0:00:01.370,0:00:06.540
(ambient electronic music)

0:00:08.363,0:00:11.813
(Train rattling)

0:00:11.813,0:00:13.861
(group chattering)

0:00:16.619,0:00:19.470
TANIA BRUGUERA: The strategy of the Immigrant[br]Movement project

0:00:19.470,0:00:22.880
is to open the door to things you already[br]know.

0:00:23.254,0:00:27.000
So by you coming into something you already[br]know,

0:00:27.000,0:00:30.029
you feel that you understand what's going on

0:00:30.029,0:00:33.513
and then, after, walk you[br]towards other places you don't know.

0:00:33.513,0:00:36.268
(crowd chattering)

0:00:41.341,0:00:45.520
For me, the most important moment for an art[br]piece

0:00:45.520,0:00:49.820
is when people are not sure if it's art or[br]not,

0:00:49.820,0:00:52.184
and this is the most, for me, productive moment.

0:00:52.184,0:01:00.325
(lively traditional music)

0:01:06.870,0:01:15.290
I am an artist, and I need to defend that[br]because I'm going beyond art,

0:01:15.290,0:01:19.310
because I'm trying to do things[br]that are not being seen as art.

0:01:20.666,0:01:25.199
As a political artist,[br]I always want my work to have real consequences.

0:01:28.542,0:01:31.439
The major goal of Immigrant Movement at the[br]beginning

0:01:31.439,0:01:35.840
was to rethink the political representation[br]of immigrants.

0:01:36.448,0:01:37.030
Why?

0:01:37.030,0:01:40.159
Because once you become an immigrant,[br]the first thing that is taken from you

0:01:40.159,0:01:45.409
is the opportunity to talk about politics[br]and to talk about yourself as a political

0:01:45.409,0:01:46.243
being.

0:01:46.243,0:01:53.022
(plucky string music)

0:02:04.710,0:02:10.909
I feel that I needed to do an immigrant movement[br]in the United States because

0:02:10.909,0:02:17.110
when you say, "Where do you want to live?"[br]to anybody in the world, they say, "United States."

0:02:17.110,0:02:22.180
(lively traditional music)

0:02:22.180,0:02:28.940
(singing in foreign language)

0:02:32.500,0:02:36.610
The people in Immigrant Movement are using art

0:02:36.610,0:02:43.680
to empower themselves and to change as people[br]and to change as human beings.

0:02:45.690,0:02:52.647
I'd like to welcome you to this gathering

0:02:52.647,0:02:57.577
at the end of this cycle of Immigrant Movement.

0:02:57.577,0:02:59.696
We are very happy with everything

0:02:59.696,0:03:01.468
the teachers

0:03:01.468,0:03:03.848
the people that come here

0:03:03.848,0:03:05.898
who have made

0:03:05.898,0:03:08.342
Immigrant Movement their home.

0:03:08.342,0:03:11.790
(train rattles)

0:03:14.268,0:03:17.430
Immigrant Movement has been very different[br]from other projects.

0:03:17.430,0:03:19.110
(horse hooves clopping)

0:03:19.110,0:03:22.819
For other pieces, I have opened different[br]doors.

0:03:24.000,0:03:30.740
The whole idea of the series of Tatlin's Whisper[br]came out of uncomfortable feeling I had with

0:03:30.740,0:03:32.069
the news,

0:03:32.069,0:03:39.420
the fact that, as viewers of the news,[br]we are in a way anesthetized by some of the

0:03:39.420,0:03:40.500
issues.

0:03:40.500,0:03:43.922
I had other series, but the two pieces[br]that survive

0:03:43.922,0:03:48.583
are Tatlin's Whisper 5 and[br]Tatlin's Whisper 6,

0:03:48.583,0:03:53.390
and in the first one, I wanted to bring the[br]mounted police

0:03:53.390,0:03:56.540
and ask them to do their normal job,

0:03:56.540,0:04:03.090
but instead of doing it with protestors,[br]doing it with people in the museum.

0:04:03.590,0:04:04.993
[OFFICER] Are these your children?

0:04:04.993,0:04:05.493
[VISITOR] Yes.

0:04:05.493,0:04:07.662
Could they stand with dad or with mom?

0:04:07.849,0:04:09.916
That's it, so they're not too close.

0:04:09.916,0:04:10.916
That's lovely.

0:04:10.916,0:04:11.416
Well done.

0:04:11.416,0:04:13.226
Okay, the horse is now gonna walk forward.

0:04:13.586,0:04:15.486
Could you just stand aside, please?

