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Trump Proposed a Wall. They Imagined How It Would Work. Trump Proposed a Wall. They Imagined How It Would Work.
(1 day later)
During his presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump promised to build “a big, beautiful, powerful wall” between the United States and Mexico, ostensibly to keep out assorted “bad hombres.” Though a deadline for bids has passed and finalists are to be announced in June, the projected cost — an estimated $21.6 billion — and political opposition mean there’s a decent chance the wall will not be built soon.During his presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump promised to build “a big, beautiful, powerful wall” between the United States and Mexico, ostensibly to keep out assorted “bad hombres.” Though a deadline for bids has passed and finalists are to be announced in June, the projected cost — an estimated $21.6 billion — and political opposition mean there’s a decent chance the wall will not be built soon.
Even so, President Trump’s pronouncements have inspired a boom in border projects of a very different sort: documentaries, shorts, cartoons and art installations about the contested area, where barriers and fences already exist along some stretches. In several of these, Mr. Trump is unseen and unheard. In others, he’s front and center, overseeing construction of a Berlin Wall-type edifice (“Build That Wall”), or killing Mexicans with missiles fired from his genitals (“M.A.M.O.N.”).Even so, President Trump’s pronouncements have inspired a boom in border projects of a very different sort: documentaries, shorts, cartoons and art installations about the contested area, where barriers and fences already exist along some stretches. In several of these, Mr. Trump is unseen and unheard. In others, he’s front and center, overseeing construction of a Berlin Wall-type edifice (“Build That Wall”), or killing Mexicans with missiles fired from his genitals (“M.A.M.O.N.”).
Regardless of how large or small Mr. Trump looms in their works, some filmmakers were hesitant to talk about him out of fear of retaliation. One mentioned his own green-card status; another didn’t want to jeopardize future plans to visit the United States. Here is a roundup of some of the best and most notable projects of the bunch:Regardless of how large or small Mr. Trump looms in their works, some filmmakers were hesitant to talk about him out of fear of retaliation. One mentioned his own green-card status; another didn’t want to jeopardize future plans to visit the United States. Here is a roundup of some of the best and most notable projects of the bunch:
‘THROUGH THE REPELLENT FENCE’ (2017) The director Sam Wainwright Douglas chronicles the planning and deployment of “Repellent Fence,” a two-mile-long art installation from the collective Postcommodity that straddled the border for four days in 2015. Eight years in the making, the work employed a line of 28 hot-air balloons decorated with enormous eyes (modeled after similar, smaller devices used to scare birds away from fruit trees) to create a “metaphorical suture” between the countries and their people.‘THROUGH THE REPELLENT FENCE’ (2017) The director Sam Wainwright Douglas chronicles the planning and deployment of “Repellent Fence,” a two-mile-long art installation from the collective Postcommodity that straddled the border for four days in 2015. Eight years in the making, the work employed a line of 28 hot-air balloons decorated with enormous eyes (modeled after similar, smaller devices used to scare birds away from fruit trees) to create a “metaphorical suture” between the countries and their people.
‘LA FRONTERA’ (2016) A forestry expert, Mark J. Hainds quit his job at Auburn University in 2014 to walk the length of the Texas-Mexico line, over 1,000 miles in all. Along the way, he met border patrol agents, goat ranchers, cowboys and drug smugglers — nearly all of whom criticize Mr. Trump’s plans to beef up the region’s existing wall. Find out more about the film here.‘LA FRONTERA’ (2016) A forestry expert, Mark J. Hainds quit his job at Auburn University in 2014 to walk the length of the Texas-Mexico line, over 1,000 miles in all. Along the way, he met border patrol agents, goat ranchers, cowboys and drug smugglers — nearly all of whom criticize Mr. Trump’s plans to beef up the region’s existing wall. Find out more about the film here.
