2487

Generative multimedia installation.
Database, 16 self-amplified speakers, computer, bench, book, webpage, box, prints, CD audio.
Dimensions: variable.
Duration: undetermined.

At the core of the generative multi-channel sound installation 2487, whose title signifies the number of discovered fatalities among those attempting to cross the Mexico-U.S. border, is a database that contains information on the loss of life at this border. In the work, the artist speaks the names of all victims of institutional political/economic violence and displacement on whom she had been able to access information. Research was conducted in 2006, including information spanning from 1993 to 2006. The artist recorded each name in a separate sound file (lasting three seconds), from which the installation is generated through algorithms or systematic processes, building in its space sound structures whose dynamic aesthetics reproduce the disorderly processes of social migration, becoming, as a result, an original form of migration aesthetics. The artist’s actions, reflected in the voice performance of pronouncing each of the 2,487 names, are discreet and poignant, minimalistic and expressive. The sound hardware dates from the last decade of the 20th century. The artwork includes a book containing all the victims’ names and place of origin, age, and date and cause of death, if known. Another important visual component of the installation is the graphic score, which illustrates the system’s functionality that randomly generates the voice performance. The seating area invites the visitors to be at peace while listening to the artwork.

Luz María Sánchez