0:04:15.486,0:04:16.299
That's lovely.

0:04:16.299,0:04:17.299
Thank you very much.

0:04:17.790,0:04:18.790
Just wait there.

0:04:18.790,0:04:22.760
[TANIA] I always felt it was too easy[br]to look at the news of something happening

0:04:22.760,0:04:23.870
somewhere else

0:04:23.870,0:04:27.920
and just sit and change the channel.

0:04:27.920,0:04:29.310
And I wanted people to understand,

0:04:29.310,0:04:33.420
when you have the police coming with a horse[br]towards you

0:04:33.420,0:04:37.740
and telling you, "Go there, go there," how[br]that feels.

0:04:37.740,0:04:41.801
(horse hooves clopping)

0:04:41.801,0:04:42.970
So I think it was very interesting

0:04:42.970,0:04:47.530
when you stage repression, knowing that what[br]you're doing

0:04:47.530,0:04:49.590
actually is protecting people.

0:04:50.081,0:04:52.590
The second one, Tatlin's Whisper #6,

0:04:52.590,0:04:58.780
is a piece where I use all the theatrics,[br]the spectacle of a political event in Cuba,

0:04:58.780,0:05:06.000
which is mainly the podium[br]and a very simple moment of the expectation

0:05:06.000,0:05:07.160
of a speech.

0:05:07.256,0:05:10.710
And also, it was interesting that at that[br]point,

0:05:10.710,0:05:13.720
Fidel had disappeared from the news

0:05:13.720,0:05:18.220
but is somebody that we felt the emptiness[br]of the leadership.

0:05:18.220,0:05:23.130
Even if the brother has came in,[br]he had not done enough changes yet or enough

0:05:23.130,0:05:24.130
presence.

0:05:24.130,0:05:26.260
So the piece work in two way.

0:05:26.260,0:05:30.770
It can be a monument to the absence of a leader,[br]or if people intervene,

0:05:30.770,0:05:37.170
it can be actually a performance piece[br]where they exercise their right to say things.

0:05:38.035,0:05:44.950
You have the podium, the microphones,[br]and you have two people dressed with military

0:05:44.950,0:05:46.334
outfits.

0:05:46.334,0:05:51.214
Once everybody was there, we gave[br]200 disposable cameras,

0:05:51.267,0:05:56.570
and we announced that anybody can say[br]whatever they wanted for one minute.

0:05:57.247,0:05:59.632
[VISITOR 1] Millions of children are starving.

0:05:59.632,0:06:00.699
None of them are Cuban.

0:06:00.699,0:06:05.369
[VISITOR 2] Why do we need a podium to say[br]what eats up our soul?

0:06:05.369,0:06:06.813
[VISITOR 3] I am 20 years old.

0:06:06.813,0:06:09.646
This is the first time I feel so free.

0:06:10.160,0:06:15.258
(VISITOR 4 Screaming)

0:06:15.258,0:06:17.474
After one minute passed, whatever was happening,

0:06:17.474,0:06:19.159
they removed the person.

0:06:19.159,0:06:20.930
[VISITOR 5] What

0:06:20.930,0:06:22.398
is more

0:06:22.514,0:06:24.000
important.

0:06:24.094,0:06:24.795
to talk

0:06:24.795,0:06:31.139
[TANIA] That piece I like a lot, in part because,[br]for the first time, I was able to freeze power.

0:06:31.139,0:06:33.840
It was really satisfying to not having[br]anybody after

0:06:33.840,0:06:38.590
being incarcerated, or there is always some[br]repercussion.

0:06:38.590,0:06:45.180
They talk to me, whatever, but I feel like[br]it was well done

0:06:45.180,0:06:48.220
in the sense of very controlled.

0:06:49.693,0:06:52.789
My childhood was a little different from other[br]Cuban kids

0:06:52.789,0:06:56.980
because my father was a diplomat,[br]so I was traveling around the world,

0:06:56.980,0:07:00.662
when in Cuba, I was not permitted to travel.

0:07:04.379,0:07:09.990
Because my parents represented the country,[br]I was witnessing all this propaganda.

0:07:12.140,0:07:13.789
And when I was 12, everything changed

0:07:13.789,0:07:19.603
because my parent divorced[br]and I started living the reality of Cuba.

0:07:19.790,0:07:26.698
I think once I had a normal life[br]in the Cuban reality,

0:07:26.698,0:07:32.840
I started seeing the distance[br]between the promises and the accomplishment.

0:07:32.840,0:07:37.019
I still believe in a dream.

