James Sterling Pitt

what leads to a resting place

“My life is not this steeply sloping hour,
in which you see me hurrying.
Much stands behind me; I stand before it like a tree; I am only one of my many mouths,
and at that, the one that will be still the soonest.

I am the rest between two notes,
which are somehow always in discord
because Death’s note wants to climb over—
but in the dark interval, reconciled,
they stay there trembling.
And the song goes on, beautiful.”

― Rainer Maria Rilke

a crutch

Visitors to the holy site El Santuario, New Mexico, come from all over the world. Many are pilgrims who walk long distances, sometimes barefoot, sometimes carrying large wooden crosses. Some visitors are religious and make the journey to be closer to God and there are others who come out of simple curiosity.

El Posito is in a small, candle-lit side room off to the side of the main altar. Even the door to this room is tiny and most who enter stoop. A visitor must kneel to reach and scoop out the tierra bendita (sacred earth) that is in the hole in the stone floor. Many apply the dirt to places on their bodies corresponding to the wounds Jesus received during his crucifixion. Pilgrims people believe that if rubbed on the body the dirt can ease arthritis, paralysis, sore throat, sadness, and the pains of childbirth. Some also believe that a pinch thrown into the fire will avert or disperse a storm. James rubbed the sacred dirt of El Posito into his drawing.

There is a wall of crutches and walkers discarded by those healed by El Posito – there are also crosses, crucifixes and notes which have been left by visitors. All of these effects are mounted or resting on a stone wall.

Duane Pitre says: "Two major focal points in the creation of Feel Free were rhythm and melody, compositional elements I'd not explored much in my past work (as harmony and texture were my main focuses). I created an open yet orderly system, intending to produce potentially infinite variations of self-generating rhythm and melody. This musical system, combined with the fixed elements of the composition, spawned what one could call a musical latticework, rich with layers and interweaving rhythmic patterns that superimpose themselves upon each other. It is a system rooted in chaos that finds alignment in a myriad of ways."