What comes to mind when you think of the river? Is it her gentle and consistent movement? Her reach which extends nearly 1,855 miles long? Perhaps it is the many ecosystems that surround her. In any case, it is evident that the river contains multitudes.
The Rio Grande has served as a life-force for numerous communities and ecosystems and despite this truth, she has often been exploited and suffered consequences at the hands of human negligence.
This piece poses the question of what it means to live in relation to the river and how we can best remediate historical faults and create a more sustainable future where the river and her many offerings of life are protected and revered.
The audio for this work consists of live recordings of the Rio Grande throughout New Mexico including the Bosque in Albuqerque and a small river outlet near Taos. These sounds include the rustling of plants, trains, cars, dogs, and birds such as the roadrunner. In essence, the life-song of the many creatures and communities that surround her.
These recordings were then used as a score for a live performance where I played cymbals in response to the sounds of the river and her surroundings. By using the resonant frequencies of the cymbals as a both a call and response to the sounds, the performance offers both a song of praise to the Rio Grande while representing the insertion of humans into her environment. While the sound frequencies of both the cymbals and river often mirror and complement one another, there are moments of tension where the cymbals overpower the river itself. This voice embodies the role that humans have played in the neglect of the river despite being nurtured and sustained by her for many years.
Despite these points of tension, the sounds ultimately begin to flow and blend together again as one cohesive entity, calling out to and responding to one another. May we and future generations continue to follow this call and response.
A Song for the River, a collaboration between artist Paula Castillo and musician Amanda Dannáe Romero, is inspired by sounds collected from the Rio Grande riparian environment during community gatherings along the river for Castillo’s Reverse the Curse community performances. Please use the headphones to listen to this soundtrack while watching Castillo’s six diverse cinemagraphic reperformances of Reverse the Curse installed at SITE: “Anni Hanna Smoke Medicine,” Miguel Tithing to the Rio Grande,” Dos Brujas Desconocidas,” “Lillie and Friends Tithing to the Rio Grande,” “Medicina de Burbuja y Pájaros,” and “About the Rio Grande.”