Melodies of Shared Breath/Melodías que Comparten el Aliento, 2021
Collaborative performance with Jackie Amézquita // Performed at The Fronte Arte Cultura in San Ysidro // Soil from VA and Mexico/US border, celosia // 1hr 15 min // 2021. Photos taken by Alan Luna.
Melodies of Shared breath/Melodías que Comparten el Aliento was an unannounced collaborative performance with Jackie Amezquita, activating A Poetic of Living, installed at San Ysidro, a border town. The installation was made of soil bodies cast Virginia soil and soil from the Mexico/US border. Celosia lined the far right edge of the installation creating a border in the direction of Mexico.
The performance began at sunset, as we undressed and washed our bodies and then each other with soil. Jackie’s body was positioned toward the border, while mine in the direction of the US. As we bathed, our inward-facing arms were connected and used as supports to lift each other's bodies into a seated position to wash each other's backs. Once bathed, celosia, a plant native to East Africa and smuggled in women’s hair during the middle passage, was offered to Jackie. Jackie then planted the celosia back into the soil and buried my body into the earth among the soil bodies.
Celosia was planted to outline my body.
My body stayed buried in the soil for the remainder of the opening reception.