Luis Contreras
Doctoral Student
Doctoral Student
Biography
Luis Contreras is a researcher of platform studies, digital labor, and media technologies with a focus on how marginalized communities repurpose emerging tools for creative resistance, visibility, and survival. His current project examines how graffiti and street artists engage with digital infrastructures such as drones, augmented and virtual reality, livestreaming, and algorithm-driven platforms to build cybernetic networks that connect physical and virtual space.
Drawing on original interviews, his research shows how these artists develop new forms of labor by learning to pilot drones, edit high-resolution footage, and produce content that meets platform demands while preserving graffiti’s rebellious ethos. His findings highlight how artists balance visibility and vulnerability, resist surveillance, and sustain creative autonomy through hybrid practices that merge analog skill with digital fluency. His broader interests include creator economies, algorithmic governance, and media activism across Latino communities and global street cultures.
Education
M.A., Communication Studies, California State University, Los Angeles
B.A., Communications, California State University, Los Angeles