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INTRODUCTION The globe shrinks for those who own it; for the displaced or the dispossessed, the migrant or refugee, no distance is more awesome than the few feet across borders or frontiers. - Homi Bhabha
The wall has become an extremely politicized symbol of the region, of SD/TJ. Twenty minutes away from our home in San Diego 50,000 northbound vehicles and 25,000 northbound pedestrians cross the US/MX border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry daily.i You can stand at the closest beach to that port at the International Friendship Park and be a part of the surreal image of three different layers of border divisions. La Mojonera, or Western Land Boundary Monument No. 258 is a 9-foot high obelisk which sits completely out of place at the beach like a tomb marker from a historic cemetery. It marks the start of the 1,952 mile line separating Mexico and the United States. In 1851, representatives of the Boundary Commissions from each nation placed the marker together in a collaborative effort that seems difficult to imagine today.ii A foot away from the territory marker is a sight impossible to fully understand. There is a 10 foot steel fence that divides the concrete, then the sand along the beach and continues on into the ocean for several hundred feet as if to attempt to divide that as well. This is a security border wall to prevent the passing of people from Mexico into the United States as a result of the 1994 Operation Gatekeeper.iii The wall is made of steel military landing mat and has small gaps between slats.iv Separated families have used those spaces to see each other, talk and hold hands between the bars for years.v The latest wall is a double reinforcement, first built after 9/11 when more federal legislation allowed for increased security at the border.vi This secondary wall built in parallel, several feet away from the first, also put an end to the possibility of physical contact through the fence. It created a further strange division of a policed no entry zone between the two fences that is occasionally opened for cultural events and often increases the pain of this division. If you go there today, you will see the barren US beach of Border Feld State Park under watch of a border patrol officer. On the MX side, you can see the lively festivities of the Playas beach front, food vendors, live musicians, seafood restaurants and children playing. What we see here is a landscape that separates families, creates tension between nations and instills fear of each other. The wall is a constant reminder of war, failed humanity and the incessant power play for the 1%. President Trump’s scheduled 21 billion dollar border wall will only reinforce and reassure us of all of many years of tension. The interviews transcribed in this publication share a Mexican-American border patrol officer reflecting on illegal immigrants, a criminal sketch artist profiling the accused inside the court, first hand observations of how the legend of Tijuana, the dangerous city, continues to haunt families over 3 generations, a self described racial identity fading away from racial tension, the resolution of an internal struggle caused by external violence, a pathway from religious crisis to the questioning of freedom and much more. These stories are tragically frustrating, violently unforgivable, some cringe worthy, or confusing at times, are all warmly exchanged, immensely complex and most surprisingly, they are strikingly honest and personal. They ignite the border from the inside rather than from the outside reminding us that the border does not start at the line between US and MX but it is here, embedded in our lives, in every one of us.
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P REFACE & THAN K YO U
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We are humbled and grateful to have had the honor and privilege to cross back and forth between San Diego and Tijuana, listening to the experiences of people living in these borderlands, over these last several years. Those who have shared their personal stories, for others to read, have inspired this rich publication. We thank you all for extending your sincerity, labor and trust in each other and to us—two complete strangers—during our Globos Workshops*. The generosity extended by each participant opened a space to consciously engage together, reflecting on the complex close(d) relationship of living within the region of the most frequently crossed border in the world—And all the mess, beauty and challenges that are a part of it.
The resulting 82 conversations on the subject of border were produced via four seminars from an experimental Art & Ethnography course series: HOT AIR BALLOONS and INTERVIEWS from 2015-2017. The seminars were held in conjunction with the Culture, Art & Technology Program, University of California San Diego; the Transdisciplinary Program, Woodbury University at the School of Architecture; and the concluding seminar, Transnational Edition was held in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, in addition to multiple sites in both border cities. MCASD hosted the seminar extending access and content to the their permanent collection and enabling the seminar to exist between multiple colleges, allowing joint participants from Southwestern College, University of California San Diego and Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. This interview collection and artwork consists of a series of transcribed interviews conducted and edited by millennials working collaboratively with each other and with us. * Globos Workshops were developed to produce a fleet of 25ft unmanned hot air balloons to be launched over the US/MX border at Friendship Park, TJ/SD. Balloon construction workshops were held at both sides of the border within many different communities and cultural centers.
three border ers conv
ation s
with residents of Tijuana-San Diego
I n to t he B lu e
Christian Linney
Border is a perimeter to the borderer or bored, a point or place where a value and or a decision has been made.
This publication is a four part series of conversations about the border. Preface & Introduction by Tae Hwang & MR Barnadas of Collective Magpie. Design by Adrian Orozco & Abigail Peña. Copyright. 2015-2018 All authors. . Printed at Diego & Sons, SD. Complete free download of 82 interviews can be accessed at www.collectivemagpie.org/book
These are the stories that are here and remain here as a memory and history. These are the stories of the border residents. These are the stories of our border—the border that matters.
