Oakland-based artist and one half of the music duo, XUXA SANTAMARIA.
Image by Bent Zine
So tell me how Bent are you…
Virus or Bacteria? Virus all the way; I respect their inscrutability + refusal to be understood. Also, I might extend ‘virus’ to include ideas, language; all manner of spread.
Preferred Pronoun? They/Them + She/Her
What Periodic Table Element are you? My mind immediately went for mineral and then said copper which previously unknown to me (but which I’ve confirmed) is a mineral.
Favorite Object? I have always collected little random rocks and stuff when I feel connected to a place and recently found a really porous and kinda ugly piece of clay in my baby’s diaper bag. Funny thing is, I don’t remember where I got it.
What shape are you? I feel like that changes daily so I would say a wavery shape, like a mirage with chunks that sometimes stay solid for a few hours.
Give us a texture. Well, that crusty old rock I found is soooo porous and almost chalk-like, simultaneously strong but also feels like it’s about to crumble.
Anarchist, Socialist, Capitalist, Libertarian, etc. Anarchist, baby. The “solo in the woods, I’m a Virgo and I got this” me leans libertarian anarchist/autarchism while the part of me that wants to be a better, more trusting person and not necessarily rely chiefly on the close- by syndicate leans anarchist socialist; I’m wherever Le Guin’s Anarresti minus the problematic bits falls.
Favorite person of Color that you disagree with? My brain can’t summon anyone that fills that contradictory void!
What sound are you? That depends but I oscillate (lol) between like a wide, low, sub-bass, almost inaudible hum and a trilling, round like an o, pulse.
Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, or a Broken Copper Pot? Obvi BCP
What’s the last thing you broke? My dog peed on my carpet and I made it worse by putting baking soda on it.
The last person, you kissed? My baby.
The best thing about men’s rights activists? I've recently become aware of the dudes trying to grow their foreskin back and I feel like their whole comparing it to female circumcision is a stone’s throw away from men’s rights so i’d have to say the best thing about them is their music. (s/o to John Wilson’s excellent show for letting me and so many others in on the TLC TUGGER).
Do you meditate? The truth is I can’t live without meditating, it absolutely brings me so much clarity and wellbeing, and yet, since having a baby I have a hard time sitting my ass down to do it.
Are you a Neutron Star, White Hole, or Solar Flare? Solar Flare
Which fetish are you? Klismaphilia, EDERACINISM, Fornifilia, OCULOLINCTUS: Dendraphelia
Your opinion on Lesbian Separatist. They were mostly too white and I hate that they left their little boy children behind (c’mon, they’re GONNA become reactionary 4sure, why not make them lesbians too?) but other than that fully here for it, would join and farm and hang out topless while taking an “ovinary” on photography.
What type of Cancer are you? Oof, I used to be scared of Cancers (both the disease and the sign), and then I found my Venus in Cancer which in combination with the rest of my alignment brings me a lot of trouble in ‘learning to accept love while also being deep in the feels regardless of situation’ arena. Can’t say I have a favorite of the other kind, still fear them both I guess lol
Matriarchal Punishment or Patriarchal Redemption? Neither? Def no Patriarchal redemption, ew.
Who do you actually hate? In general, I’m tryna not be about that vibe these days but if I had to choose probably I’d pick from among the many shit heads that run/fund the art world since they’re usually the same shit heads that uphold castigating BIPOC+ working-class people through their command of generational capital and the exploitation of poor humans and our planet.
Best regrettable purchase this month? Skin care stuff
Finish this sentence. I know Kim Kardashian…Is glad the fashies stormed the Capitol so her divorce could go unnoticed (Note: this questionnaire was filled out on January 10th 2021)
Your favorite body of water. Ohhhh there are so many but the Caribbean Sea just off the south west coast of Puerto Rico, near Cabo Rojo, might have my whole ass heart.
What’s the most middle-class thing you’ve done this week? Ordered a bunch of skin care stuff from The Ordinary. Skincare stuff is where I am a class traitor :(
I’m only politically correct when…I’m in a nightmare wherein I’m a pundit on the news.
What’s your favorite scar on your body? A long white line on my left shin from when I first tried to shave my legs and instead took off my whole ass skin, came off in a strip and I marveled at it before all the blood came.
Last time you cried tears of joy. Randomly, mundanely, walking around the morning after the last full moon. I just felt so light and sprightly which I haven’t felt in years.
Your most noble trait. I really do constantly think about the people I love and their problems allll the time. Would be nobler if I could do something about them.
I know the taste of...Castor oil, from when I drank it to induce birth, and wish I hadn’t.
