About this piece
In July 2020, I approached Rebecca Chen to help me capture video for a fixed-media protest piece. We quickly recognized the project’s potential and committed to kickstarting a platform for an emerging student movement. That summer, with Peyton Young‘s added help, we interviewed about a dozen Longhorn Band members and student-athletes in an effort to uncover the sinister history behind the university’s alma mater.
The petition reached a thousand signatures within 24 hours of its drop on September 18th. The soundtrack to the video piece has been listened to over 30,000 times on Instagram and strikes the tone of the activist’s demands by re-orchestrating “The Eyes of Texas”. This version aims to imagine the impression the song may have had on marginalized students ever since its minstrel debut in 1903.
The #RewriteNotReclaim movement is ongoing and maintains an active presence on social media.
Total duration: approx. 2′ 00″
Medium
- Visual media
- Logic Pro X, Ableton
- Studio recording
Related links:
- Blog post (coming soon)
- Listen on SoundCloud
- Petition on Change.org
To commission a similar project, please contact me directly.
Audio outtakes: the protest variations
After scoring the petition video, I used leftover audio samples to construct otherworldly, electronic ambiances. These variations further elaborate on the aesthetic directive of #RewriteNotReclaim and decontextualize certain sonic landmarks pertinent to Longhorn culture.
For full credits, please visit the #RewriteNotReclaim petition.