¡Colores!; 408; Nicholas Herrera, Pussy Riot, Godfrey Reggio (From Colores 1902/102)

Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: The Nellita E. Walker Fund KNME-TV Endowment Fund The Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund >>THIS TIME, ON COLORES! NEW MEXICO SANTERO, NICHOLAS HERRERA, WEAVES CONTEMPORARY STORYTELLING WITH TRADITIONAL FOLK ART. >>The thing about folk art is it's something from the soul, it's nothing you read in a book. It's something you live, something that lives in you, that's what folk art is all about. >>THE RUSSIAN PUNK BAND AND ART COLLECTIVE PUSSY RIOT STOPPED IN ALBUQUERQUE ON THEIR REVOLUTION TOUR. MARIA "MASHA" ALYOKHINA, TAKES A STAND AGAINST WAR, CORRUPTION, AND THE SUPPRESSION OF FREEDOM. >>To change something, to overcome things such as nationalism, sexism or racism we should be

together. It's not like some symbol or seer will come and help everybody. It doesn't work like that. Only together can we change everything. >>LEGENDARY FILMMAKER GODFREY REGGIO SHARES THE VISION BEHIND HIS FILMS AND INSIGHTS INTO HIS NEW FILM "THE HOLYSEE" >>We're blinded we aren't seeing the world we live in. Art can help us resee that world. >>SANTERO NICHOLAS HERRERA IS NOT HELD BACK BY TRADITION. >>Nicholas: Most of my work is about my life. I'm an artist. That's what I do. I have fun doing whatI'm doing, you know. Some people call me Santero de El Rito. (Music) about folk art, it's something

from the soul, you know, it's something that, it's nothing you read on a book. It's something you live, something that lives in you. That's what folk art is all about. And, I don't do it because I want it to look pretty like a doll or anything like that. Like, the fingers don't have to be perfect. Nothing's perfect that I do, you know, but that's what makes it what it is. I like doing pieces about the water and the land, like when I started traveling to different cities and seeing the world, man, I came back to El Rito one day and I'm like, I live in a beautiful place and I ain't gonna throw my trash out of the window no more, that's it. So, to me, nature is beautiful, so I think that my work has a lot to do with the good spirit and nature. (music) I never have thought it's

hard, it's just challenging because sometimes you can have a piece of woodand you're like, "Man, I don't know what I want to do with it." I've had pieces of wood laying around like for months and then all of a sudden 'boom' I get up one morning and I had a dream. This is it. This is what you're going to be. Like, now I'm doing San Isidro, He's working the farm and it's about the planting and the water and we all need food and we've got little angels taking care of us. He's blessing the farm. He's out there. The root of my work is traditional and then he turns into contemporary. But you can always see a little traditional in there. So I decided to do a "Three Kings on Harleys." They're going through New Mexico, and they have a baby and they're protecting Jesus. There's a white dude, a black dude and a brown dude

on there, so, there is no discrimination. We're all the same. So it's kind of making a statement of what's going on in the world. We are all the same. When it comes down to it, we came from the same place. That's what it's all about. (music) You know I have a piece in the Smithsonian with Jesus in the back of a cop car and you know, that'spretty wild, because that's, you know, when Jesus was crucified, he could have been put in back of a cop car nowadays. A lot of people, they thought it was sacrilegious, you know, because Jesus in the back of a cop car? I told them, if he had come into the world now he would be put in the back of acop car and beat up. Some people, you know, they don't like it. Well, what can you do, you know? Usually when some people don't like your work, that's the best piece you've ever done, and I've been doing this since when I was a little boy. I loved to go to the dump, because that was back in the day, it was an open dump, so my Dad would

be throwing the trash and I be scavenging. I'd be looking for bike parts and rims and seats, and I had, I'd come back with a bunch of junk. My dad was like you're bringing more junk back than what we took over there. To me, it's not junk. To me, its art supplies. I like the patina. I like the colors, the rust, the shapes, you know. Back in the old days stuffwas really made with pride, you know a lot of this work was made to last. Like the storyteller piece there with my mom, that's me and my mom and she was a storyteller. That's a collaboration between me and Susan Guevera, but it was really cool to hear those stories from my Mom, just growing up, what they went through, you know, the depression era, they suffered a lot. It was hard for them to, youknow, to make it, so those stories come out a lot in my work too, what my Mom and my Dad and my Grandfather went

