Federico Cuatlacuatl Teles &
On the sacred hill Tlacuaquilo, two time travellers materialize while a disembodied voice speaking Nahuatl reflects on the disastrous rippling effects of colonialism, the resistance and resilience of Indigenous people and cultures, and the complexity of navigating imposed borders (state, identity, linearity etc.). The two travellers are actually many, comprised of numerous selves, and simultaneously exist in several places and times concurrently. Federico Cuatlacuatl Teles’ TIEMPEROS DEL ANTROPOCENO: TOLCHIKAUALISTLI presents a glimpse of these figures in full regalia, which incorporates colorful embroidery along with protective gear for interdimensional travel, as they stop by to deliver their crucial message en route to anytime and anywhere.
There’s a third unseen — yet seeing — companion joining the two travellers on the hilltop. Always nearby, this remora-like drone-eye vessel has a symbiotic relationship with the travel- lers; it swims through the air and records their presence. The drone-eye encircles them, sometimes observing from up high, sometimes from below while gently resting in the long grass. The recording it produces exists on a unique timescale, slowed down from discernable reality, a lingering and respectful consideration of their presence and message. The drone- eye also picks up floating digital anomalies with its gaze as they materialize and de-materialize on this plane of reality. These visitors from the time-stream are sometimes figural and sometimes clustered legions of geometric beings. Their (dis)appearance at this place is further evidence that the time-spatial veil is thin and passable here.
Emerging from ethereal sounds of radio static and tuning, the disembodied voice speaks: »We were forced to self- displace... Stuck in a vortex and limbo of spatial and temporal tensions... .« The travelers’ arms rise and are held firmly toward the sky. The voice continues with defiant conviction: »We continue navigating, discovering, subsisting, unearthing, resisting... We’re almost there.« The voice proposes »smuggling re-indigenization.« The act of smuggling can be utilized as a social and political tactic for ›unauthorized‹ self-determined movement, breaking imposed restrictions and embracing the power of being inbetween states (geopolitically or otherwise). The borderland is reconfigured as a place of resourcefulness, strength, resilience, community building, time malleability and identity (de/re)construction and (re)assertion. (Erik Martinson)
Performed by Borrego – Omar Xique Cuautle, Birija – Adrian Xique Trinidad
Photography Director: David Morales
Images: Federico Cuatlacuatl Teles, Tiemperos Del Antropoceno: TOLCHIKAUALISTLI, 2021 © David Morales
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