Through The Repellent Fence -
america reframed

Through the Repellent Fence follows the creation of a two-mile long ephemeral art installation by three Native American artists: Raven Chacon, Crist?bal Mart?nez, and Kade L. Twist collectively known as "Postcommodity." The film documents their collaboration as they construct "Repellent Fence," a metaphorical "stitching" together the United States and Mexico. Their work puts "land art in a tribal context," to illuminate a shared Indigenous world-view and the legacy that connects the original people to their land. Viewers are provided an intimate glimpse into the process behind creating the ambitious yet temporary artwork. With the volunteer help of communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, "Repellent Fence" was installed with a series of twenty-eight enormous inflatable yellow-gold spheres. Emblazoned with an insignia known as the "open eye" -- a symbol that has existed in Indigenous cultures of the Americas for thousands of years -- the spheres extended north and south of the border a mile in each direction. The artist collective was featured in the 2017 Whitney Museum Biennale.

Duration: 57 minutes and 57 seconds

Episode Number: 609

About America ReFramed:

America ReFramed showcases films that will give viewers a "snapshot" of the transforming American life; the guts, the grit and the glamor of a new and changing America.

From contemporary life on Native reservations to stories of recovery on the Gulf, from hardships and revitalization in towns big and small to stories from city streets across the country, these independent, personal and opinionated films document the times in which we live.

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