Blurred Borders Project
For this project, we investigated the walls around us on an local and personal level. We researched the history and current situation behind the US-Mexico Borders and created a photo gallery based on experiences we had during our field trips and our talks from guest speakers. Lastly, we wrote memoirs based on times where we personally experienced barriers in our lives and then depicted these personal walls by painting symbols on art poles around the school.
Local Walls – A Case Study on the US-Mexico Border
This picture was taken at the U.S- Mexican border near Friendship Park. There is basically just a wall of pillars that separated us from a whole other country. These countries are very different, but very akin all at once. Each country has its own unique culture and language; each has its own history; each has its own great successes and downfalls. However, as a lot of people may see it, the United States usually triumphs over Mexico, whether it be because of the United States’s higher employment statistics or because of the recognizable poverty that can be seen throughout large parts of Mexico. I thought that this was a really cool picture because it always somehow seems like Mexico is under the enormous shadow of success of the United States, and it was really cool how in this picture, it almost looks as if the United States is under the shadow of Mexico for a change. This picture was originally shot in color, but I felt that making it in black and white would give it a more dramatic feel that enables the viewer to feel more separation between both sides of the border.
The report above shows some notes regarding the Border Angles organization that is devoted to helping individuals who illegally cross the border survive the harsh temperatures and environments they face when they cross. It also shows some of the basic responses I got when I interviewed students about their experience with this organization and what they did and learned about.
Invisible walls
We created these "art poles" to symbolizes all the borders that we face in our lives, not only externally, but internally as well. We had to symbolize our internal and external borders with one picture and make them connect with the other internal and external borders that the members of our group also painted. However, we also had do paint our own depiction of the US/Mexico Border by drawing something that either reminded us of it or symbolizes what it means to us.
This is a picture of the brick walls we created in my classroom. You can see that there are a variety of words that relate to the teams' internal borders. The reason why we did this was to show how your internal borders can sometimes be the things that prevent you from achieving your goals, sort of like walls you build up. At the end of the project, we had a ceremony where we lined up all of the walls and knocked them over to symbolize that those borders that are walls in our lives can be broken down.
One thing that struck me about this whole projects was the things that people struggle with as their internal borders. I had never really thought about how these internal walls could affect a person in such a way that would even prevent them from achieving greatness. Throughout this project, I grew as a person in in the way that I felt like I was able to finally recognizing and face my own internal borders that would sometimes prevent me from taking great opportunities. I feel like I am ow one step closer to conquering my borders because I was able to recognize their presence. This project allowed me to take a closer look at the world and people around me, especially those that I interact with on a daily basis.