Design & Style, Community & Government, Wellness, Arts & Entertainment
Tehachapi
Lesson time 01:32:29 min
Learn how shifting your perspective can change your life, and find hope and redemption in this feature-length documentary from world-renowned artist JR.
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Preview
[AUDIO LOGO] [AUDIO LOGO] [SOFT MUSIC SLOWLY BUILDING] JR (VOICEOVER): I always wondered if a thin layer of paper could change anything. Over time, I realized that art can somehow move the needle. Sometimes it can unite people and for a moment transcend conflicts and borders. I take photos of people, of places. And I paste them on trains, on floors, on walls, buildings, houses. Sometime I even have people carry them. What really matters is to make the stories travel. I see my work as a message in a bottle, thrown in the ocean. I never really know where a story will go. But for this particular project, I do remember. One morning, my friend Saul called and asked me if I would do a project in a prison. And I have been arrested a couple of times, so I'm familiar with police stations. [NON-ENGLISH] But I wasn't interested in spending time in a prison. So to get rid of him, I said, look, if I ever were to walk in a prison, I would paste the entire yard, just like I did in Paris at the Louvre. I thought I'd never hear from him again. But actually, he called his friend Scott, who works with prisons a lot, who then called the governor of California. And the governor was like, wait, wait, wait. Who is that JR? And Scott said, well, he's an artist from France, and he creates gigantic black and white murals that involve hundreds of people. And he recalls their stories. The governor was like, wait. Years ago, I do remember being part of a mural in San Francisco. Is that the same artist? Scott said yes, that's exactly him. So the governor gave me full clearance to walk in any of the 35 state prisons in California. [MUSIC PLAYING] The next thing you know, I'm on Google Earth scouting prisons. Because I cannot paste on grass, all I was looking for was a concrete yard. And finally, in the middle of the desert, I found Tehachapi. Tehachapi is a maximum security prison with four different levels of security, from level 1 to level 4. It's one of the most violent prisons in California. Because of the danger posed by many inmates, Tehachapi is a real fortress, completely cut off from the outside world. So to get there, you go through gates, electric fences, walls, and more walls, with guards checking your ID multiple times. Until recently, some inmates in solitary confinement were literally placed in cages outside. As in many prisons, there is an intense segregation within the incarcerated population. It's an endless war between Latino, African-American, and white supremacist gangs. Huge fights and deadly riots can happen at any time. The day I arrived, some inmates were spraying water on the yard to remove the blood from an earlier stabbing fight that had happened. NEWS ANCHOR: Five inmates were injured following a riot in the California Correctional Institution this afternoon in Tehachapi. It happened just after 1:30, and officials tell us about 65 inmates were involved. Correction officers used...
About the Instructor
JR is a world-renowned artist who’s best known for his larger-than-life murals that turn places of turmoil into thought-provoking art. In his new documentary, JR explores whether art can help transform the lives of men in a supermax prison in California. Expand your worldview—and experience new hope—as you discover the unlimited potential for human change through these stories of redemption.
Featured MasterClass Instructor
Tehachapi
Go behind the walls of a prison with world-renowned artist JR as he creates large-scale art projects on the inside. His incredible journey with California inmates teaches that our potential for change is unlimited.
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