A Body of Water
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Amaury Lopez
Artist Statement
A body of water could of course be interpreted in any way or form, but I made these music and videos with the goal to achieve a weightless state of mind, regarding everything tangible or intangible that puts weight on one’s consciousness or subconscious. At first I thought it was the sight of the sun-rays being distorted that gave me the weightless feeling, but I was wrong. To me, it comes with having my body under any kind of water whether it is the ocean, a bathtub, or a pool. I tried to make a sonic representation of the state of mind that doing this gives me.
For the song Under, I used an analogue warm synthesizer sound primarily in a way that it portrayed the muffle-ness in sound that one experiences while being underwater. I think the synth fits perfectly. For the visual representation of this work, I chose to film myself in a bathtub wearing clothes in order to provide a sense of confusion. I’m doing a usual task such as showering, but unusually wearing clothes. This, I think, is a very abstract representation of how I came to realize how this body of work made me feel, that what I was actually looking for was not only in bodies of water that were out of the ordinary, but also in my comfort zone, or in my house. I could achieve this relaxing sensation in the tub. It’s like jumping into the tub right when I acquired the realization that this was how I achieved this weightless feeling. For the song The Weightless Man, my mother reads a poem in Spanish that describes a Muslim kid becoming a man through performing, what their culture considers, a man worthy task. The song sonically describes the feelings that I’ve had regarding manhood and the departure of childhood in my life. All the while, this poem is being recited in the background by my birth giver. In the visual representation, I expose my body to the ocean, which I represent as the vastness of destiny, and the uncertainty of what the futures has for me. Understanding one’s interests and thoughts, I think, also comes with becoming an adult.
In some way, I think realizing that being underwater gives me an extremely pleasant feeling is part of becoming a man and understanding my interests, thoughts, and feelings. Plus, the ocean, although seemingly vast, brings tranquility and clearness to my mind. These may change over time, but the understanding of said things and the fact that they’ll most likely change is important as well. Humans are bodies of water. I think that the closer we are to water in any way, the closer we are to life in whatever way one wants to take that statement. Maybe it’s because it reunites us, like a puppy who stops crying when reunited with its mother since, to water that gave us birth.
UTRGV School of Art Brownsville Campus 