THE FORMALDEHYDE TRIP

Written and directed by Mexico City artist Naomi Rincón Gallardo, “The Formaldehyde Trip” is a cycle of songs and videos dedicated to murdered Mixtec activist Alberta “Bety” Cariño, performed live with crafty and ornate props, and echoes from Mexican B-side Sci-Fi films of the 60s and 70s. The work imagines Bety Cariño’s journey through the underworld where she encounters women warriors, witches and widows, the dual-gendered goddess of death and animals preparing her rebirth party. An axolotl (Mexican salamander) in formaldehyde is the storyteller who agitates between fact, fiction and friction.

Presented at SFMOMA and co-produced by Galeria De La Raza, in San Francisco, CA, 2016 & 2017.

Presented at The Broad Museum in L.A., 2018. It was included in the Pacific Standard Time Festival: Live Art LA/LA organized by REDCAT – Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, and is the first program in The Broad’s continuing “En Cuatro Patas” Latinx feminist performance series. #PSTinLA

Naomi Rincón Gallardo: Narrator, video production, props and costume design

Federico Schmucler: Composer, guitar, synths

David R Molina: Co-music producer, arranger, guitar, cello, percussion, synths, flutes, and live vocal effect processing,

Danishta Rivero, David Katz, San Cha: Vocals

Marin: Drums