0:07:37.019,0:07:41.614
And as an artist, I feel that everything[br]that I have been trying to do

0:07:41.614,0:07:47.293
is trying to kind of force[br]or redirect reality towards the dream,

0:07:47.293,0:07:50.409
but with the knowledge that propaganda

0:07:50.409,0:07:54.820
is different than reality, and trying to,[br]in a way,

0:07:54.820,0:07:58.039
push people to be realistic about the goal

0:07:58.039,0:08:02.884
and about the political means[br]instead of presenting us with just a dream.

0:08:03.795,0:08:05.250
I am committed to be a Cuban.

0:08:05.250,0:08:08.600
I am committed be in Cuba and to work in Cuba.

0:08:08.600,0:08:11.450
When I do work about Cuba, I do it in Cuba,

0:08:11.450,0:08:15.947
because this is whom I want to talk to about[br]those issues.

0:08:15.947,0:08:17.735
Displacement.

0:08:20.236,0:08:25.520
It was a piece that was done[br]originally the day of Fidel's birthday.

0:08:31.855,0:08:37.070
I decided to do this piece where I dress as[br]a Nkisi Nkondi,

0:08:37.070,0:08:39.662
which is a figure from Congo.

0:08:42.000,0:08:47.330
People can ask for something, and each nail[br]is one wish,

0:08:47.798,0:08:50.200
but you have to give something back.

0:08:51.603,0:08:55.984
Like, okay, if you if you give me this,[br]I will do this for you.

0:08:55.984,0:08:59.380
I will bring flowers or cut my hair or whatever.

0:09:04.102,0:09:06.839
If you don't give back the promise to the[br]Nkisi,

0:09:06.839,0:09:10.630
it will go after you and punish you severely,

0:09:10.630,0:09:12.516
so that's why people are afraid of it.

0:09:12.516,0:09:19.460
So what happened is I dress like that,[br]and I was in as in a sculpture in the gallery,

0:09:19.460,0:09:22.850
and then I "woke up" and went to the streets.

0:09:24.557,0:09:27.829
And it was beautiful because it was the first[br]time

0:09:27.829,0:09:30.880
I went out to the street as a performer,

0:09:30.880,0:09:33.640
and I was a little nervous because I was thinking,

0:09:33.640,0:09:36.000
"People might be, 'What the hell is this?

0:09:36.000,0:09:38.940
It's not carnival time.'"

0:09:38.940,0:09:43.160
The piece was about all the things[br]that were promised during the revolution

0:09:43.160,0:09:47.120
that were not being fulfilled[br]and that we're still waiting for them.

0:09:48.639,0:09:52.519
At one point, a policeman came and said,[br]"What's going on?"

0:09:52.519,0:09:56.708
because we're not supposed to do that[br]in the street that day, wherever for that

0:09:56.708,0:09:57.778
matter.

0:09:57.965,0:10:01.540
And then a kid was saying,[br]"No, it is a art work,"

0:10:01.540,0:10:03.834
because he was hearing something people talking.

0:10:03.834,0:10:06.296
There were people from the arts as well.

0:10:06.296,0:10:10.580
And the policeman was quiet, and I couldn't[br]see it,

0:10:10.580,0:10:11.580
but I could hear he was...

0:10:12.164,0:10:14.542
He was quiet, then he said, "Oh, okay, okay.

0:10:14.542,0:10:15.042
Proceed.

0:10:15.042,0:10:15.645
Proceed."

0:10:15.818,0:10:21.190
And that was the exact moment when I realized[br]that art can go places other people cannot

0:10:21.190,0:10:22.190
go.

0:10:22.190,0:10:27.800
(train rattling)

0:10:27.800,0:10:30.610
We also have the meeting

0:10:30.610,0:10:34.019
for the selection of the Useful Art Committee[br]that...

0:10:34.019,0:10:34.899
Something like this?

0:10:34.899,0:10:36.615
Yes, it's better.

0:10:36.732,0:10:39.804
I would like us both to present it so that[br]you could

0:10:39.804,0:10:42.534
introduce me again and we can talk about...

0:10:42.534,0:10:44.142
I will introduce you, and you explain it.

0:10:44.142,0:10:45.063
Yes.

0:10:45.063,0:10:46.241
Perfect.

0:10:46.241,0:10:47.629
And what will you be explaining?

0:10:47.629,0:10:50.290
Just inviting them to the Useful Art Committee[br]and...

0:10:50.290,0:10:54.457
Let's tell them that we will be having artists-in-residence

0:10:54.457,0:10:56.032
who are also immigrants.

0:10:56.032,0:10:56.728
Exactly.

