Brewjas’ ghosts guarding treasure,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[48:58] “An old woman sits in front of a mirror brushing hair. A ghost looks through the mirror.,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[50:25] “The Winchester House and Stanford University built for ghosts,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.[50:48] “Ghosts speaking to Sarah Winchester about building a house,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.[50:40] 1880s portrait of Leland Stanford with his wife, Jane, and their son, Leland Jr., who died of typhoid at age 15. Courtesy of Stanford University Archives.
[51:14] Exterior of Stanford Memorial Church. Courtesy of Library of Congress. Image credit Carol M. Highsmith.
[51:28] – Psychical researcher Harry Price’s ghost-hunting kit in 1936. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
[51:55] The only known portrait of Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune and the architect of the Winchester Mystery House. Courtesy of Bettmann Archive via Getty Images.
[52:57] “Undead bound to San Diego – Tijuana Border,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[53:09] – Film poster for Paranormal Activity (2007). Courtesy of Paramount Pictures / Blumhouse Productions.
[53:15] “Haunted demon land of property ownership,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[53:56] “Border demon tunneling to East LA,” Ai generated image by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[54:13] – Still featuring the witch from Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014). Courtesy of Paramount Pictures / Blumhouse Productions.
[54:26] ”Underground tunnels for demons of property,” Ai generated image by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[54:52] – Still from T.V. series Fear the Walking Dead set in Tijuana. Courtesy of AMC.
[55:11] – Promotional still from T.V. series S.O.Z.: Soldados o Zombies. Courtesy of Amazon Studios.
[55:19] “Narcos vs. Military Zombies” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[55:30] – Film poster for Savageland (2015). Courtesy of The Massive Film Company.
[55:43] “Undocumented man in border town taking pictures of zombies,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
[56:08] “Man standing in town taking images of zombies with dead around him,” image generated by OpenAI’s Chat GTP-5, August 23, 2025.
Selected resources and recommended reading for further research:
“Zapatismo in Cyberspace: an interview with Ricardo Dominguez” (2016) by Ash Eliza Smith for Rhizome
“Transborder Immigrant Tool,” Rhizome Net Art Anthology — a GPS-enabled poetic tool developed by EDT 2.0/b.a.n.g. lab to aid border crossers and challenge digital borders.
Learning from Las Vegas (1972) by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour
Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson
Civil Disobedience (1849) by Henry David Thoreau
“Coding Resistance: Digital Strategies of Civil Disobedience” (2021) by Theresa Züger for The Cambridge Companion to Civil Disobedience (edited by William E. Scheuerman)
Engines of Creation (1986) by K. Eric Drexler
The Mudd Club (2017) by Richard Boch
“Mosaic Launches an Internet Revolution” (2004) by the National Science Foundation
“Declarations of the Lacandon Jungle” (1994–2005) by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)
“Lento, Pero Avanzo: Indigenous Mayan Influence in Zapatista Speech & Imagery” (2016) by Taylor R. Genovese (unpublished manuscript, Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University)
“The Voice of the Rebels Has Mexicans in His Spell” (1994) by Julia Preston for The New York Times
“Digital Zapatistas” (2003) by Jill Lane for TDR: The Drama Review
“The Cyberspace ‘War of Ink and Internet’ in Chiapas, Mexico” (1997) by Oliver Froehling for Geographical Review
“Happy 20th Birthday, Zapatistas!” (2014) by Daniel Hernandez for VICE
Conversations with Durito: Stories of the Zapatistas and Neoliberalism (c. mid-1990s) by Subcomandante Marcos — complete PDF available via Schools for Chiapas
“No Stone Untenured: ACTLab Director and Visionary Sandy Stone” (1998) by Jon Lebkowsky for The Austin Chronicle
“A Propaganda Model” (1988) by Edward Herman & Noam Chomsky — excerpted from Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (PDF/web excerpt)
“Project for the New American Century” (2002–2022) — archived entry in the U.S. Library of Congress Web Archives
“Dick Cheney vs. Reality” (2007) by Daniel Schulman for Mother Jones
“Mrs. Stanford and the Netherworld” (2000) by Theresa Johnston for Stanford Magazine
“Everything You Think You Know About the Winchester Mystery House Probably Isn’t True” (2018) by Katie Dowd for SFGate“Ghosts of Landed Gentry, But Never the Ghosts of Serfs” (2022) by Matthew Wills for JSTOR Daily