through and then there's a picture of my Dad when he was in World War two. So a lot ofthat stuff, a lot was like amazing, what they knew. They knew how to survive. I like to paint the saints because they have beautiful stories of what they went through, what they suffered. It's important for people to know how the world is working, what's been going on. What we've seen. How we live. The importance of it is to pass it on to others, to the new generation. I see a lot of these old I see a lot of these old (music) I see a lot of these old

artists that have passed away, and they left something behind for me. I want to leave that behind for somebody else so it'll keep going, you know? You gotta encourage these kids. You know, some kids, they want to be artists and then people tell them, "You're gonna starve!" (laughter) You can't be an artist or you can't get into film, 'cuz nobody can make it. It's like anybody could do it, try it, make it. When you can express yourself with your heart and your mind that's a big deal (laughter). When you express yourself with a gun or... that's not good, so you know, that's what you want these kids to express themselves with, with their talent. >>PUSSY RIOT ARTIST MARIA ALYOKHINA SHARES HER DEEP COMMITMENT TO FREE SPEECH. >>Kamerick: You were imprisoned for two years after your protest at the cathedral in Moscow in 2012.Now your new show "Revolution" revisits

that protest. It also mocks Vladimir Putin and it warns about oppression and censorship. Why that location? Why was that >>Maria: Patriarch, like the main guy over Russian Orthodox Church <The Patriarch?> Yes, he used this issues. For example in 2012, during the Putin's election campaign, he used this church for political agitation for Vladimir Putin and he said that all the Christians should vote for Vladimir Putin and, well, we were just a small group of girls who were not agree with that and just decided to criticize this using church for the political goals. And also the patriarch, he, he's a strange guy. He used to be KGB agent in the 70's and nowadays he owns a huge tobacco

business and for example this particular Church of Christ the Savior, the basements, they use for very strange things. For example, you can rent a hall there for cooperative banquets <for a corporate banquet> Yes, and invite some singers there and probably one of our, I don't know, let's say "mistakes" were just that we didn't ask for permission for our concert. >>Megan: (laughter) You could have just asked for permission for a concert? >>Maria: Yeah, well, they actually, they invite a lot of pop singers there and they are singing for this, like, all the guards from Russian Orthodox Church, and Russian business and Russian political field, and so on. So, it's like bureaucracy what they are doing. >>Megan: So that's what you wanted to point out? >>Maria: yeah we just like

showed that. >>Megan: What is the atmosphere like right now for artists and writers and dissidents in Russia? >>Maria: It's not like totalitarian system of controlling everything. It's not like that. It's more like criminal mafia state. If they don't like what you are doing, they can put you to jail. They can, you know, kill you. They can take all your business, money, everything. But there is no system of the "activities." >>Megan: You, I'm sure, you did not intend to be imprisoned for two years. I mean what are you willing to sacrifice to keep doing the work that you're doing? >>Maria: It's our country and our history. People in 2014, maybe like about eighty percent of the people I knew, who were protesting, they just left the country and this movement called "Immigration

of Disappointment", and well, this is totally wrong choice, because it's your country. You should fight for it, because, I mean, it's not easy, but if you will not do it, who will do it? >>Megan: You know, you're a mother and clearly I saw from the show that your time in prison was verydifficult. Are you willing to go through that again? >>Maria: Like the most dangerous prison is "here" [in your head] and for my opinion it's self-censorship. >>Megan: Aren't you afraid? >>Maria: Of what? Why I should be afraid? >>Megan: Being killed. I mean plenty of opponents have been killed. People have been imprisoned. >>Maria: Death happens. I mean, everybody will die. I mean, we are people. Your body can die, but I think

ideas cannot die. >>Megan: I know after you came out of prison, you started other projects focused on media, focused on prisoner rights. Are you continuing those? >>Maria: After we've been released, Crimea annexation happened, just after two months, and almost all independent media were like crushed and a lot of journalists were fired because of the political reasons and censorship, and some of them were our friends, very close friends. And we decided to do an independent media focused on covering all the topics about freedom in Russia. It's like political violence, inside police stations violence, inside prisons. From the very beginning it was like, you know, very small kind of field of covering,

but after two years I think not only us, but everybody understood that it's one of the main topics in Russia, now, unfortunately, and I think these things are very important because we shouldn't be a small circle of people. We should talk with each other. >>Megan: What is Pussy Riot now? >>Maria: Everybody can be since 2012, it's not a group of girls from Moscow. It's all those people who supported us, who made their own videos, their own actions, their own process. So, I meet them around the world. >>Megan: What do you hope you can achieve with the show and with your work? >>Maria: I want an action. <An action?> Yes, of course, to change something. To, like,