0:10:56.845,0:10:58.476
So that it's all pertinent

0:10:58.476,0:11:00.593
and that it's all about Useful Art.

0:11:00.593,0:11:02.963
So the idea is that we will be having a meeting.

0:11:02.963,0:11:05.029
We'll be serving coffee and little cupcakes.

0:11:05.029,0:11:06.333
It will be very delicious.

0:11:06.333,0:11:07.894
Buying the public's vote, I see?

0:11:07.894,0:11:09.576
No, the idea is that it will be delicious!

0:11:09.576,0:11:11.759
It doesn't have to be all business!

0:11:11.883,0:11:14.019
It's like fun business, Tania!

0:11:14.300,0:11:14.800
I know.

0:11:14.823,0:11:15.838
I have to learn that part.

0:11:15.935,0:11:18.334
(relaxed music)

0:11:18.334,0:11:20.609
INSTRUCTOR: And remember you have[br]those little wood chips, Brandon,

0:11:20.609,0:11:22.600
so you[br]have to put a lot of pressure.

0:11:25.570,0:11:30.466
I see the role of the artist[br]as somebody that can propose things,

0:11:30.466,0:11:34.839
whether that be creating an environment[br]for something to happen,

0:11:34.839,0:11:39.139
or will that be giving the tools[br]to people to do certain activities on their

0:11:39.139,0:11:40.139
own?

0:11:40.326,0:11:42.736
And that's the role I think we have now,

0:11:43.180,0:11:48.395
showing people this is what we can do, these[br]are the tools.

0:11:48.395,0:11:49.745
Take it.

0:11:50.283,0:11:54.000
The Van Abbe Museum invited me to do a solo[br]show.

0:11:55.422,0:11:59.209
And after thinking, I realized that it was[br]the best place

0:11:59.209,0:12:04.520
to bring Arte Útil to a museum and use the[br]opportunity

0:12:04.520,0:12:07.579
to be in a museum to do multiple things.

0:12:07.579,0:12:12.000
What is the use of a museum in the 21st century?

0:12:12.000,0:12:16.330
And challenge also the idea of a spectatorship.

0:12:16.330,0:12:20.199
How can you eliminate a spectator from a museum?

0:12:20.199,0:12:22.870
All of these ideas came together,[br]and then I decided to create

0:12:22.870,0:12:24.949
what I call the Museum of Arte Útil.

0:12:25.486,0:12:27.019
We have so much to cover.

0:12:27.019,0:12:32.440
It was, like, impossible, so we decided to[br]create a focus

0:12:32.440,0:12:35.222
on the idea of the archive.

0:12:35.222,0:12:39.183
[ANNIE] When Tania came up with this idea[br]of making a Museum of Arte Útil

0:12:39.300,0:12:42.040
it immediately brought up the question, what[br]do museums do?

0:12:42.040,0:12:43.100
Do they make history?

0:12:43.100,0:12:44.339
Do they brand a movement?

0:12:44.339,0:12:48.640
Are they the authoritative voice that says,[br]"This is minimalism, this is performance art,

0:12:48.640,0:12:50.260
this is Arte Útil"?

0:12:50.260,0:12:51.980
So we thought, "Okay, how would we do that?

0:12:51.980,0:12:54.340
How would we gather together this archive?"

0:12:56.467,0:13:01.389
The fact that we call it Arte Útil,[br]the intention was to be in Spanish.

0:13:01.389,0:13:07.190
The word "útil" in Spanish has two connotations,[br]whereas in English it's only one.

0:13:07.190,0:13:11.296
The two connotations are[br]the benefit you can get out of something,

0:13:11.296,0:13:13.750
something that can be useful to you.

0:13:13.750,0:13:16.050
"Útil" is also a tool.

0:13:16.401,0:13:20.600
"Un útil de trabajo" is a tool, a working tool.

0:13:21.442,0:13:27.242
[ANNIE] You saw that facade outside,[br]and this wall cuts through all of the spaces.

0:13:27.873,0:13:32.322
It seemed necessary to us[br]to break with the pattern of the white cube.

0:13:32.322,0:13:36.253
It's totally a theatrical device,[br]contradiction number one in the show,

0:13:36.253,0:13:42.493
because we kind of really tried to avoid metaphor,[br]symbols in our selection of works.

0:13:42.750,0:13:45.839
We tried to think about a practice of art[br]history

0:13:45.839,0:13:47.750
that is not about the metaphor.

0:13:47.750,0:13:55.059
It's rather about generating a kind of engagement[br]that needs a user and an initiator.

