Border Cantos

“No separation of distance; no separation of time; no separation of any kind need lessen compassion.” 
― Zechariah Barrett

Border Cantos by Richard Misrach and Guillermo Galindo
All of the signs were in English and Spanish

Project

Border Cantos presents a unique collaboration between photographer Richard Misrach and composer Guillermo Galindo. Misrach has been photographing the two-thousand-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico since 2004, with increased focus starting in 2009—resulting in a distinct melding of the artist as documentarian and interpreter. The latest installation in Misrach’s ongoing Desert Cantos series, this project includes eight suites of photographs—some made with a large-format camera and others that have been captured with an iPhone. Misrach and Galindo have worked together to create pieces that both report on and transform the artifacts of migration: water bottles, clothing, backpacks, Border Patrol “drag tires,” spent shotgun shells, ladders, and sections of the Border Wall itself, which Galindo then fashions into instruments to be performed as unique sound-generating devices; video clips of those performances can be seen on this site. He also imagines graphic musical scores, many of which use Misrach’s photographs as points of departure.

This is the explanation for the art work on display at Crystal Bridges now. It will be there until April 24 so if you are in the Bentonville, Arkansas area, it is very worth your time to visit.  We were there last week when visiting my grandson at U of Arkansas.  It is a thoughtful display of art surrounded by eerie music. To see more of the collection and to hear the music, click on the video clips link above which explains in detail what you are seeing and hearing.

Here are just a few of the pictures we saw there. Partial walls all along the two thousand mile border. The photographs were behind glass so sometimes there is a bit of a glare or reflection.

And there were pictures of articles and effigies found along the border.

Spanish version of Dr. Zhivago along the wall (zoom in for a better look)

Guillermo Galindo, a composer, made musical instruments from some of the found objects which you can see and hear from the above link. Here is the Exterminating Angel which he made into a gong.

Sign explaining the Exterminating Angel

The Exterminating Angel