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Alejandro Almanza Pereda's Obstacle Course | Art21 "New York Close Up"

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    For me the most fond memory is always about mischief.
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    You had to go away from the norm.
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    So that’s where it’s fun.
    Because if it’s normal, it’s not fun.
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    ["Alejandro Almanza Pereda's Obstacle Course"]
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    I’m from Mexico City
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    Mexico City is really quick,
    but it’s not like New York.
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    As a general rule for going to New York City,
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    if you don’t have any contacts,
    the first year is tough.
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    [Obstacle #1:
    Getting started in New York City...]
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    [Alejandro's desk]
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    When I moved to New York City after undergraduate,
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    I was planning to work really hard and get some money.
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    I have a good job as an art handler.
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    I had an art band.
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    And we were doing great.
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    We’d be making concerts, having a lot of fun.
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    I was doing art.
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    I was living in a great place with great roommates--
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    amazing friends.
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    It was my time of life.
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    But I realized that after this,
    everything is going to go downhill.
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    So I went back to Mexico City.
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    After four years in Mexico,
    I really wanted to go back to New York City.
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    But of course I don’t have a visa for that.
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    And I thought oh, well I should just apply for school.
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    Hunter is just like a long term dress rehearsal.
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    When I was coming back I thought oh, New York,
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    [snaps fingers]
    easy, you know.
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    It will be fun.
    I know the city, I’ll get my old job.
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    It’s going to be OK.
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    But it didn’t happen that way.
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    [Obstacle #2]
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    [Because he can't afford an apartment...]
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    [Alejandro couch surfs for the semester.]
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    My adventure started in Greenpoint
    at Rick’s and Birgit’s for 2 months.
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    It was great.
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    Then I moved to Miriam’s and Shawn's
    for two weeks, in Bushwick.
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    Then I went to Madrid for a week.
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    I came back,
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    stayed at Claudia’s sofa for some days.
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    Then I got this residency at The Den
    and I stayed for a week there
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    at Mckendree’s Project in Clinton Hill.
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    After that, I stayed like two days in DUMBO--
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    it was a friend’s of a friend’s of a friend’s.
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    Then went back to Miriam’s and Shawn.
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    Moved 3 blocks to Claudia’s sofa,
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    and then I moved to my friend’s, Bernardo,
    for a week and a half...
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    oh, I think so...less than that.
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    Back to Miriam’s and Shawn,
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    and then I’m here again at Claudia’s.
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    Now I am not staying in the sofa,
    I’m staying in the bed.
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    (Claudia's out of town)
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    And from here, right now,
    we’re going to go to Erik’s and Melissa,
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    and I’m going to stay there for three days.
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    I’m going to take care of their plants.
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    And after that, I don’t know.
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    I might ask my friend Alberto for shelter, you know.
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    I spent like $600 on rent.
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    That seems pretty incredible.
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    So instead of paying rent, I make a big party.
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    And a party should be taken seriously.
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    Do it with all your might.
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    I have been quite lucky to survive this semester.
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    I kind of like stressful situations.
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    [sound of glass breaking]
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    [Obstacle #3]
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    [The night before Alejandro's first crit...]
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    [He accidentally knocks over some drywall...]
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    [Half of his sculptures break.]
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    --Oops.
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    It feels like a crime scene, no?
    Like, yeah, this feels weird, yeah.
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    I thought that you were going to think I went crazy
    and I started kicking everything.
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    [Laughs]
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    [Jess Wheaton--studio mate]
    Well admittedly that did cross my mind.
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    That you just got frustrated with your like tiny cube.
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    [Both laugh]
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    [Alejandro showed what survived at his crit...]
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    [Then took the sculptures apart]
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    I love light.
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    I use the light bulb,
    the fragility of it.
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    They’re delicate.
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    But if you apply pressure on them lengthwise,
    they are super tough.
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    I kind of like that this stick that emits light
    is holding something,
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    like a structure.
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    This, a living thing--
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    this current is active.
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    Alright.
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    [Running out of money...]
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    [Alejandro improvises.]
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    [He sells back some materials.]
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    [Refund: $82.41]
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    [Obstacle 4]
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    [Hunter decides to move the MFA studios
    to a smaller building...]
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    [with more students.]
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    [Alejandro creates an artwork in response...]
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    [with fellow grad students.]
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    The sadness about what’s happening to this building,
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    it has been like 10 years of fight.
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    [Irvin Morazan, third year grad student]
    I will be the last class to graduate from this building
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    before it gets torn down.
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    [Abelardo Cruz Santiago, first year grad student]
    Every student that’s gone through here
    has had like a good space,
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    and now like that’s gonna be taken away.
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    They offer the best studios,
    while still having really good faculty too.
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    [Almanza Pereda]
    Look at this room, it’s pretty amazing.
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    And it’s a shame because
    the 5th floor is half empty,
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    the 6th floor is half empty.
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    I really like the buildings--
    like gritty and ugly.
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    It has something, you know?
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    I never done a piece with text.
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    So it was really hard for me.
    It’s like, what should I say?
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    Like, “Yeah, I want my money back.”
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    I was just writing words and words,
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    and I start thinking about what’s happening--
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    we’re just, like, being displaced.
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    [Man, off screen]
    When I saw the sign I was just like,
    wow, 21st century graffiti.
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    [Another man, off screen]
    I think it’s getting the point across
    that we’re unhappy about this move.
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    [Almanza Pereda]
    I have to do it in my own language.
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    When you have a harsh path,
    you improvise, you learn, no?
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    I think it’s healthy to stand up when there’s something affecting you and your community.
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    Hunter is my community.
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    It’s not tequila, it’s a mescal.
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    It’s a mescal that some friends are selling in Mexico City.
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    It’s pretty delicious.
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    Cheers!
Title:
Alejandro Almanza Pereda's Obstacle Course | Art21 "New York Close Up"
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Team:
Art21
Project:
"New York Close Up" series
Duration:
08:51

English subtitles

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