Is The Train Coming? Roll Down The Window!

“Is The Train Coming? Roll Down The Window!” is a single-channel video filmed on the train rails in the Northern Mexican city of Saltillo. The video engages with acts of remembrance, survival, and time to highlight the Mexican migration nostalgia. There are no stop lights to alert the car drivers the train will pass, so to prevent accidents, the train horn sounds continuously for minutes. 

There are two audios in the piece: one, is Maria José Dávila singing acapella Chavela Varga’s song “Simples Cosas.” She recorded herself at her home, located next to the train rails, and sent the audio to González via Whatsapp. The second audio is the train passing through the rails. The train had cars from the Canadian Pacific Railways and Kansas City Southern.

3:16 mins, single channel video, WhatsApp audio.

2020