My own group explored the work of Micha Cárdenas, Redshift and Portalmetal. At first when working through the interactive story my group saw the service level meaning. It was only when John and I began to research outside that we realized there was a whole new meaning. In part of the work website there is a lot of emphasis on main character Roja taking her hormones and packing her hormones when she decides to flee. I always knew the hormones had some sort of meaning but I didn’t really know what yet. But the epiphany we had sitting in the library was catastrophic. Micha Cárdenas is a transgender who is a big advocator of trans women of color. On Redshift and Portalmetal the LGBT community is mentioned along with a Native American Indian group. Roja is a transgender who has to take hormone pills. Without knowing the background of the author and who the project is dedicated to a reader wouldn’t necessarily know why Roja is taking hormone pills.
This puts a lot more meaning on Redshift and Portalmetal, Cárdenas is putting a large meaning on these people, and how they are being moved around and not being accepted. Something that is really interesting to think about since we are in the 21st century. Cárdenas also puts meaning on Roja’s name, it is Spanish for red. And relating that to Redskin, a name Native American Indians are called sometimes. This is also very prevalent to what is going on with the NFL team Washington Redskins who have been asked to change their name. Cárdenas’s last name is of Spanish heritage, so the meaning of the names and representation the author decides has a lot of meaning and a strong message. It was a very different way to learn and comprehend a heavy topic, that Cárdenas shows and explains extremely well using technology to communicate that.
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