‘EL MAR LA MAR’ (2017) Over three years, Joshua Bonnetta and J. P. Sniadecki traveled the Sonoran desert, which covers parts of California, Arizona and Mexico, filming its desolate landscapes and speaking with residents and migrants about their experiences in this foreboding territory. In one scene, a woman describes how she found a female body in the middle of the desert, collapsed mid-crawl; in another, two men recall being lost in the hills for eight days and explain how some of their party members were left behind when they could no longer walk.‘EL MAR LA MAR’ (2017) Over three years, Joshua Bonnetta and J. P. Sniadecki traveled the Sonoran desert, which covers parts of California, Arizona and Mexico, filming its desolate landscapes and speaking with residents and migrants about their experiences in this foreboding territory. In one scene, a woman describes how she found a female body in the middle of the desert, collapsed mid-crawl; in another, two men recall being lost in the hills for eight days and explain how some of their party members were left behind when they could no longer walk.
“El Mar” is more art film than traditional documentary, with images of gathering storms, migrant detritus, swarms of ants and eerie fields of razor-sharp cactuses. For people unfamiliar with the area, the place — like the metaphorical sea of its title — can be a deadly crossing zone. “We basically funnel people through that area,” Mr. Sniadecki said in an interview. “We’ve outsourced the violence to the ecological landscape.” Read a review of the film here.“El Mar” is more art film than traditional documentary, with images of gathering storms, migrant detritus, swarms of ants and eerie fields of razor-sharp cactuses. For people unfamiliar with the area, the place — like the metaphorical sea of its title — can be a deadly crossing zone. “We basically funnel people through that area,” Mr. Sniadecki said in an interview. “We’ve outsourced the violence to the ecological landscape.” Read a review of the film here.
‘BEST OF LUCK WITH THE WALL’ (2016) The director Josh Begley pasted together 200,000 satellite images taken along the United States-Mexico border to create this six-minute short. The result is a high-speed flyover of the 2,000-mile stretch; the snarky title comes from the challenges of building a wall along a border that traverses deserts, wetlands, rivers and mountainous terrain.‘BEST OF LUCK WITH THE WALL’ (2016) The director Josh Begley pasted together 200,000 satellite images taken along the United States-Mexico border to create this six-minute short. The result is a high-speed flyover of the 2,000-mile stretch; the snarky title comes from the challenges of building a wall along a border that traverses deserts, wetlands, rivers and mountainous terrain.
‘AMERICA’S SOCCER MIGRANTS’ (2017) This Guardian documentary opens with Mr. Trump’s quote about Mexico “not sending their best,” then proceeds to tell the story of American soccer players heading in the opposite direction, lured across the border for better money and a higher level of play. Mexico’s love for the game is contrasted with Mr. Trump’s rhetoric; in one sequence, thoughtful citizens of both countries respond to his promises and name-calling, point by point. See the short here.‘AMERICA’S SOCCER MIGRANTS’ (2017) This Guardian documentary opens with Mr. Trump’s quote about Mexico “not sending their best,” then proceeds to tell the story of American soccer players heading in the opposite direction, lured across the border for better money and a higher level of play. Mexico’s love for the game is contrasted with Mr. Trump’s rhetoric; in one sequence, thoughtful citizens of both countries respond to his promises and name-calling, point by point. See the short here.
‘THINK LIKE A SCIENTIST: BOUNDARIES’ (2016) What happens when you stick long stretches of steel walls — at some points, more than 21 feet high — in the middle of a desert ecosystem? Wildlife migration patterns are disrupted, plant diversity diminishes, animals — dependent on border crossing to reach food, water and mates — die.‘THINK LIKE A SCIENTIST: BOUNDARIES’ (2016) What happens when you stick long stretches of steel walls — at some points, more than 21 feet high — in the middle of a desert ecosystem? Wildlife migration patterns are disrupted, plant diversity diminishes, animals — dependent on border crossing to reach food, water and mates — die.
