0:00:03.400,0:00:04.820 [Hunter College, Tribeca] 0:00:04.820,0:00:06.420 [New York Close Up] 0:00:11.360,0:00:16.420 [Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Artist] 0:00:23.380,0:00:26.640 Well, "Escape from New York" is my childhood[br]movie. 0:00:27.840,0:00:29.420 --I'm not a fool, Plisskin. 0:00:29.700,0:00:31.080 --Call me Snake. 0:00:32.349,0:00:36.360 New York was kind of, like, the final frontier[br]of toughness. 0:00:41.300,0:00:43.280 --Hey, Snake! When did you get in? 0:00:43.280,0:00:47.660 Snake Plisskin is forced to go to New York[br]City-- 0:00:47.670,0:00:50.879 with a time-lapse bomb in his body-- 0:00:50.879,0:00:53.820 to rescue the president and then get out; 0:00:53.820,0:00:55.110 but, New York was a prison. 0:00:55.840,0:01:00.680 --[VOICE OVER] The rules are simple: Once[br]you go in, you don't come out. 0:01:00.680,0:01:03.659 That kind of, like, really relates to what[br]I'm living through. 0:01:03.659,0:01:06.900 I think Manhattan, it's not a prison now, 0:01:06.900,0:01:11.620 it's just become, like, a playground for really[br]privileged people. 0:01:15.500,0:01:18.340 The thing that I'm kind of, like, sad about[br]New York... 0:01:18.350,0:01:21.530 I think, what defines a city is its people[br]that you know. 0:01:22.120,0:01:23.739 I've seen all of my colleagues, 0:01:23.740,0:01:26.180 and they're struggling a lot to find studios. 0:01:26.180,0:01:28.689 A lot of people are depressed because of the 0:01:28.689,0:01:32.899 quantity of space they get for their money[br]is pretty bad. 0:01:34.880,0:01:35.760 The problem is, like, 0:01:36.480,0:01:38.340 everybody is committed[br]to something. 0:01:38.350,0:01:40.770 That is kind of why I really admire New York. 0:01:40.770,0:01:42.950 A lot of people are really intense. 0:01:42.950,0:01:45.240 They're here because they want to do things 0:01:45.240,0:01:47.600 and be surrounded with other crazy people. 0:01:48.140,0:01:50.459 But, because everybody wants to do that stuff, 0:01:50.459,0:01:52.030 they need to be in the studios or working, 0:01:52.030,0:01:54.270 so you never kind of, like, socialize with[br]them. 0:01:54.270,0:01:56.420 It's kind of difficult to find them in the[br]streets-- 0:01:56.420,0:01:57.819 or to get together-- 0:01:57.819,0:01:59.060 it's impossible because... 0:01:59.060,0:01:59.920 "Oh no, I need to..." 0:01:59.920,0:02:01.039 "I'm working..." 0:02:01.039,0:02:01.969 "Oh no, I need to do this..." 0:02:01.969,0:02:03.909 So, now time and space, 0:02:03.909,0:02:05.749 it doesn't, kind of, connect. 0:02:08.429,0:02:09.970 I decided I was going to move out. 0:02:09.970,0:02:12.110 I was like, "Okay, I'm leaving New York," 0:02:12.110,0:02:15.660 "I should go to Mexico City and try a new[br]life there." 0:02:16.900,0:02:22.040 ["Alejandro Almanza Pereda Escapes from New[br]York"] 0:02:24.140,0:02:25.380 [Alejandro's apartment, Williamsburg] 0:02:25.380,0:02:27.180 Oh no, messy! 0:02:28.569,0:02:30.220 I'm not good at making plans. 0:02:30.220,0:02:32.760 I always wait until the last minute 0:02:32.769,0:02:34.549 because you never know, you know? 0:02:36.540,0:02:38.879 It's just, that commitment-- 0:02:38.879,0:02:40.099 I cannot do it. 0:02:40.099,0:02:41.980 That commitment kills me. 0:02:41.980,0:02:45.200 But yeah, now I have that one-way ticket to[br]Mexico City. 0:02:45.200,0:02:49.090 When I bought the ticket, I had three weeks[br]to pack my apartment-- 0:02:49.090,0:02:50.629 to pack my studio. 