´
HYDROLITHIC MODULATIONS:
HYDROLITHIC MODULATIONS:
AQUIFEROUS ECHOES OF THE RANCHERÍA RIVER’S MIDDLE BASIN
hydrolithic modulations learn with the local relational cosmologies, onto-epistemologies and imaginaries interwoven in the territory at both vertical and horizontal scales (ulloa, 2020). these frameworks foster a subject-specific mode of inquiry —radiophonic ethnography— with which the project traces the volumetric bifurcations of water, exceeding modern notions that silence the underground. following the aquifers of the middle basin, these traces follow the elemental dynamics configuring infrastructures through which aquifers emerge to the surface, conceptualized as cosmotechnical assemblages.
these modulations iterate through five cosmotechnical assemblages—water eye, jagüey, wind wheel, leaching pond, and mining pit—as nodes in the interdependent hydric network that spans the middle ranchería river basin.
throughout this project, these assemblages are analyzed through an experimental manual that delves into the divergent cosmological, technological and affective processes through which aquifers, as inherently relational intensities, emerge. furthermore, these processes are rearticulated in three complementary acoustic modulations —repertoires, cartographies, and choreographies—with which to listen to the relational condition of aquifers at different scales.
these hydrolithic modulations learn to listen to the subsurface of the middle ranchería river basin, opening other forms of sense-making that emerge from its uncertainties and contingencies. in this process, they unfold aquifer imaginaries that challenge the modern cosmological condition, enabling new ways of perceiving, feeling, and thinking about the subterranean space beyond its extractivist silencing.
GLOSSARY
𓄼 radiophonic ethnography
- “beneath a dusky sky webbed with black horizontal cables, a road crafted
solely for coal trucks bears no signs; the land stretches, with no other
infrastructure on sight. the radio, nonetheless, picks up two stations: the
national station, and another one, where the voice of a woman delivers a
religious sermon. everyday at the stroke of six, a distant intent of patriotism
stirs through the static, synchronizing the national anthem in both stations; a
hollow infrastructure attempt. the memory came back as I noted that in
each of the Resguardos we visited, radios were a common sight, hanging on
the walls.”
radiophonic ethnography is a mode of inquiry that integrates sound research into ethnographic practice, considering radio both as infrastructure and as an epistemic tool. it engages with the resonances between aquifers and radio as oscillatory mediums that connect dispersed spaces through invisible flows. in this way, it addresses the multisituated nature of underground territories and their constant reconfiguration, listening their cosmological multiplicity through the transmission and reception of waves that carry affects, materialities, memories, and relations.
𓄼 cosmotechnical assemblages
cosmotechnical assemblages are nodes where heterogeneous and dissonant elements —materials, bodies, devices, affects, knowledges, dreams, imaginaries, fantasies— converge and intertwine, generating specific configurations through which aquifers emerge. in their interaction, these elements and their relationships are constantly updated and transformed. these configurations do not adhere to exclusive cosmotechnical frameworks but rather reflect their plurality and permeability in their interactions.
𓄹 water eye (infiltration & patience)
the eye of water drips patiently, in sync with the temporalities of the valley where it emerges at the foot of the sierra nevada. its formation responds not only to geological processes but also to oneiric dynamics and territorial care practices. in zahino, dreams have been a fundamental means of orientation and knowledge of the land. through dreams, the elders were guided to Wüitourumana, a water source that not only provides sustenance but also serves as a point of connection with the ancestors and territorial dynamics that exceed the material.
the waters of the eye, laden with sulfates and metals, reveal the trace of mining in zahino. the fragmentation of the subsurface, accelerated by mining explosions, releases these compounds, hardening the water and altering its dynamics. this hardening resonates in the rhythm of the drip, which thickens and slows down, while the absence of certain plant and animal species amplifies the silence of the landscape. between these flows, the murmur of the wind and the vibration of the water configure a repertoire where the human and the more-than-human intertwine in a choreography of sedimentation, erosion, and resilience.
𓄹 jagüey (precipitation & dreams)
the jagüey is not a fixed entity but a manifestation of flows in constant transformation. it exceeds the distinction between filtration and stagnation, between land and water, between solid and liquid, revealing a porosity that blurs the boundaries between matter and process. its formation is not solely governed by the properties of the clayey soil but by a dynamic in which dream, memory, and interspecies collaboration intervene.
the recognition of moisture patterns is an act of sensory tuning with the environment, where humans and other beings interpret subtle signals to dig where water insists on appearing. this process occurs not only in wakefulness but also in dreams, where the territory is revealed in different ways: in the image of a dark crack, in the sensation of moisture underfoot, or in the echo of voices pointing to the precise site. more than a reservoir, the jagüey is a point of condensation where clay becomes fluid and water acquires form, configuring an assemblage of exchange in constant becoming, woven both in matter and in the dream experience.
