INTERVENTION AT AMISTAD BRIDGE

JUNE 22, 2018

Amistad Dam,

Val Verde County, TX

22 DE JUNIO, 2018

PRESA LA AMISTAD

MUNICIPALIDAD ACUÑA, COA

This performance occurred at the Amistad Dam bridge, an international border crossing between Val Verde County, Texas, and Municipalidad Acuña, Coahuila.

This balancing act involved a negotiation with tension and strength. Non-verbal communication was vital as we tried to sustain each other as long as we could. It was a mutual act of support. Visually, we are trying to forcibly bring two countries together, overlap them, join them, and erase the border. We are tied to the land and do what we can with it. Ropes are also an important material that connects people, things, and lands. We imagine a rope thrown to someone to save them, a rope that suspends people in the air, a rope to strangle and constrict—a rope as a line, a border, a tool. As a group, we had very different identities that tied us to the land and each other. We are defined based on our relationship with each other. It's a site of tension and exploration at a site of political conflict—Amistad as friendship, connections, and solidarity between peoples.

How do we support each other? How do we balance the multiple parts of our identities shaped by borders? How do we understand our belonging to either side?