0:02:50.629,0:02:52.629 Sell things. Bye bye. 0:02:52.629,0:02:55.659 But, as soon I was going to arrive to Mexico, 0:02:55.659,0:02:57.159 I had to kind of go crazy, 0:02:57.159,0:03:00.140 because I had to finish a new set of videos[br]and photos 0:03:00.140,0:03:02.040 for my gallery in Mexico. 0:03:02.640,0:03:03.820 And I was like, thinking, 0:03:03.829,0:03:05.590 "Well, I just graduated from Hunter," 0:03:05.590,0:03:07.069 "I should do it here." 0:03:07.069,0:03:08.920 "And I still have three more weeks." 0:03:08.920,0:03:10.319 "A prime spot in New York." 0:03:10.319,0:03:12.780 "I have a studio. Come on, just use it." 0:03:24.260,0:03:28.640 ["Better to have loved and lost than never[br]to have loved at all" (2014)] 0:03:30.000,0:03:31.840 I had an idea of this project. 0:03:31.840,0:03:35.200 Just, like, experiment with materials and[br]objects underwater. 0:03:37.800,0:03:39.600 So, I went to Phoenix this summer 0:03:39.939,0:03:42.019 because we had access to pools. 0:03:53.920,0:03:58.180 My favorite painters were the Dutch[br]vanitas painting. 0:03:58.700,0:04:00.599 It's really attached to my work, in a way, 0:04:00.599,0:04:02.430 because they used objects 0:04:02.430,0:04:05.470 and they make this kind of relationship with them. 0:04:05.940,0:04:07.459 There's always these small details. 0:04:07.459,0:04:08.999 "There's a fly there." 0:04:09.880,0:04:11.300 It deals with death. 0:04:11.730,0:04:14.310 It deals with time passing, you know? 0:04:14.310,0:04:15.690 Beauty, decay. 0:04:31.710,0:04:32.970 There's no pool. 0:04:32.970,0:04:34.060 I asked people around. 0:04:34.060,0:04:36.580 "Do you know somebody with a pool? Jacuzzi?[br]Whatever?" 0:04:37.100,0:04:39.080 And, yeah, definitely not. 0:04:44.120,0:04:45.480 --Okay, let's do this! 0:04:45.480,0:04:50.080 I say, "Okay, how difficult would it be to[br]make a tank?" 0:04:50.080,0:04:51.140 So I look on the Internet, 0:04:51.140,0:04:53.650 and people do, like, plywood aquariums. 0:04:54.620,0:04:57.100 They make a sturdy, really nice box. 0:04:57.110,0:04:58.670 You can fill it with water. 0:05:05.100,0:05:06.720 I hope that one is going to be okay. 0:05:06.720,0:05:09.540 It has a bunch of silicone and... 0:05:09.760,0:05:11.420 you know, we'll see. 0:05:19.340,0:05:20.080 --Alright! 0:05:20.820,0:05:21.680 I filled it with water. 0:05:21.690,0:05:23.160 I was afraid that just, like, 0:05:23.160,0:05:25.760 one ton of water was going through my studio[br]like The Shining. 0:05:27.010,0:05:28.990 --God, we have a leak here! 0:05:29.860,0:05:30.760 Whatever, you know? 0:05:30.770,0:05:32.120 It's going to be a leaking tank. 0:05:32.120,0:05:34.140 And we'll have a river here, 0:05:34.140,0:05:34.820 and shooting... 0:05:34.820,0:05:36.400 it's going to be wet. 0:05:48.440,0:05:49.360 It seems... 0:05:49.580,0:05:51.640 the time limitations by now, 0:05:52.910,0:05:55.340 and the technical issues, I've been having[br]so much... 0:05:55.340,0:05:56.390 I think I have like, 0:05:56.390,0:05:58.640 "Okay, Alejandro, just focus on some, really," 0:05:58.640,0:06:02.300 "Three, two objects. Let's create something[br]with a minimum." 