READ ALL 82 CONVERSATIONS
Into the blue | Self-Interview
A border in my life is somewhat of a philosophical one, I am half American, and half British, I was born and raised in London, England, and I moved to San Diego, California in 2010 to go to university and play ¬field hockey for America. I’ve been training at the Olympic training centre in Chula Vista since I arrived in California. I have represented the USA on the international stage, as well as England when I was sixteen, before I moved to the U.S. I take pride in this very much because I’ve been playing this sport since I was a child and it’s taught me a lot about my faults. So what nationality does my pride align with? When you play for an International team you have to be devoted, dedicated, committed, and loyal to you country. Your teammates and coaches are your family and you want the best for them, this is what drives you. I’ve found a home in San Diego, California, though my roots, my memories of England and what that meant to represent my country, by the pure nature of competition, challenges the emotions I feel when I play for the USA. Control over emotion, at the international level, is paramount its the fuel that pushes you when your body no longer can. You can understand that without control over emotions how divided and to some extend indifferent you might feel. In the long run I don’t see this as a bad thing; It’s a line in the sand that simply exists.
Q: Can a border be both physical and mental? A: There are mental barriers that we can perceive as borders, walls that we create for ourselves in our own mind. The difference between these borders and the physical borders that they find there form in different objects or maybe interactions that happen. Q: What’s the difference between a border and a perimeter? A: They are the same in essence though I think a perimeter is a lighter word then border is. It hasn’t got the connotations or biases that might come with the word border. Perimeter is more of a mathematical term used to describe the outside value of a shape. Q. What can you relate to as a border in your life? A. I’m half American and half British, I was born and raised in London, England and moved with my family to San Diego in 2010. The culture barrier was something that I was aware of at the beginning and faded after the two years of going to university. I often think that a physical border for me is the ocean that separates England and the US the shear separation is a quite large. In California you have to drive every - where and in England you drive as well though just not as far. The living is dense and close compared to California’s open highways. Q: Do you think a border is a static objective notion? A: No, I think a border is a constantly fluctuating conversation between two opposing positions. I think it’s a mediator between contrasting views that holds a status of in and of itself, at times strong and resolute and at others completely transparent and boundless. Q: How does you pride affect your game? A: When you’ve worked hard enough for something over a long period of time your naturally going to passionate about what you do. Taking too much pride in what you do and you might find yourself stuck in the mud somewhere along the way. It’s important to recognize that your pride needs counter measures just like anything. To be humble, content, and grateful for the things you have, to not abuse a status or role. Growing up as an international field hockey player was and I suppose still is a learning experience. I grew up loving the game, and still do,
but in all honesty not for the competition... It’s not exactly known in the states very well, more so in England and Europe. I truly enjoy the game that is all I really need. Q: Why is Pride a border for you? A: Pride can be blinding, it’s not that it stops you from going anywhere you might like to go. It’s taking you away from what it is you’re passionate about. Internally I feel if I can’t overcome what is misleading me then I’ve hit a wall. That’s a border, a point of limitation and to move past this is no easy or simple thing. What I am trying to get at isn’t something physical, which probably makes it harder to explain and most likely even harder to understand. What grounds this for me is my experience playing for the USA and England, to have represented both countries at a relatively young age was really impactful on my life. Because it was my life, I was devoted, and even though I not in competition playing right now, I still am dedicated to the sport. Its what I know. Q: Do you always see you pride in this light? Or only when you’re in competition? A: No, and it’s not necessarily always when I am in competition either. It’s something that I’ve noticed over my international hockey career. It’s always been a glitch to me, a costly distraction that I’ve adjusted to over a long period of time, it’s a perspective I have, that’s all. I don’t think a border can be explained by one person’s perspective as more than that. Q: What constitutes the edge terms in relationships to International borders? A: The roles of edges, entering and exiting act as the edges of a border to me, they are clear definitions you notice when observing architecture for instance. There is this median area that I notice too, its this grey haze that you find yourself in when handing your passport over to a border officer, who’s been instructions aren’t always known to you. Whether it be to not scrutinize based upon race and ethnicity or not. It might just be me not knowing how to do the job; I feel that at these times, border officials are naturally inclined to racial stereotypes, as well as other relational constructs. ●
Fear on the Border | Participant/Author to Participant/Author Christian Linney: How often do you cross the border? Arturo Martinez: I tend to cross the border about four or five times during the year and I cross it because I usually go to Mexico City. I was born in Mexico City and I lived there for 18 years and then I move here to San Diego. I always fly from Tijuana’s airport to Mexico City. Therefore, I always have to cross the border.
