The Breath of Death
2022
Performance Installation [3D scanner & software, blowgun (origin: Philippines), darts, MacBook, monitor, microphone, PA system & speakers]
Dimensions variable
The Breath of Death is an activation of the installation Destroy the Image. This performance acts as a living archive of forgotten choreographies, referencing Indigenous Filipino weaponry, centering the use of a sumpit - a Filipino blowgun. Drawing from diasporic ontologies, Garcia addresses the inherent losses that occur in the translocation of cultural practices over geographies and generations. Through the re-rendering of gestures from analog (body) to digital (live 3D scanning), ruptures and glitches become modes of grief. With compassion, Garcia explores what it is to insist on embracing these losses instead of concealing them.
This work was developed over a one week residency at das weisse haus in their rotunda exhibition space. In addition, Garcia created a video work titled, Dissumulations, using the imagery from the multiple 3D scans, which were captured over the development period and during the live performance. The audio is sampled from a scene from the cult classic martial arts film, Enter The Dragon.
Dissimulations, 2022, single-channel video, color, sound, 12:25 mins
Exhibition History: das weisse haus (2022)
Image Credit: Photography by Xenia Shapiro & Joanna Pianka, courtesy of das weisse haus