Nothing but the Blood, named after the Christian hymn, is a video performance that includes audio, video and projection mapped elements. It references Mexican and Russian history and cultural icons to explore and question identity and nationality. It also references religion as an aspect of identity.

Each set of videos uses similar images but the color loses brightness and intensity as the piece progresses. The first set of videos, reference the Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow and cacti in Mexico. I applied glass and chrome materials to each object and created similar camera animations. The second set of videos use Theremin’s silhouette and Kahlo’s defining facial features as source material for the objects. I applied metal materials to each object and made the camera animations similar. The third set of videos use the same objects as the two sides begin to unify. I used the Communist hammer and sickle in order to reference the historical significance of this political party for both countries. Finally, the final video references the hymn’s lyrics:

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! precious is the flow That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

I believe nationality is secondary to other things that are more identifying of a person; one of those things can be religion. The backdrop is a vibrant red that references the lyrics of this hymn and contrasts greatly from the dullness of the Russian and Mexican videos. The three objects are inspired by the Holy Trinity and the circles reference the idea of unity and completeness. I applied a water material onto these objects because there are countless bible verses that compare Jesus to water. The camera interacts a bit more with this video. 

Each video, made in Maya, is composed of a 3D object, a backdrop and camera animation. Initially I was going to use static images, but decided to use 3D models because I was inspired by the work of Brendi LW. I watched Lynda and Youtube videos to learn about camera animations and custom spherical skyboxes. A classmate suggested and taught me to create objects from lines made in Adobe Illustrator. Each skybox is my rendition of natural Russian and Mexican landscapes.The color choice was inspired by the flags of each country and colors used in Kahlo’s paintings. The Russian objects are more organic in shape to reference Kahlo’s aesthetic style and the Mexican objects are more rigid and mechanical in reference to the blueprint of a theremin. The theremini also has a sleek, futuristic look to it that I also used as inspiration for the materials placed onto the objects. The Russian landscape is made of mountains and the Mexican landscape was made of deserts.

As I began to research the theremin, I learned about the inventor, Leon Theremin. I reflected on my identity as a Mexican born woman in 2018, playing an instrument made by a Russian man in 1920, almost 100 years later. I began to read about the parallels in Russian and Mexican history and read about the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the fact that Leon Trotsky sought asylum in Mexico and was housed by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Kahlo and Theremin were alive at the same time and I chose these two figures to draw aesthetic and thematic inspiration for my animations. Theremin lived in the United States for a while but was not successful and ended up returning the Russia. Kahlo was part of the Mexican Communist Party which was ultimately unsuccessful and was absorbed into the Party of the Democratic Revolution.

At the beginning of the conceptual process, I decided to make something that thematically dealt with identity through the downplaying of nationality and the emphasis of other ideals such as religion. I chose to use the theremin in order to experiment with sound art through an instrument that is unique and detached from the player in the sense that you do not touch it to play. The theremin is a Russian instrument with endless possibilities. I began learning the basics of music theory on musictheory.net in order to identify the scale and note range that I wanted to use for the piece. I also read Progressive Exercises for the Theremin by Victor Estrada. I watched Youtube videos made by Carolina Eyck. I began to practice Russian hand positions to play the theremin but quickly realized that this was not practical for my performance since the projections would not have a lot of surface area. I decided on using open palms to play. I downloaded the theremin editor driver that comes with a Moog Theremini and began to watch videos on Lynda to learn more about soundwave shapes and delay to create new presets to play on the theremini. I altered the “strange stuff” preset and added a lot of delay and feedback in order to create an effect that was unpleasant. This would be used to play the beginning portion of the piece.