0:13:55.550,0:13:57.759
To do this project was a team effort.

0:13:57.899,0:14:00.210
I wanted the project to grow naturally.

0:14:00.210,0:14:02.930
I didn't want to come and impose an idea.

0:14:02.930,0:14:06.134
For me, it was very important[br]from the beginning, as an artist,

0:14:06.134,0:14:09.880
I should not be the author of the project[br]but the initiator,

0:14:09.880,0:14:14.525
which is one of the categories we use about[br]Arte Útil.

0:14:16.488,0:14:21.279
[ANNIE] We had Laurie Jo Reynolds on a residency here with her cat, contained in the tents

0:14:21.279,0:14:22.459
most of the time.

0:14:22.997,0:14:26.870
But she is an extraordinary artist[br]who campaigned for 10 years

0:14:26.870,0:14:30.139
to close down a high security supermax prison[br]in the states.

0:14:30.139,0:14:33.410
Her work has been archived[br]over the last six weeks here in the museum.

0:14:33.410,0:14:35.462
She just left yesterday.

0:14:37.753,0:14:40.610
The biggest project here is the Honest Shop.

0:14:40.610,0:14:43.459
This shop works in a really successful way[br]in Britain.

0:14:43.459,0:14:47.899
The shop has nobody running it except for[br]the participants.

0:14:47.899,0:14:51.180
Anybody who wants to contribute to the shop,[br]there's a series of rules.

0:14:51.180,0:14:53.610
They have to be amateur, creative people,

0:14:53.610,0:14:56.580
so they can't be professional artists[br]or professional designers,

0:14:56.580,0:15:01.230
things that you feel that are kind of creative[br]and that you do as an amateur hobby

0:15:01.230,0:15:03.020
that you would like to sell.

0:15:03.020,0:15:06.940
♪ Green hills I like the firestone ♪

0:15:06.940,0:15:09.085
♪ I like to walk alone ♪

0:15:09.085,0:15:14.223
♪ do waka do waka do waka do waka ♪

0:15:14.223,0:15:17.022
♪ I like the flowers ♪

0:15:17.022,0:15:19.531
♪ I like the daffodils ♪

0:15:19.531,0:15:22.424
♪ I like the mountains ♪

0:15:22.424,0:15:24.779
♪ I like the green hills ♪

0:15:24.779,0:15:27.556
♪ I like the firestone ♪

0:15:27.556,0:15:30.195
♪ I like to walk alone ♪

0:15:30.195,0:15:34.482
(train rattling)

0:15:38.199,0:15:40.630
[TANIA] I'm very happy that an immigrant movement[br]has happened

0:15:40.630,0:15:43.680
and is working very nicely.

0:15:43.680,0:15:46.731
I think the culture of the place have been[br]established.

0:15:46.731,0:15:50.770
The principals of the project have been established.

0:15:51.214,0:15:56.834
[INSTRUCTOR] When we do this excercise[br]our circulatory system gets activated

0:15:56.834,0:16:04.291
and we activate the entire body.

0:16:04.688,0:16:11.319
[TANIA] Once we gave the project to the community,[br]the project doesn't need me, which I'm very

0:16:11.319,0:16:12.202
happy with,

0:16:12.202,0:16:19.243
because I think part of the homework[br]that socially engaged art have to do

0:16:19.500,0:16:24.089
is try to rethink the way in which the project[br]survive

0:16:24.089,0:16:26.300
beyond the artist's presence.

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[INSTRUCTOR] Now we raise our arms, palms[br]up.

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This exercise helps us re-energize ourselves.

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This excercise at the same time

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stretches the organs.

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The liver

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the stomach

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the intestines

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They are all doing their own Zumba right now.

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[TANIA] I don't see socially engaged art[br]being preserved by three photos and a video

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in a museum.

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I see real good, socially engaged art and[br]political art

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live beyond the life that the artist has given[br]it

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by being taken by other people[br]who are reproducing the models,

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changing those models, being inspired by that.

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(lively music)[br](singing in foreign language)

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[TANIA] The art that we should be doing today in the

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21st century is art that is not for the museum.

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It's art for the street and people's life.

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(lively music)

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(ambient electronic music)

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To learn more about "Art in the Twenty-First[br]Century"

0:17:59.548,0:18:01.240
and it's educational resources,

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please visit us online at PBS.org/Art21

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"Art in the Twenty-First Century" is available[br]on DVD

0:18:09.789,0:18:15.257
To order, visit shopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS

0:18:15.257,0:18:20.018
(ambient electronic music)