In this short, the conservation photographer Krista Schlyer and the biologist Jon Beckmann discuss how the Department of Homeland Security waived environmental laws in its rush to secure the southern border. The effect has been disastrous for flora and fauna: Sonoran desert toads, in search of water, butt up against border walls until they die; plants that depend on animals to spread their seeds can’t migrate. And if Mr. Trump’s wall is built? “I think the first thing that would happen is that jaguars would go extinct in the U.S.,” Ms. Schlyer said in an interview. “I think that would happen very quickly.” See the short here.In this short, the conservation photographer Krista Schlyer and the biologist Jon Beckmann discuss how the Department of Homeland Security waived environmental laws in its rush to secure the southern border. The effect has been disastrous for flora and fauna: Sonoran desert toads, in search of water, butt up against border walls until they die; plants that depend on animals to spread their seeds can’t migrate. And if Mr. Trump’s wall is built? “I think the first thing that would happen is that jaguars would go extinct in the U.S.,” Ms. Schlyer said in an interview. “I think that would happen very quickly.” See the short here.
‘THE WALL’ (2017) Motivated by the Syrian refugee crisis and Mr. Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, the Australian directors Nick Baker and Tristan Klein created this haunting fable about a grandmother and grandson “in a far, foreign place” who flee their country after watching their home burn to the ground. The two endure war and a dangerous sea crossing — only to find their path to sanctuary blocked by a “tall, endless wall.”‘THE WALL’ (2017) Motivated by the Syrian refugee crisis and Mr. Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, the Australian directors Nick Baker and Tristan Klein created this haunting fable about a grandmother and grandson “in a far, foreign place” who flee their country after watching their home burn to the ground. The two endure war and a dangerous sea crossing — only to find their path to sanctuary blocked by a “tall, endless wall.”
‘M.A.M.O.N.’ (2016) In this effects-heavy spectacle from the Argentine filmmaker Ale Damiani, Latino doctors, beauty queens and grill cooks are catapulted across the border by the United States. A giant robot piloted by Mr. Trump — and looking quite a bit like him — attacks them, leading to fights with a mariachi, a cowardly diplomat, the Virgin Mary (sort of) and a chicken. See the short here. ‘M.A.M.O.N.’ (2016) In this effects-heavy spectacle from the Uruguayan filmmaker Ale Damiani, Latino doctors, beauty queens and grill cooks are catapulted across the border by the United States. A giant robot piloted by Mr. Trump — and looking quite a bit like him — attacks them, leading to fights with a mariachi, a cowardly diplomat, the Virgin Mary (sort of) and a chicken. See the short here.
‘BUILD THAT WALL’ (2016) A man goes to sleep and dreams that Mr. Trump has built an enormous wall splitting his town in half, complete with barbed wire, guards and checkpoints. Thankfully, the dream is just that, and the man awakens to find his town undivided.‘BUILD THAT WALL’ (2016) A man goes to sleep and dreams that Mr. Trump has built an enormous wall splitting his town in half, complete with barbed wire, guards and checkpoints. Thankfully, the dream is just that, and the man awakens to find his town undivided.
To create this stop-motion short, the Australian director Gary Friedman wove together elements from a black-and-white documentary about the Berlin Wall, Mr. Trump’s own speeches (“if they call it the Trump wall, it has to be beautiful”) and a classic 1960 “Twilight Zone” episode about the dangers of Cold War paranoia (“The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”). A puppeteer by trade, Mr. Friedman performed an anti-apartheid puppet show on the streets of South Africa from 1981 to 1987. “I used to get beaten up regularly,” he said. As for his latest project, he never figured when he was making the film last year in his Melbourne studio that Mr. Trump might win. “It was supposed to be a dream, a nightmare,” he said. “It wasn’t supposed to actually come true.” See the short here.To create this stop-motion short, the Australian director Gary Friedman wove together elements from a black-and-white documentary about the Berlin Wall, Mr. Trump’s own speeches (“if they call it the Trump wall, it has to be beautiful”) and a classic 1960 “Twilight Zone” episode about the dangers of Cold War paranoia (“The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”). A puppeteer by trade, Mr. Friedman performed an anti-apartheid puppet show on the streets of South Africa from 1981 to 1987. “I used to get beaten up regularly,” he said. As for his latest project, he never figured when he was making the film last year in his Melbourne studio that Mr. Trump might win. “It was supposed to be a dream, a nightmare,” he said. “It wasn’t supposed to actually come true.” See the short here.