overcome things such as nationalism, sexism or racism. We should be together. It's not like some symbol, some seer will help everybody. It doesn't work like that. Only together, we can change everything. That's why we are doing "Revolution," to show that we are together. It doesn't matter that this border exist.Borders exist... Well, our goals are more important than any borders and a community which we have is more important than Putin's government or Trump's government or any government that's what I believe. I believe in community and when I've been in prison,

when I've been in solitary confinement, I knew that I'm not alone and that's what actually helped me and pushed me forward to act. Our goal isto see thousands of examples of the "Revolution." >>RENOWNED FOR MAKING THOUGHT PROVOKING FILMS SUCH AS KOYAANISQATSI, FILMMAKER GODFREY REGGIO USES MOTION PICTURES TO STIMULATE AUDIENCES TO SEE OUR WORLD IN NEW WAYS. [SOFT MUSIC] >> I FEEL PRIVILEGED TO BE

A FILMMAKER BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE AT THE TROUGH OF CINEMA, RELIGION, WHATEVER YOUR POINT OF VIEW ABOUT IT IS, THE NEW DIVINE TECHNOLOGY, AS IT WERE. ANYTHING THAT WE SAID ABOUTGOD IN THE PAST WE CAN SAY ABOUT MIRACLE MACRO. I WANTED TO, IN EFFECT, TAKE THAT MIRACLE IN REVERSE, AND USE IT TO TRY TO OFFER A GIFT, THROUGH THE MEDIUM THAT EVERYONE IS ENTRANCED WITH, THAT IS OMNI PRESENT, THE SCREEN, THAT ONE CAN NO LONGER ESCAPE AND PUT SOMETHING LIKE AMIRROR, OR A HAMMER, DEPENDING ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW, THROUGH A MEDIUM OF ART, OUT INTO THE REAL WORLD. [SOFT MUSIC] >>> BEFORE I DO A MOVIE, IT IS OBSESSIVE FOR ME THAT I HAVE A TITLE. I DON'T KNOW WHY. BUT, IF I CAN'T NAME IT, I CAN'T FEEL IT. OKAY?

SO THAT IS MY REAL LIMIT. SO, OF COURSE, I DROVE MYSELF CRAZY. I WENT THROUGH A LOT OF DIFFERENT TITLES, SAVAGE EATON, ORACLE OF KATRINA, ET CETERA, BUT WHAT KEPT BUBBLING UP INSIDE OF ME, THIS IS ALLABOUT PERCEPTION. I AM NOT OFFERING YOU A SPECIFIC IDEA, I AM OFFERING YOU TO OBSERVE SOMETHING THAT IS HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT. IT IS ALL ABOUT SEEING. I SAID, HOLY SMOKE, HOLY TERROR, HOLY MOLEY, HOLY SEE. [SOFT MUSIC] >> HAVING COME FROM NEW BUT IT BEING IN ME, NEW ORLEANS JUST WENT THROUGH A DEBACLE, THE LIKES

OF WHICH MOST CITIES IN NORTH AMERICA HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED; THE 2005 HURRICANE KATRINA. MY FIRST IMPULSE AS A FILMMAKER WAS TO GET DOWN THERE AND TO LENS IT. [VIOLIN MUSIC] >> I DIDN'T GET TO SHOOT FOR ANOTHER ALMOST FOUR YEARS SINCE THAT EVENT. SO, THE VIEW I HAD OF IT ACTUALLY MATURED AND I REALIZED, HAD I GONE DOWN IN 2005, I WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOOTING THE RUINS OF A HURRICANE. BIG DEAL. SORRY TO PUT IT THAT WAY. BUT, THERE ARE MANY HURRICANES AND WE SEE THEM ON THENEWS ALL THE TIME. WHAT I GOT TO SEE

