Body Packing

Body Packing (2012) is a musical score created for the People’s Microphony Camerata.  Itis an ephemeral protest against the arbitrary regulation of territories and the denial of access to those territories based on fear. This protest will utilize the breath of individuals who, due to immigration politics, cannot enter US territory. Through the transduction of breath, those absent will be given form through the People’s Microphony Camerata’s bodies and voices.

The title, Body Packing, refers to a vernacular term that is used to describe the introduction of illegal substances into the body in order to transport them. Here, “body packing” will be the act of transporting breath from one body to another, and then giving it shape through a borrowed voice. The score has two main intervals: the trafficking of breath from sites outside of the United States across the US border with mules and the US Postal Service, and the use of this breath by the members of the People’s Microphony Camerata to produce sounds with their bodies in front of an audience. The piece will present itself in different installments, each installment focussing on the breath of a different individual. The title of each installment will be the migratory status and current location of the corresponding breath source.

Body Packing seeks to examine the possibility of an ontological transduction through more concrete experiences, such as breath and sound, to create a molecular communication of illicit sound between those absent and both the People’s Microphony Camerata and the audience members.

Phase I: Trafficking

All participants who agree to enter the United States through their breath will have been denied entrance for migratory reasons (visa denial, visa expiration, etc). The breath will be hidden in transparent, seemingly benign materials such as air cushions and bubble wrap, which are used to protect unimportant decoy objects. All breath will be arrive in Tijuana, Mexico, before it is brought across the border. It will then be shipped directly to Los Angeles, to the People’s Microphony Camerata.

Phase II: Packing

The bodies that will be used to carry and distribute the breath as sound, members of the People’s Microphony Camerata, will receive the packages of breath. They will be opened and inhaled in front of an audience and then project the breath as sound. The sound should somehow convey elements from the situation and the individual. The size of the breath packets will help determine the duration of each sound, longer sounds for larger containers, shorter for smaller, and also may be used to help indicate other sound qualities.

Acts:

Act I:    Visa Denied, Tijuana

Act II:   Visa Rescinded: Toronto

Act III:  Visa Expired: Zagreb

Participants: Veronika Bauer, Gabriela Torres Olivares, Erin Perry, People’s Microphony Camerata