Phillip Byrne, Beatriz Cortez, Tatiana Guerrero, with live performance by Benjamin Cortez

Other Frequencies, 2022–2023

Mixed media

Other Frequencies is a collaborative installation consisting of sculptural elements by each of the artists: a plant root system, the cosmos, the living body, and a sound performance tuned to the interconnectedness of these elements. The Earth and the cosmos act as a portal to cross boundaries and listen deeply to the memories carried by plants, rocks, life in the cosmos, and the interior world of bodies. The artists invite the viewer to connect with the subterranean world where rivers flow, matters migrate, and roots touch each other, find nourishment, and utilize plant languages to communicate. As described by the artists, “Land safeguards our bones, the memories of our life on this planet, our gestures of generosity, our cultures and technologies, our spiritual connection to the planet and the cosmos.” The works in the installation tune our minds and ears towards frequencies existing outside of ourselves — bridged by a live performance of ambient communication across species and the energies that sustain life by musician Benjamin Cortez.

The public performance will take place at the site of the installation on September 18th at 6:00 pm

Phillip Byrne was born in Sacramento and raised in California’s Central Valley. His work focuses on the porosity of bodies, and the non-anthropocentric entanglements between bodies, viewing life as multispecies collaborations and relationships between different types of matter. Experiences with illness have informed his fascination with the permeability, breakdown, and the metamorphic nature of the boundaries of self and identity. He holds an MFA in Studio Art from the University of California, Davis. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

Beatriz Cortez is a multidisciplinary artist born in El Salvador and based in Los Angeles. Her work explores simultaneity, multiple temporalities, the untimely, and speculative futures. She has received numerous awards, including the Latinx Artist Fellowship (2023) and the Borderlands Fellowship from the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School (2022-24). She holds an MFA in Art from CalArts. She teaches  at UC Davis. She lives and works in Davis and Los Angeles.

Tatiana Guerrero is a sculptor and multimedia artist based in Los Angeles. Born in El Salvador, she was raised by a family of artists. Her work explores memory, migration, and displacement, and its lasting effects on one's life and community. She is a member of the nomadic collective of artists and thinkers, "Imaginaries of the future." The years she has spent carefully crafting sculptures from various media in Beatriz Cortez’ studio have had a tremendous creative impact on Guerrero's work.

Benjamin Cortez is a multi-instrumental musician who breathes new life into the classic music of the 60s and 70s with his soulful, high-energy performances on vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, and drums. His diverse sensibilities reflect the eclectic cultural landscape of his hometown, Phoenix, Arizona. In 2018, he released his first album, “In Your Hands,” featuring eight original compositions that he performed, recorded, and mixed at his studio. He holds a degree in Jazz Piano Performance from Arizona State University.