Teletextile: Artemisia - Touching at a Distance by Pamela Martinez
A Nature Driven Sound Journey at San Pedro Creek Culture Park
Presented by Luminaria Artist Foundation and San Antonio River Authority
October 21 - 30, 2020 | Sound Walk Sunday, Oct. 25, 6-8 PM
This Fall, artist Pamela Martinez, recipient of the 2020 Luminaria Artist Foundation Grant in the Performing Arts category, debuts Teletextile: Artemisia, a series of immersive performances inspired by the healing power of nature, the open sky of Texas, and the iconic San Antonio River. The second installment of the Artemesia series, Touching at a Distance presents the interplay of nature and sound. Sound being a synonym for touch in a time when we may need touch for healing, but because of health concerns we have been keeping our distance from each other. As vibrations reach your ear they touch your most sensitive receptors being able to experience vibrations from great distances away. We ask that guests walk through the 3 block space and not stay at any location for longer for than a few mins to help maintain proper social distancing guidelines. We please ask that people also exit the exhibit space promptly after your experience.
Central to Artemisia: Touching at a Distance is Martinez's sonic sculpture – an eight foot Aeolian wind harp that produces ethereal harmonic frequencies when high winds blow across its strings. The striking image of the wind harp’s physical structure is always present for the viewer’s eye, but can only be heard from strong winds that often come before or after storms, reminding us that in the most chaotic of times there is beauty to be found. This piece will be on display in the lower plaza of San Pedro Creek Culture Park for the 10-day series and beyond. Sound Sculpture fabricated by Wayland Roed.
Join us Sunday, October 25, 2020 from 6-8pm for a Sound Walk Installation along the San Pedro Creek Culture Park on Camaron Street that includes spooky recorded sounds of wind harps in action. This event can be enjoyed with a slow drive down Camaron Street with your journey starting at Travis Street and ending at Santa Rosa Street. The event will also have a station explaining how wind harps work and how to make your own at home using a cardboard box. Come out to enjoy the scenery and these experimental sounds while strolling along the beautiful banks of the river. All activities will be outdoors, socially distanced, and for mask-wearing participants only. We have some optional touch points along with gloves provided and sanitizing supplies. Event is FREE.
Teletextile: Artemisia is part of a cumulative project that will culminate in the final performance Teletextile: Estafiate. The overall concept of this performance series is to give people resources and ideas to help them through this intensely transformative time of stress, sickness, and loss while previewing a composition of music-centered theater in progress for the 2021 Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival. The wind harp sculpture will also be featured in the full-length immersive music performance to debut at the Festival. The immersive theater Pamela Martinez creates and the music she composes are integral elements of her personal healing journey. Her desire is to pass on these healing elements through performance.
Pamela Martinez is a San Antonio native who spent the last 18 years performing and creating primarily in Brooklyn, NY, but she has recently begun calling the River City home again. Pamela created The Teletextile Ritual Arts Ensemble, a cast of rotating collaborators that weaves together a tapestry of music, movement, reiki, and other healing rituals to create a mixture of performance and wellness practice. Teletextile will include the following artists for Touching at a Distance: Chris Castillo, Mark Gurrola, Gustavo Garcia, and Xavier Gilmore.
Martinez passes on the craft of music and wellbeing by teaching and leading workshops including monthly sound bath meditations at the Teletextile Studio (SATX) located at Mercury Project Contemporary Art Space. www.teletextile.org Instagram Facebook
Creation of this work was made possible in part by an award from the Luminaria Artist Foundation with funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Department of Arts & Culture of the City of San Antonio.
Aeolian Harp by Fredrich Chopin (Piano Music Inspired by Aeolian Wind Harps)
https://youtu.be/VXlZWSjqg2Y
https://youtu.be/zFNAcyfpIQk
Eolian Harp by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Poem inspired by Aeolian Wind Harps)
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52301/the-eolian-harp