“Out of Many, One”, Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada

The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery has commissioned Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada to create a six-acre portrait on the National Mall in Washington DC. The “facescape,” was created out of 2,000 tons of sand, 800 tons of soil and 8 miles of string. It is so large, that it can be viewed from space.

Titled “Out of Many, One”

Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada is a Cuban-American Contemporary Artist. Born February 5, 1966, Cuba, he grew up in the United States. Rodríguez-Gerada predominantly creates his work in urban spaces on a large scale. As a founding member of the early ‘90s New York Culture Jamming movement first with the group ‘Artfux’ and later with the ‘Cicada Corps of Artists’, Rodríguez-Gerada launched interventions upon billboards and public advertising. By 1997 he was beginning move towards working solo. In 2002 Rodríguez-Gerada moved to Barcelona and focused on the large-scale ephemeral charcoal drawings of his Identity Series. He then developed the Terrestrial Series; ephemeral earthworks so expansive as to be visible from space. Other ongoing projects include the Identity Composite Series, and smaller artworks he calls Urban Analogies, and Memorylythics.

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Eddy Alvarez Miami’s Cuban- American Tries To Clinch Olympic Spot

http://www.nbcmiami.com

Sochi 2014

«The dream is there for the taking».

After years of chasing it, Miami-Dade’s own Eddy Alvarez may finally catch an elusive spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

The 23-year-old from Christopher Columbus High School will compete in the short track speedskating trials this weekend with the hopes of qualifying for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in February.

“I want it bad,” Alvarez admits.  “I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I dream about it. I wake up and it’s one of the first things I think of.”

Alvarez gets his chance Saturday on home ice.  The Cuban-American will skate in the men’s 500 meters on the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns. That’s the same track that the former Miami resident trains on.

“This was a dream, a goal of mine since I was a kid. I want to stand on that podium. I want to represent my country and my background, my family, my parents, so it’s a lot more than just making the team,” he says. “But it’s a step at a time. I can’t think too far ahead, because the first goal is to get on the team.”

The journey from the Gables to Kearns hasn’t been an easy one. Alvarez quit more than once and surgery nearly derailed the dream altogether.

In March 2012, after two years away from the sport, Alvarez had surgery to repair torn patellar tendons in both knees.  The former inline skater was forced to go the surgical route after exhausting every other avenue including five platelet-rich plasma injections.

“It was a chronic pain.  It was bad. There were days I would cry myself to sleep. We tried everything but I didn’t have time to waste. The doctor said you might not be able to skate ever again, but it was a chance I was willing to take.”

So Alvarez had both knees repaired at the same time.  He was immobile for four weeks.

“That was a tough time,” Alvarez recalls. “One of my lowest. My all-time low. I was ready to quit. I was bedridden. I couldn’t walk.”

Seguir leyendo: Sochi 2014

Pitbull responds to Jay-Z’s ‘Open Letter’ about Cuba

By Alberto de la
Cruz, on April 14, 2013, at 5:07 pm

Cuban American musician and rapper Pitbull responds to Jay-Z’s «Open Letter» rap boasting of his vacation in communist Cuba as a VIP guest of the Castro apartheid dictatorship.

«It’s the freedom that we rap for, it’s the freedom that we die for. C-U-B-A, hope to see you free one day…»

Listen to Pitbull’s rap here:

http://babalublog.com/2013/04/14/pitbull-responds-to-jay-zs-open-letter-about-cuba/

Published by M. Guaty Marrero for Cjaronu