Picking Up Art From the Border

John Rohrbach, the senior curator of photographs at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, begins planning exhibitions a few years in advance. So when he selected “Border Cantos,” he may not have realized just how timely it would be.

The show, a collaboration between photographer Richard Misrach and composer Guillermo Galindo, explores the border between the United States and Mexico. Coincidentally, it opened three weeks before an election which could forever alter that landscape. But if Border Cantos has an agenda, it is is more humanitarian than political.

“The artists, on some level, side more with the Democratic argument than the Trump argument. But their point is not to take specific sides. Their point is to say, ‘We have an issue here, we have a problem here, and we feel we need to simply document it,’” Rohrbach says.



The reality of this problem is illustrated poignantly through photographs and discarded objects from the border, some of which Galindo has fashioned into instruments. The composer uses these instruments to create a symphony of ambient sounds.

“Misrach shows you what the border looks like, and it shows you, essentially, evidence of our time,” Rohrbach says. “What Galindo tries to share with you is the atmosphere that [immigrants] encounter along the border – something that you can’t really visualize photographically.”

The two artists began working together on Border Cantos in 2012, though they each respectively worked on similar projects before that.

Misrach has photographed the lived-in landscape of the Southwest throughout his career, turning his focus to the US-Mexico border in 2004. Seven years later, the photographer had a revelation when he saw Galindo perform with instruments made from objects found on the border.

“When Misrach saw and heard Galindo play, the proverbial lightbulb went off. He chased him down after the concert, and said ‘I’ve got some images to show you that relate directly to what you’re doing,’” Rohrbach says.

The two began collaborating shortly after this. Misrach would photograph discarded objects along the border, then send them to Galindo to transform into instruments. Together, they found a way to give substance to the abstract idea of the border.

Border Cantos is the result of four years of collaboration between the two artists. Combining photographs, physical objects, and audio, the show creates a sensory experience to parallel that of an immigrant.

“The border becomes a journey. It’s what you can’t see, and what none of us see, but what we all know is going on,” Rohrbach says. “This is a major issue of our time. What Misrach and Galindo are trying to do is just draw your attention to it and make you think about it.”