Support for LAist comes from
Become a sponsor
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Donate
Stay Connected

LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network.

Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen
Donate
Podcasts Take Two
Artists use lost objects to tell the story of US-Mexico border
solid orange rectangular banner
()
Take Two Logo
Nov 25, 2014
Listen • 8:08
Artists use lost objects to tell the story of US-Mexico border
Many items are left behind during the arduous journey across the border and then forgotten. But not by two artists: a photographer and a composer.
The Wall, Jacumba, California, 2009 © Richard Misrach, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles
The Wall, Jacumba, California, 2009 © Richard Misrach, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles
(
© Richard Misrach, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York and Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles
)
“This is inspired by a Leonardo da Vinci device known as the martello a camme, a mechanized hammering machine. I substituted the hammer with a shoe and a glove found at the border," said composer Galindo.
“This is inspired by a Leonardo da Vinci device known as the martello a camme, a mechanized hammering machine. I substituted the hammer with a shoe and a glove found at the border," said composer Galindo.
(
Guillermo Galindo
)

Many items are left behind during the arduous journey across the border and then forgotten. But not by two artists: a photographer and a composer.

In recent years, thousands of people have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and with them, they brought objects: extra shoes, small bracelets, water jugs. Many are left behind during the arduous journey and then forgotten.

But not by two artists: a photographer and a composer.

They've roamed the vast expanse along the border, drawing inspiration from abandoned and lost objects. Their work will show at the San Jose Museum of Art in 2016.

"These things end up being loaded symbols, things that tell us where the country is headed," said photographer Richard Misrach, who has been chronicling the border region for decades.

Composer Guillermo Galindo took the objects and created instruments and musical pieces to go with Misrach's photography. The everyday objects may seem like trash to some, but through Galindo's art, they yield haunting, memorable soundscapes.

"We consider everything that we found very special and very valuable," said Galindo, who drew inspiration from the idea of the objects as powerful relics. "This is a very special project."

More images from the California Sunday Magazine's "Border Signs."