Isabella Cruz-Chong

Isabella Cruz-Chong is a conceptual artist and a supporter of collective cultures. She takes on the roles of maker, designer, educator and researcher. Her interests address boundaries, liminality and multi-sensory experiences with a desire to foster self-awareness and blur lines between divisive perspectives.

 

Line of Breath

Line of Breath is a sound installation embedded on the US/MX political fence in an attempt to manifest a liminal state and give life to this often neglected in-between.

I grew up crossing the border between Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, California. This upbringing created in me a liminal state of being that I embody and inhabit. Line of Breath is a sound installation that manifests this state and attempts to give life to this in-between zone. The installation consists of a series of transducers and custom speakers attached to a 15-meter section of the metal border fence in Tijuana. It plays sound recordings of my breathing, transforming the fence into a single speaker, a single living unit. One hears a single, breathing soundscape coming from the transducers, and when one leans towards the fence to the custom speakers, one hears a second breath sound recording. The work reveals the coexistence of two perceived opposites and, with it, acknowledges and draws attention to this often neglected space overlooked by dualistic or politicized points of view. The research for the piece drew from touch, sound, earth art and socially-engaged art in the context of liminality, boundaries and politics. The project started as an identity exploration and grew to include community involvement. Ultimately, Line of Breath has led me to reflect on the redefinition of boundaries, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally.