Previous / Next image () Thumbnails #trending is an exploration that consists of three books chronicling the relationship between American social media and major political events both at home and in Colombia. The books were made over the course of two months, starting on October 2, 2016 with the peace treaty plebiscite in Colombia. The initial concept began as a way to illustrate the disparities between American trending topics and major political events abroad; specifically in Colombia, a country close to me and one that often gets misrepresented in American media as a violent and unstable state. However, as the project evolved and we got closer to the American election date, I began to trace parallels between the events happening at home and abroad. The first book, #trending, is a 5x5in single stitched signature, images only. It shows the disparity between things that we consider to be important at home in the midst of major political events happening in Colombia. The second book (10x10in, text-only ,16 page loose-leaf), #ColombiaDecide, uses news articles and hashtags to illustrate the absurdity of the means we use to receive news about local and foreign events. The third book (8x9.75in, single signature, saddle stitched), Paz En Colombia/US Election, consists of side-by-side comparisons of important moments throughout the course of two major political events in the US and Colombia. Books made for DMA 154: Word + Image tabatha@yelos.org
