Interactive
Exilio: About its concept and recording
Exilio is one of six numbers recorded for the video performance presentation “Conflict-O Rumba & The Persistence of Memory” commissioned by the 2000 Vienna Arts Festival. I invited Pedrito Martínez and Román Díaz to collaborate with me by recording seven rumbas based on concepts I imagined fundamental to rumba in its constant exilic & migratory condition. One of the concepts I gave them is exilio. The role of the musicians was to interpret my reading/conceptualization of NYC rumba but in their own terms. Therefore they choose popular rumbas that elaborated the intention of these concepts. However, like in rumba, they collapsed different rumba lyrics into one creating a step further into the critical difference of the whole by adding their own personal commentary via performance and their re-interpretation of the songs. Like in rumba, they also incorporated sounds from other musical and spiritual realms such as Palo Mayómbe, Ábakua,Yorubá and Arará, creating an extra aural dialogue and dimension to the concepts.
:PhotoEssay:
It is a random juxtaposition of text and image that attempts to re-create Central Park rumba’s IMPROVISATIONAL but INTEGRATED FRAGMENTATION. This photo essay is a collection of personal thoughts about rumba’s collective but dystopic experience. The elements of this page (stills image, text and music) are designed to function randomly. The common threat that unites these visual and textual elements is rumba’s practice in itself. I decided to create a relatively improvisational page that, like rumba, functions in relationship to as many conversations as contradictions
Exilio
is one of six numbers recorded for the video performance
presentation “Conflict-O Rumba & The Persistence
of Memory” commissioned by the 2000 Vienna Arts
Festival. I invited Pedrito Martínez and Román
Díaz to collaborate with me by recording seven
rumbas based on concepts I imagined fundamental to rumba
in its constant exilic & migratory condition. One
of the concepts I gave them is exilio. The role of the
musicians was to interpret my reading/conceptualization
of NYC rumba but in their own terms. Therefore they choose
popular rumbas that elaborated the intention of these
concepts. However, like in rumba, they collapsed different
rumba lyrics into one creating a step further into the
critical difference of the whole by adding their own personal
commentary via performance and their re-interpretation
of the songs. Like in rumba, they also incorporated sounds
from other musical and spiritual realms such as Palo Mayómbe,
Ábakua,Yorubá and Arará, creating
an extra aural dialogue and dimension to the concepts.
It
is a random juxtaposition of text and image that attempts
to re-create Central Park rumba’s IMPROVISATIONAL
but INTEGRATED FRAGMENTATION. This photo essay is a collection
of personal thoughts about rumba’s collective but
dystopic experience. The elements of this page (stills
image, text and music) are designed to function randomly.
The common threat that unites these visual and textual
elements is rumba’s practice in itself. I decided
to create a relatively improvisational page that, like
rumba, functions in relationship to as many conversations
as contradictions
