I met Argeenis, a 23-year-old drag queen from Ciudad Juárez, on my fifth day of documenting El Paso’s Border Tuner art project. The multimedia installation by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer virtually connected El Paso and Juárez for 12 days in November. The public was invited to operate searchlights installed at six stations on both sides of the Rio Grande. When two beams of light crossed from opposite sides, microphones and speakers switched on, allowing people to talk with each other across the wall separating the two cities.
Read more from the Observer:
-
Reform Candidates are Trying to Change the Definition of a ‘Progressive Prosecutor’ in Texas: Kim Ogg’s primary challenge for Harris County District Attorney is one of several prosecutor races in Texas that could redefine the bounds of criminal justice reform in the state.
-
Six Texas Oil Refineries Are Among the Nation’s Worst Benzene Polluters, Data Shows: Benzene was detected at the facilities’ fencelines, and nearby communities could be exposed to the cancer-causing pollutant.
-
Something in the Air: In the Texas Panhandle, which produces a fifth of the U.S. beef supply, communities are being choked by fecal dust from nearby feedlots. The state’s regulatory agency isn’t doing anything about it—and it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
