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Canciones Orbitales: Unknown Landscapes
(Kuisi, Mgbombo, Maraka)
2023-ongoing
Colombian Gaita, bongó, maraca, live person, repurposed wood, mud, time. Various time intervals through the month of December
Proposal
Canciones Orbitales takes the form of a happening or apparition in multiple sites in the South Florida landscape. This performative installation implements tropes from the language of U.A.P (and extraterrestrial) phenomena as metaphors of displacement, migration, and alienation. Three sightings will occur sporadically for one month in three locations*: Miami Beach, Homestead, and the Everglades/Key West area. The quality of these sites as ports of entry or arrival are activated by small cymbal-shaped objects made of materials sourced from each location. Each craft is accompanied by a live person that plays the word SOMOS in Morse code, as if to send a signal, at the sight of aerial or maritime phenomena. The instruments a Gaita, Bongó, and Maraca𑁋 are usually played in pairs. However, only one part of the pair is used in each performance, transforming them into satellites that attempt communication with their absent counterpart.
Biography
Alejandro Valencia, Born in Pereira, Colombia. Received a BFA from New World School of the Arts (2017) Currently, MFA at Columbia University. His practice stems from an interest in history’s malleable and non-linear qualities, often referencing displaced and marginal perspectives. He lives and works nomadically.