‘ONE-WAY MIRROR’ (DENVER ART MUSEUM, THROUGH OCT. 22) In this work by the Denver-based artist Jaime Carrejo, a 10-foot scrim splits the gallery in two. Images of a Mexican sunrise are projected on one wall, an American sunset on the other; during rare moments, images from both sides of the border meld and collide in the middle. Find out more about the exhibition here.‘ONE-WAY MIRROR’ (DENVER ART MUSEUM, THROUGH OCT. 22) In this work by the Denver-based artist Jaime Carrejo, a 10-foot scrim splits the gallery in two. Images of a Mexican sunrise are projected on one wall, an American sunset on the other; during rare moments, images from both sides of the border meld and collide in the middle. Find out more about the exhibition here.
‘BORDER CANTOS’ (CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, BENTONVILLE, ARK., THROUGH MONDAY, APRIL 24) A collaboration of the photographer Richard Misrach and the composer Guillermo Galindo, “Border Cantos” documents the human effects of the walls in place now by examining the objects immigrants leave behind. Mr. Misrach captures images of castoff clothes and toys; Mr. Galindo creates musical instruments out of the jetsam, composing scores for them to accompany Mr. Misrach’s immense photos. Find out more about the exhibition here.‘BORDER CANTOS’ (CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, BENTONVILLE, ARK., THROUGH MONDAY, APRIL 24) A collaboration of the photographer Richard Misrach and the composer Guillermo Galindo, “Border Cantos” documents the human effects of the walls in place now by examining the objects immigrants leave behind. Mr. Misrach captures images of castoff clothes and toys; Mr. Galindo creates musical instruments out of the jetsam, composing scores for them to accompany Mr. Misrach’s immense photos. Find out more about the exhibition here.
‘A VERY LONG LINE’ (Whitney Biennial 2017, through June 11) The collective Postcommodity (Raven Chacon, Cristobál Martínez and Kade L. Twist) placed a cameraman on the hood of its car and filmed while driving along the border. In the gallery installation, viewers are surrounded by four immense screens on which images are projected at varying speeds, as fences and homes rush by.‘A VERY LONG LINE’ (Whitney Biennial 2017, through June 11) The collective Postcommodity (Raven Chacon, Cristobál Martínez and Kade L. Twist) placed a cameraman on the hood of its car and filmed while driving along the border. In the gallery installation, viewers are surrounded by four immense screens on which images are projected at varying speeds, as fences and homes rush by.
The title is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the art world’s pretentious titles, while also, Mr. Twist said, a pretty decent description of the border wall itself. “That’s one of the first things that pop into your mind,” he said. “‘That is a very, very long line.’” The filmmakers were also intrigued by the patchwork nature of the border barriers — impenetrable in some areas, simple pylons in others. The filmmakers shot from the American side, looking through the border wall’s iron bars to capture images of beautiful, middle-class neighborhoods in Mexico. Some viewers figured they had to be seeing neighborhoods in the United States, Mr. Martínez said. “People were like, wow, what a beautiful home,” Mr. Martínez said. “How could that be in somebody’s front yard?” he said, referring to the wall.The title is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the art world’s pretentious titles, while also, Mr. Twist said, a pretty decent description of the border wall itself. “That’s one of the first things that pop into your mind,” he said. “‘That is a very, very long line.’” The filmmakers were also intrigued by the patchwork nature of the border barriers — impenetrable in some areas, simple pylons in others. The filmmakers shot from the American side, looking through the border wall’s iron bars to capture images of beautiful, middle-class neighborhoods in Mexico. Some viewers figured they had to be seeing neighborhoods in the United States, Mr. Martínez said. “People were like, wow, what a beautiful home,” Mr. Martínez said. “How could that be in somebody’s front yard?” he said, referring to the wall.