Xenofeminist Countervisualities

Video Art, Technobody, and Dissent in Ana Esteve Reig

Authors

Keywords: contravisuality, xenofeminism, technobody, algorithmic governance, video art

Abstract

This article examines how contemporary video art can configure contestatory visualities capable of intervening in the gender identity politics embedded within algorithmic infrastructures. Through the analysis of three works by Ana Esteve Reig —La voz digital (2018), New Era (1.996) (2020), and El ritual del respawn (2025)— the study proposes xenofeminist countervisuality as an analytical framework for understanding the co-production of technobody, digital governance, and subject formation. Methodologically, the research combines formal audiovisual analysis, critical hermeneutics, and feminist philosophy of technology, integrating visual studies with platform critique. The findings demonstrate that these works denaturalize the feminization of AI voice interfaces, re-inscribe cyberlibertarian archives through a materialist lens, and interrogate the cyclical temporality of respawn mechanics as an affective pedagogy of the technobody under neoliberal optimization regimes. Rather than adopting technophobic positions, these practices experiment with infrastructural reappropriation strategies, positioning video art as a political laboratory in which xenofeminism actively contests the regimes of visibility and power shaping contemporary digital feudalism.

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Author Biography

Antonio A. Caballero-Gálvez, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

PhD in Audiovisual Communication and Advertising from the Complutense University of Madrid (2012). Lecturer in the Department of Communication Sciences and Sociology and member of the Diversity Unit at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos  (URJC). Researcher on the European project ‘Connecting families, educators and policymakers to combat violence and improve the well-being of LGBTI children through an intersectional approach – CLICK’ (101194838). He has participated in competitive researching projects such as ‘Observatory on the treatment of gender violence in the media with a focus on cultural/ethnic identity’, ‘Youth produsage on social media: construction of sexual identity and management of gender inequalities – RESPEct’ and ‘Gender diversity, masculinity and culture in Spain, Argentina and Mexico’.

His lines of research address gender identity and sexualities in social networks, video art and algorithmic technologies from a Gender Studies perspective, and their impact on new generations, integrating Communication, Sociology and Gender Studies. He is a member of the consolidated research group on Sexualities and Gender from an interdisciplinary perspective and the high-performance research group on Media and Political Communication (URJC).

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Published
31-07-2026
How to Cite
Caballero-Gálvez, A. A. (2026). Xenofeminist Countervisualities: Video Art, Technobody, and Dissent in Ana Esteve Reig. Arte Y Políticas De Identidad, 35, 39–57. Retrieved from https://revistas.um.es/reapi/article/view/704021
Issue
Vol. 35 (2026): Visualidades y narrativas contestatarias: tecnologías disidentes, ecologías críticas y políticas de la imagen
Section
Articles

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