start walking…

Hi Andrea

I think our time is running now. It’s time to materialize our thoughts into metal (to say it in same way). I don’t want to start to close our conversation, maybe still there’s a lot to say.

I spend the last days of 2009 , and the first of 2010 walking. We walked during 6 days. We climb a mountain and we were in a natural hot springs. We didn’t find other people during this days. It is really amazing to be in a place like that, where you really can make a contrast between what we called civilization and nature. Where you can see the water that feed the cities, and how it was the land before the first migrations started. Point zero.

In this area you can see a lot of  trails that have been made by muleteers (arrieros), because they move their animals in summer (generally cows) from the lower ground to upper sides, looking for good grass for their animals. They usually trespass the “imaginary” boundaries between Chile and Argentina. There’s no limits for them, even the mountains or big canyons. They trace their path putting images of saints in the tress. They carve the trees and put this image with candles. You also find empty bottles of liquor in this places. They sign the tress with their names and dates.

They are migrating every year to the same place. Sometimes they are alone for several months. It’s inherent to them to sign the road and their pass. They are living a trace, a basic one, but a trace.