1 00:00:05,220 --> 00:00:09,360 [Minerva Cuevas: Bridging Borders] 2 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:15,140 The term "political activist" is problematic. 3 00:00:18,300 --> 00:00:22,240 I think the challenge is to 4 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:25,920 stop using the references to activism 5 00:00:25,940 --> 00:00:32,980 because everybody has this agency to react to daily life 6 00:00:33,020 --> 00:00:36,380 and therefore generate political actions. 7 00:00:47,700 --> 00:00:49,780 --[NEWS CORRESPONDENT] At the U.S.-Mexican border, 8 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,200 --a fence separates two worlds. 9 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:54,120 --Poverty to the south. 10 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:55,460 --Wealth to the north. 11 00:00:56,260 --> 00:01:00,400 [CUEVAS] In general, I think my work is the research I do. 12 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:06,980 I planned a project for the Mexican and U.S. border. 13 00:01:06,980 --> 00:01:08,580 My general idea was: 14 00:01:08,580 --> 00:01:11,460 If there is a border, there could be a bridge. 15 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:16,760 I had never been in the area of the Rio Bravo. 16 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:23,100 I learned that the historical border is the deepest part of the river. 17 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,940 At the end I found an area that was a kind of natural bridge. 18 00:01:29,940 --> 00:01:34,000 And I decided to use the rocks in that part of the river 19 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,480 to cross from the U.S. to Mexico and back. 20 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,180 I was marking the rocks with limestone 21 00:01:44,180 --> 00:01:47,980 just to make a sign of the crossing. 22 00:01:49,220 --> 00:01:54,840 You could see this dotted line going across the Rio Bravo. 23 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:04,200 With the installation, there were elements related to walking-- 24 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:05,740 like walking sticks 25 00:02:05,740 --> 00:02:09,910 and books talking about the Chihuahuan desert. 26 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:16,600 The act of walking from south to north was the most political act you could do. 27 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:18,400 [NEWS CORRESPONDENT] President Trump's proposed wall 28 00:02:18,409 --> 00:02:20,269 along the U.S.-Mexico border 29 00:02:20,269 --> 00:02:22,840 could cost nearly 22 billion dollars. 30 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:24,459 As first reported by Reuters, 31 00:02:24,460 --> 00:02:27,120 it could take about three-and-a-half years to build. 32 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,460 [CUEVAS] You learn about the border through media. 33 00:02:31,700 --> 00:02:34,780 It's connected to limits or control. 34 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:40,280 Violence is a very strong element in this perception 35 00:02:40,300 --> 00:02:41,980 of what's the border. 36 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,060 Along the river, you have some border patrols; 37 00:02:48,060 --> 00:02:50,180 but, there were no signs. 38 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:55,600 The whole area was free of any fence or wall. 39 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:02,920 Not witnessing anything connected to that kind of mediatic violence, 40 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:05,480 it's the first liberation. 41 00:03:05,900 --> 00:03:10,680 You realize that what is intimidating is the desert itself. 42 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,100 Lately, I've been invited as part of talks 43 00:03:18,109 --> 00:03:21,129 that have to do with climate change 44 00:03:21,129 --> 00:03:23,620 or urban development 45 00:03:23,620 --> 00:03:28,080 and the idea of "the artist as an activist." 46 00:03:29,340 --> 00:03:34,240 There is this expectation of one action generating a lot of change. 47 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,739 Books and projects can be important, 48 00:03:36,740 --> 00:03:39,000 but they won't be a solution. 49 00:03:39,860 --> 00:03:45,780 The problems or the crisis in the world is generated by everybody. 50 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:51,440 So it has to be also a massive reaction what changes reality. 51 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:52,620 [CROWD CHANTING] No ban, no wall! 52 00:03:52,629 --> 00:03:53,859 No ban, no wall! 53 00:03:53,859 --> 00:03:55,090 No ban, no wall! 54 00:03:55,090 --> 00:03:56,319 No ban, no wall! 55 00:03:56,319 --> 00:04:01,349 [CUEVAS] Nationalism nowadays is linked to violence and the Other 56 00:04:01,349 --> 00:04:04,769 and the differences between communities 57 00:04:04,769 --> 00:04:11,020 rather than some kind of uniting element that is more necessary nowadays. 58 00:04:12,420 --> 00:04:15,620 The wall wouldn't stop immigration. 59 00:04:15,620 --> 00:04:19,730 The wall only reinforces this original imaginary 60 00:04:19,730 --> 00:04:22,600 that's connecting the border with violence. 61 00:04:24,460 --> 00:04:28,580 In fact, it would empower human trafficking. 62 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:36,879 It seems that the reactions are now getting a little bit more extreme 63 00:04:36,879 --> 00:04:40,780 in terms of rethinking what's being human 64 00:04:40,780 --> 00:04:44,520 and what do we want from not only politics 65 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,000 but from our daily lives. 66 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,680 How do we want to confront our reality.