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BORDERBLASTER
2012 - Borderblaster takes its name from the title given to radio stations that transmit their signals at very high power between nations (e.g. San Diego radio stations that broadcast from Tijuana). Unlike traditional "border blasters", this project localizes the transmission to urban micro-ecologies shaped by migration, sharing stories that reflect on social, cultural and political exchange across borders. |
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BORDERBLASTER (SD/TJ)
Commissioned as part of “Living as Form (the Nomadic Version)” at the UCSD University Art Gallery (UAG), this iteration of BorderBlaster focused on the junctures/disjunctures experienced at the San Ysidro Port of Entry during the process of crossing the border. It brought together the voices of vendors, artisans, artists, and activists in a series of conversations, readings, and interviews that reimagined cultural engagement at the crossing. The series was recorded and transmitted from inside of the Mercado de Artesanias de La Linea on 87.9 FM to cars, and using the “Mobile Listening Station” sculpture to pedestrians throughout the run of the exhibition. Programming included: oral histories of merchants who work at the Mercado de Artesanías de la Linea, a market at the San Ysidro Port of Entry that has existed for over three generations and is currently in danger of disappearing as a result of renovations at the Port of Entry, an open mic featuring statements/proclamations to the border, musical performances by street musicians who play at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and a binational Son Jarocho group, and a live-mix of songs for crossing produced by Gary Garay (GANAS), incorporating requests by vendors at the Mercado de Artesanias de La Linea and commuters waiting in line to cross the border. The first transmission, entitled "About Crossing", was a reflection on various experiences of crossing the border. After visiting migrant shelters in Tijuana and Mexicali, with the intent of documenting testimonies of individuals who crossed the border through the desert, we produced a series of short scripts narrating what it was like to cross through a non-authorized point of entry. We then took the scripts to the San Ysidro Port of Entry, and asked pedestrians waiting in line to cross the border (through this authorized point of entry) to read the stories aloud. We recorded their readings and transmitted them as the first episode of BorderBlaster. You can listen to a bilingual sample of this episode below: |