In this new contribution, artist Antonio Jose Guzman created a memorial for the recent murder of George Floyd in Minnesota; embedded in the sonic and visual structure of his ongoing project The Electric Dub Station.
In this new chapter of Guzman's artistic research, connections are made with the legacy of colonialism and transatlantic relations. The trade of indigo plants and the birth and growth of dub music play a major role in this. The chapter unfolds through references to indigo, the plant that plays an important role in the exhaustive and exploitative trade relations between the Netherlands and Surinamese & Javanese plantations. The dye from the plant is reflected in the paint with which the artist made textile prints involving his own DNA. The accompanying soundscape emphasizes the ways in which African rhythms have permanently changed sonic life in America.
Credits
Filmed and Edited by Atelier Gf Workstation
Part of Project Electric Dub Station commissioned by Sonsbeek & Paiz Art Biennial 2021
Costumes by Iva Jankovic
DNA Sequencing Indigo Ajrakh Printed Fabrics in collaboration with Sufiyan Khatri - Ajrakhpur, Gujarat, India
Music
Transillumination # 1 - Reverse Bata & Saxo
GCAT The Supreme Exodus Chant By A.J. Guzman
Anarexol - Eek A Mouse - Reverse - Produced by Henry Lawes
Me Gritaron Negra - Victoria Santa Cruz
Splash Babylon - DJ Trace Remix - Kool FM 1995
Rockers (1978) - Horsemouth's Speech
Splash - Babylon - Original sample from Rockers
Sittin On Top Of The World - DJ Screw & Big Floyd
Dusk 2 Dawn 1996 - Screwed Up Records
Juana 1600 by Chucho Valdés & Irakere
End
Madrigal Poem - Nicolas Guillen
City Lights Poets Anthology
Edited by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
With Words and Footage by
Kwame Ture (not feat in video but in soundscape)
Marcus Garvey
Malcolm X
Victoria Santa Cruz
The Birth of a Nation
One by Ken Ohara