NOW WHEN I WENT TO SHOOT FIVE YEARS LATER, ACTUALLY, IS NOT THE RUINS OF A HURRICANE, BUT THE RUINS OF MODERNITY. >> THESE BUILDINGS THAT BECAME LIKE MAUSOLEUMS WITH THEIR WINDOWS LIKE CHOIRS SINGING DEATH SONGS. OR AN AMUSEMENT PARK THAT HADN'T BEEN USED FOR OVER FIVE YEARS, WHERE THE SWAMP WAS LITERALLY RECLAIMING IT THROUGH ITS VEGETATION AND ALLIGATORS AND SNAKES. THESE WERE LIKE SETS, WHEN YOU THINK OF THE RUINS OF MODERNITY, THAT NOWHERE IN HOLLYWOOD, COULD THEY BUILD. MY FILMS ARE MADE NOT ABOUT SOMETHING SPECIAL, NOT ABOUT A MONSTER, OTHER THAN THE MONSTER THAT WE CALL PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT. THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE. I ALSO WANTED TO FILM

IN LOUISIANA THE SWAMPS, WHERE PART OF MY FAMILY COMES FROM, THE CHAPALA BASIN AND I WANTED TO FILM IT NOT IN A BEAUTIFUL COLOR LIKE IT COULD LOOK LIKE NATIONAL GEO. I WANTED TO FILM IT IN AN INFRARED SPECTRUM BEYOND COLOR, A SPECTRUM THAT IS PRESENT BUT UNPERCEIVABLE BY OUR SENSES. ALL OF MY FILMS ARE PREDICATED ON SEEING, IN A NEW WAY, THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE, WHICH FOR ME IT IS HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT. WE'RE BLINDED. WE'RE NOT SEEING THE WORLD WE LIVE IN. ART CAN HELP US RE-SEE THAT WORLD. [SOFT MUSIC] >> ART IS A GIFT. IT IS NOT

SOMETHING THAT IS REQUIRED. THERE IS NO NEED FOR WHAT I TRY TO OFFER. NOONE NEEDS WHAT I AM PEDALING. IT IS A GIFT FOR THOSE THAT WISH TO TAKE IT. ART; THE BEAUTY OF ART IS THAT IT HAS NO MEANING. IT IS A MYSTERY. IT CAN BE, HOWEVER, EXTREMELY MEANINGFUL TO THE VIEWER. IF YOU HAVE BEEN TO A CONCERT, LET'S SAY, ONE DOESN'T SAY, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS RIFT OF MUSIC TO YOUR LOVED ONE. ONE SAYS, GEE, I WAS MOVED, I WAS TOUCHED. I FELT IT. IT COULD CHANGE THINGS IN ONE'S LIFE. POETRY CAN DO THAT. A PIECE OF ART CAN CHANGE SOMEONE. SO, ARTHAS, IN THAT SENSE, THE ABILITY TO, GET READY, INFLICT ITSELF ON THE VIEWER, SO THAT IT BECOMES BEYOND INTELLECT SOMETHING THAT DEALS WITH THE COMPLEXITY OF WHO

WE ARE. IN THAT SENSE, IT TO CHANGE. [SOFT MUSIC] >> TO JOIN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, TO WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN, OKAY, YOU CAN DO ALL OF THAT, FORME IT IS A BIG WASTE OF TIME. YOUR WORLD IS YOUR WORLD OF RELATIONSHIPS. YOU ARE EMPOWERED TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR WORLD OR YOU'LL LIVE IN A ROOTED FUTURE AND HAVE MAYBE SATISFACTIONS BUT NO REAL MEANINGFUL EXISTENCE. [VIOLIN MUSIC] >> I FEEL THESE FILMS WEAR A MASK OF A FACE WITHIN US ALL. I TAKE MYSELF AS THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT FOR ALL OF MY FILMS. I TAKE

MY OWN MENTAL ILLNESS AS A STATE THAT THE WORLD IS IN. IF ONE DOES NOT HAVE THE COURAGE TO BE HOPELESS ABOUT THE WORLD IN WHICH THEY LIVE, THEN THEY WILL NEVER HAVE THE COURAGE TO BE HOPEFUL ABOUT CREATING ANOTHER WORLD. THE WORLD THAT I AM TALKING ABOUT THAT, FOR ME, IS HOPELESS, LIKE HUMPTY DUMPTY IS OFF THE WALL IS THE ROOTED FUTURE. THE FUTURE THAT IS ALREADY SET AND DETERMINED BY THE TECHNOLOGICAL WAY IN WHICH WE LIVE. TO SAY NO TO THAT FUTURE, TO SAY NO TO TECHNOLOGICAL NECESSITIES IS THE ESSENCE for COLORES was provided

in part by: The Nellita E. Walker Fund KNME-TV Endowment Fund The Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund