The other night in the Plaza de la Danza, right next to La Soledad cathedral, there was an event. I guess it was a combination of an installation and performance art. I used to do these sorts of things all the time and I am sure that many people who saw mine walked away saying, "That was cool, but what was it?"
And so it was with this piece. There was music that was Eno meets Meridith Monk meets Glass meets Oaxaca. I showed up very early, mainly because I was already in the city and decided to just hang and wait. I watched the set-up and listened to the band. The music was subdued, but this guitarist looks like he could really wail.
One part of the installation, the part by artist Francisco Toledo, was a long tube of fireworks, like those one can find in many castillos.
In the tube were grooved aluminum sheets that acted as runners for a series of tortugas, which were also laced with fireworks. They loaded the turtles and shoved them down the tube.
Turtles are a favorite image for Toledo.
The other part of the installation was conceived by artist Ruben Leyva and was essentially a large painting(?) made up of fireworks.
At 8 PM the music began, the turtles shot out the tube as men lifted the entire structure a few inches off the ground. A group of traditional toritos danced a wonderful ballet of fireworks, smoke, and explosions. Then the Leyda piece was lit.
There was the traditional cascade of sparks along the side of the church.
And finally a series of large hot air balloons were set adrift into the night sky. Some went so high and so far there were just glowing specks in a star-filled sky.
So what it was, I am not entirely sure, but there were lots of people there and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I concentrated on the video, but have not seen it yet. If it is decent, I will post it.
No comments:
Post a Comment