la conquista |
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Ariadna Capasso (visuals), Nora César (words) and Damián Keller (sound) In this video we revisit the theme of the conquest (La Conquista), the period of the first European expeditions to America in the XV century and the subsequent invasions of the said continent. One of our goals is to reformulate the history and heritage of Latin America within a global perspective. We reclaim our native cultural roots by using symbols such as maize that are associated with the American cultures. Another goal is to make evident the power dynamics that bind different social groups and to point out the existence of varied worldviews, i.e. sets of priorities or value systems that differ from those upheld by Western ideals. The concept of "conquest" has been the driving force behind much of human history. Parallels can be drawn between the expansionist campaigns of the past and our present deeds. The deforestation of the Amazon is an example of the race to pave every square inch of territory. The drive to "conquer" nature, "civilize" our planet and homogenize its inhabitants is very present. The development of La Conquista was a process of collaboration. Our concern with the relativity of value systems (or of any system: "A system is nothing more than the subordination of all aspects of the universe to any one of them" says Borges) and with the present repercussions of our past led to a series of dialogues with writer Nora César and composer Damián Keller. These were given aesthetic expression in this piece. As a result, César created the text El regreso which was read by the author. The recording of the text was sent to Keller who created a ten-minute composition entitled The Trade/Oro por Baratijas. Capasso later used the sound as a template to edit the video's images. The dialogue that took, and continues to take, place during these collaborations is the most enriching experience during the process of art making. We believe this dialogue does not end when the work is presented but continues on as the audience members contribute their ideas and interpretations, and thus, become active participants in the piece. We continue to elaborate the ideas and themes behind La Conquista. In Paititi, a multimedia installation being currently developed, we focus on the cultural interactions and real-life exchanges that took place when Orellana's expedition encountered the Omaguas, an Amazonian community, in 1541. Technical Information RT: 10' 35" The footage was shot on a Digital 8 Sony camera. The video was edited using Premiere 5.0. Editing decisions for the video component were largely based on the audio, which was slightly modified in the process. The images and audio carry on a dialogue - at times reinforcing each other and at times acting as opposing counterparts. Up to five layers of video are employed simultaneously to create a rich textural effect. The Audio The soundtrack was produced by digital signal processing of a small number of sound sources: falling corn grains and spoken Spanish words, such as 'land,' 'memory,' 'corn fields.' A multitude of voices was created by applying granular processing to words spoken by a Spanish-speaking woman. Streaming effects were explored by varying the density of overlapped events yielding both isolated spoken words and continuous vocal textures. Masking effects, where individual voices slowly emerge from a mass of vocal sounds, were employed to create these textures. The synthesis and transformation of falling corn grain sounds was achieved by means of ecologically-based techniques. Tons of falling grains were produced by overlapping several streams of complex grains. The spectral content of the grains consisted of actual corn grains poured onto glass, metallic, and plastic surfaces. By convolving these two types of sound sources, we obtained hybrids of voice and corn spectra. The dynamic relationship among sound sources and transformations provides a metaphor for the social conflicts represented in the piece's conceptual axis. The formal layout of the sonic elements proposes a direct relationship between falling corn events and voices. Sometimes the vocal textures approach granular characteristics; other times pouring corn actions seem to be caused by vocal articulations. The piece is divided in three asymmetric sections which are themselves composed of several groups of events. Events abide by ecological constraints, that is, most sounds heard can be produced by real-world causes. The formal shape of the piece is circular: It can be heard from any point to the end, back to the beginning, until the original point is reached. The video The video is structured in three parts. Similar images are used in all three, but the variation in their spatio-temporal arrangement modifies their meaning. Silence and slow moving images are pauses in the video where the participants can catch their breath, make sense of the images, prepare for the next part or elect to leave. Some of the repeating symbols are: corn, sometimes in the form of grains, falling or in drums, others on the cob or in the field. Crosses: falling abstractly or branded on the body, consumed by fire or flowing in the water. The sky: at times sheltering, at times threatening. The relationship of animals to "civilization": from a running squirrel to processed meat. The structure is based on precepts drawn from Mesoamerican philosophies (as understood by our western interpretations of these). The Aztecs conceived of the land as extending in six directions, each associated with a specific color and trait: East, yellow, fertility; North, red, barrenness; West, blue, adversity; South, Region of Thorns (suffering), white; center, (connecting heaven and earth) navel, black. (Carrasco, 1990, p.71) The mapping of the world is a metaphor for current political divisions. In the Aztec conception, the East was at the top. A multidirectional approach to filming and editing was used to denaturalize our perception of the world's orientation, as depicted in Western maps (North at the top). Water in a fountain moving from left to right, and corn "falling" from bottom to top, are examples of the above. The four natural elements, earth, water, fire and air, were used as leitmotifs to represent the forces of nature and as a reminder of the limitations of human force. Red, prevalent in the images, is a reminder of the suffering of the inhabitants of the land, as well as of the ambiguous state of the pre-Hispanic cultures, partially effaced, partially recalled, within the European collective identity. But, red also signifies fertility and re-birth: the continuity between the past and the present. The dynamic of power that necessitates expendable lives is still being played out, or should we say re-played? |