𓄹 molino de viento (techno-bureaucratic governance & atlantic winds)
the wind wheel embodies processes that blend techno-bureaucratic speculation driven by modern technology, mythological and ecological forces. it unfolds through the narrow, functional notions of wind, which are simultaneously transcended by Jouktai— a plural tapestry of mythological entities.
in this context, these windy entities converge, setting the pace at which water is extracted by a steel assembly that supports a tube inserted into the ground—some reaching depths of up to 100 meters—through which groundwater is pumped and drawn.
the wind wheel is a synecdoche of the water crisis in la guajira, presented as a temporary phenomenon that conceals its structural causes. it shapes a narrative that suggests external solutions, such as the wheel itself, are the only viable response to this crisis. however, far from solving the water scarcity, these windmills perpetuate a model of external management and dependency that strips communities of their ancestral knowledge and territorial water autonomy.
𓄹 leaching pond (sedimentation, leaching & naivité)
the leaching ponds partially retain the residues from leaching, which refers to the application of liquids, usually acidic or alkaline solutions, onto crushed materials, dissolving the coal.
as an assembly, the pond presents a fragmentable notion of ecology by promoting the naïve belief that an ecosystem can be isolated and controlled, overlooking the complex interactions between molecular, geological, and biological processes. upon contact with oxygen, the leached residues generate chemical reactions that are destructive to the soil and water, thus perpetuating a fragmented notion of an ecology.
the pond is a process of slow violence, of poisoning, where toxic residues filter into the soil, water, and air, creating a silent and persistent contamination. these processes reveal how the engineering of sedimentation, based on the false promise of isolation, reinforces an extractivist system that ignores the interconnection of bodies, territories, and ecological processes.
𓄹 mining pit (drainage & development)
the mining pit is a device of territorial dispossession that, through the violent drainage of the middle basin, fragments and reorganizes the land based on the notion of the underground as a resource to be exploited. drainage, a fundamental part of open-pit mining, not only impacts the availability of surface water but also alters underground dynamics, affecting aquifers and modifying groundwater flows.
in this context, water becomes a subjugated resource: it is not only used in the coal washing process, but, seen as an obstacle, it is violently drained into the pit, transforming the watershed into an object of control and extractive management. this mining assembly and its consequences on water bodies are a clear manifestation of how extractivism, driven by transnational interests, destroys territories and eliminates possible futures.
𓄼 modulations
repertoires navigates the imaginaries, as well as the discursive and narrative aspects that are part of each of the assemblies. it does so through 24-hour acoustic recordings of soundscapes and conversations with those who interact in these spaces.
this modulation listens to the collective chorus of each assembly, including spoken word, musical expressions, soundscapes, and imaginaries manifested in the interviews. these rhythms, cadences, textures, and dynamics were woven into a polyphonic radio network broadcasted from south guajira.
these repertoires are a collaboration with the zahino community (fatima epiayú, juan, epiayú, marcela epiayú), the el rocío community (leobaldo sierra), the itaca community (humberto duarte), eduvilia uriiana, camilo pachón, elizabeth gallón droste, genesis gutierrez epiayú, helgard rosemarie johanna klüßendorf, isaac matus, maría rosario gutierrez epiayú, sandra maestre, sara alvarado & simón jaramillo vallejo.
𓄹 (hydrolithic) cartographies
cartographies encompasses a multimodal sensory artifact that integrates field recordings of the underground within each of the assemblies, using geophones, soil microphones, and hydrophones. these recordings are geolocated within an intertemporal map constructed from aerial photographs of the ranchería floodplain, from 1961 to the present, obtained from the agustín codazzi geographic institute. to this spatial representation, a third dimension is added by incorporating toxicological evaluation data extracted from studies by the geoenvironmental corporation terrae and the colombian geological service.
the artifact traces moisture patterns in the photographs, and as it moves across the image, it activates the geolocated field recordings at the traced points. these recordings are processed through a geogranular synthesizer, which simultaneously performs a chemical speciation analysis based on the data sets corresponding to each specific geographic site. this analysis is not static but dynamic, influencing and modifying the synthesizer’s parameters in real-time.
the physicochemical properties of each site directly impact the synthesizer's acoustic output, creating a direct audiovisual representation of the environmental data and acknowledging the agency of physicochemical molecular processes within the ecological framework.
𓄹 (hydrolythic) choreographies
choreographies encompasses an installation of five hydrophonic instruments. each instrument mimics the hydraulic processes of a specific assembly, functioning as a node within a network through which water flows and resonates. these processes listen to the rhythmic movements of water as it traverses the floodplain of the ranchería middle basin, affecting and being affected by the assemblies.
the installation transduces these hydrological processes into acoustic-mechanical phenomena, allowing each instrument to resonate with the hydraulic dynamics alongside materials and technologies sensitive to the sounds of water. together, they sonically imagine the fluid rhythms and dynamic cadences of water in the middle basin, weaving a sensory polyphony that delves into the elemental hydraulics of this territory.