0:06:03.520,0:06:06.440 I have to say, I'm really excited about that. 0:06:08.260,0:06:09.980 --So big! Goddamn it! 0:06:10.980,0:06:12.120 --Can I have one pound? 0:06:12.870,0:06:13.890 --How much is this? 0:06:13.890,0:06:14.860 --$3.50. 0:06:14.870,0:06:17.350 --Oh yeah. Ah, why not. 0:06:17.350,0:06:19.440 I've got some eggplant...phallic. 0:06:19.440,0:06:22.400 Eggplants, bananas, cherries... 0:06:22.400,0:06:24.280 I think the cherries don't float. 0:06:24.760,0:06:27.280 Chinatown in my favorite place in New York[br]City. 0:06:27.290,0:06:29.230 It's one of the most untouched places. 0:06:29.900,0:06:31.100 With attitude. 0:06:31.100,0:06:34.220 If you want to buy one nail, you can buy one[br]nail, you know? 0:06:34.220,0:06:35.580 Not in this corporate... 0:06:36.430,0:06:39.250 Chinatown feels like more downtown Mexico City. 0:06:39.480,0:06:41.740 They're breaking so many rules-- 0:06:42.200,0:06:44.200 like, urban rules of New York City. 0:06:44.780,0:06:46.860 It's messy. It's hectic. 0:06:46.860,0:06:48.600 It's how, like, a city should be. 0:07:16.860,0:07:21.180 I had a tank--a fish tank--when I was a teenager, 0:07:21.180,0:07:22.600 and I loved that stuff. 0:07:22.600,0:07:25.060 I loved how things behaved underwater. 0:07:27.840,0:07:30.120 I've always been, kind of, interested in 0:07:30.120,0:07:31.580 boats, submarines, 0:07:31.580,0:07:32.720 Jacques Cousteau. 0:07:42.700,0:07:46.100 Here, on the surface, everything is just,[br]like, stays put-- 0:07:46.440,0:07:47.280 the gravity. 0:07:47.900,0:07:50.380 In the water, you can use those, kind of... 0:07:50.980,0:07:55.280 those levitations to kind of create different[br]sculptures, in a way. 0:07:55.360,0:07:57.100 It's pretty spectacular. 0:08:07.380,0:08:09.160 Here, it's getting kind of boring; 0:08:09.160,0:08:14.260 sculpture is so grounded, like a monument. 0:08:26.840,0:08:30.980 So I wanted sculpture like this, kind of floats around. 0:08:30.980,0:08:32.240 It's going to levitate. 0:08:46.280,0:08:47.320 --Moving day. 0:08:49.980,0:08:53.260 I have to say that I think everybody in the[br]world 0:08:53.269,0:08:56.070 should live in New York at least one or two[br]years, 0:08:56.070,0:08:57.610 to just, kind of, make sense. 0:08:59.520,0:09:02.100 --Alright, I think I'm more or less ready. 0:09:02.140,0:09:05.700 But, it's not the only lifestyle you can have. 0:09:06.320,0:09:08.600 It's not the only way of doing things. 0:09:10.660,0:09:12.060 --It's not so bad. 0:09:14.180,0:09:15.580 --[LAUGHS] Yeah! 0:09:16.340,0:09:16.980 --Yeah. 0:09:17.220,0:09:19.000 --Goddamn it, the keys...alright. 0:09:24.420,0:09:26.380 I never, kind of, think about the future. 0:09:26.380,0:09:29.440 I don't put plans on that, you know? 0:09:29.440,0:09:31.560 So, it's always transition for me. 0:09:32.440,0:09:35.320 Going to Mexico right now, it's in a bad situation. 0:09:35.320,0:09:36.560 A political crisis 0:09:37.360,0:09:38.560 A lot of crime. 0:09:39.000,0:09:40.780 It's funny, sometimes when I move cities, 0:09:40.780,0:09:42.500 it's, you know, the worst time ever, 0:09:42.510,0:09:43.040 you know? 0:09:43.040,0:09:45.530 It's kind of something though, to look for... 0:09:45.530,0:09:46.990 looking for trouble, you know? 0:09:49.580,0:09:52.400 So I might escape from Mexico City, you know? 0:09:52.400,0:09:54.080 I might go to L.A. and escape from there. 0:09:56.010,0:09:57.570 I have to escape all the time.