Rodrigo Valenzuela’s Posthuman Ruins

Rodrigo Valenzuela, Afterwork #4. Silver Gelatin Print, 2021. 40 x 32 in.

My first encounter with Rodrigo Valenzuela’s work was through his video works like Diamond Box (2012–2013), in which the artist paid undocumented migrant workers an hourly rate to tell their stories for the camera. A Chilean-born artist who illegally worked as a day laborer before earning his MFA from the University of Washington, Valenzuela saw his own experiences reflected in the voices of these workers—a familiarity that…