LACMA

1998 Cyberspace Self-taught computer visionary Ricardo Dominguez hacks into Mexican government servers from his New York apart- ment and shuts them down. Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, this "godfather of hacktivism" works with the Zapatistas in acts of "electronic civil disobedience" and the develop- ment of counterdistribution networks unfiltered by the mainstream media. 1999 Tempe, Arizona Morrissey, former lead singer for the Smiths, kicks off his Oye Esteban world tour. The Manchester, England, native introduces his band by saying, "Hello, we are the Sweet and Tender Hooligans." The Sweet and Tender Hooligans are a Morrissey and Smiths tribute band composed of Latinos. At last count, there are at least two documentaries exploring the phenomenon of the extraordinary popularity of Morrissey and the Smiths among Latino youth. 1996 Los Angeles, California Beck Hansen, the stepson of Chicano artist Sean Carrillo and the grandson of Fluxus artist Al Hansen, releases the Grammy Award–winning album Odelay. The title fuels instant debate among Chicano hipsters as to whether "odelay" is Beck's intentional bastardization of the Span- ish word orale. Eight years later Beck's Guero, with its hit single "Qué Onda, Guero," complicates the still-ongoing conversation. 2002 San Antonio, Texas Pedro Herrera, the son of Mexican immigrants, hosts a hip-hop show on his college radio station. In the dark anonymity of the studio, the quiet scholarship boy transforms himself into Chingo Bling, a trash-talking rapper with a voice described as "somewhere between B-Real's nasal tone, Tony Montana's fierce growl, and your cousin Pepe's Mexican accent." With his Nike-swooshed ostrich boots, black cowboy hat, platinum teeth, and often holding his beloved pet rooster Cleto (not to mention an entrepreneurial empire that includes Chingo Bling bobble heads, spring-break DVDs, Torta! brand chones, and a line of tamale Christmas ornaments), the self-described "ghetto vaquero" and performance artist out-Gómez-Peñas Gómez-Peña. 230

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