Entrevista del Gianca por el SD Union Tribune

STREET PEOPLE: Don't call Giancarlo Ruiz a border artist

Giancarlo Ruiz shoots music videos that make a good case for Adderall (like his jumpy edit, partly animated one about Tijuana's kidnappings). He co-founded the Recortos48 Film Festival and is known to both San Diego and Tijuana theater scenes. Just don't call him a "border artist."

Name

: Giancarlo Ruiz

Age: 36

Explain what you do: Director and actor. Film and stage.

Your artistic motto in two words: (Eff) itCare to elaborate on that? If you don't have the means to do something ... find a way. Don't have a doorway dolly to do the shot? "(Eff) it," use a skateboard. Basically, guerrilla filmmaking.

Whose music videos have you worked on? I've done several videos directing or (directory of photography). Kuchuman (see video, below), Border Brothers, Faca, to name a few. What's life like for a video artist in TJ? It's total freedom to record what you want, to experiment with the medium. But at the same time it can pigeonhole you into a "border artist," (a phrase) which makes me sick to my stomach.

What are you seeking on either side of the border? It's the way I've grown up -- crossing the border to me is like breathing air, you just do it. I think I have the best of both worlds, living in Tijuana, but as someone who is bilingual it just makes sense to work on either side. Besides, borders are just in our brain.Do you prefer music videos to narrative pieces? I prefer a narrative structure in the medium although music videos give you the liberty to experiment ...

What inspires you? The ocean, good beer, progressive ideas, music, laughter, cooking.Where do you hang out? It depends on the mood I'm in. I'm more of a home body. Chill, drink some beers, edit, write.

What books or magazines are you reading right now? Magazines ... anything about film and regarding books. I was reading a lot about psychiatric wards probably because I did the stage adaption of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" [last March, with Theatre Inc, check out reader reviews of his Randall P. McMurphy]. I'm starting to read several books by Augusto Boal regarding the Theater of the Oppressed.

What movies or TV are you into? TV -- Animal Planet, National Geographic, Discovery Channel -- I probably should've been a veterinarian. Movies -- I just watched "The Fall" by Tarsem Singh -- visually it's a compelling film.

What 10 songs would you put on a mixtape right now?

Mixtape ... really? Should I be looking at stuff from the '80s-'90s? I guess it would jump back and forth ... anything from the Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, The Smiths, Cafe Tacuba, Tom Waits, Massive Attack, Thelonious Monk, Johnny Hartman, Dead Can Dance, The Clash's "Know Your Rights" ...

Who's your fave TJ music artist or lucha libre wrestler? Or someone who does both? I really like what Casa Wagner, 1973, Guaycura Sounds, Ambiente are doing right now -- the wrestler, it has to be a "rudo" ... a bad guy you love to hate.

Belong to any arts-related groups? La Luciérnaga Colectivo Escénico. It's a theater company that we founded nine years ago in Tijuana. We try to reincorporate Mexican traditions that have been lost due to time and geographical space. Recortos48 is a small group of friends that organize the Recortos48 Film Festival every (November) in Tijuana.

Where can we see your work next?I don't know. As soon as I finish editing (my) last films "the Z's" and "St. Jacques" I'll probably send them to do the festival circuit. You can also watch some of my stuff online: youtube.com/tokyohot.