DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Border Wall Made out of the New York Times 

 

 

User's Guide

 

How to Observe the U.S.-Mexico Border:

 

Step 1: Find a quiet room and place the display on a table that gives you enough room to walk around in order to be able to see both sides of the display. 

 

Step 2: Take a moment to gather your opinions on immigration and why you believe immigrants migrate to the United States. Also, think about the current situations Mexico and Central America are encountering. 

 

Step 3: Choose one of the sides to view first. Each side presents a different message but there is a correlation between the two sides. 

 

Step 4: After you have chosen a side, read the cut-outs and the picket signs, if you have chosen the side with the protesters. While reading the cut-outs, ponder on whether immigrants are being treated unjustly. When viewing the side without the protesters contemplate the terms used to reference to immigrants and the truth behind their migration.

 

Step 5: Repeat step 4 but this time view the opposite side.

 

Step 6: Finally, you should bring together all of your thoughts and opinions that have risen while viewing the display. After you have gathered all of your thoughts, compare them to your previous beliefs and perception of immigration and “illegal” immigrants.  

 

Statement of Goals & Choices

 

My goals for this project were to showcase the discrimination immigrants face when arriving to America and the prejudice that is present in the U.S. I also wanted to display one of the main reasons why Latino immigrants decide to come to the United States. I had other options in mind but I decided to create the U.S.-Mexico border because it is relevant to my Op-Ed Essay. One of the other options I had in mind was to create a display that focused on technology and how it detaches us from others when it is supposed to connect us to them.

 

The materials I used to create my display were paint, a x-acto knife, glue gun, school glue, paint brushes, toothpicks, clay, and the New York Times. I had to use a glue gun to attach the wall/border to the “land.” I tried to paste it to the flat surface with school glue but it was not sticking. I decided to use paint so that display would not be plain and so that it would be appealing to the viewers. I used clay to create protesters. I created protesters in order to give the viewers a better depiction of what immigrants face when they arrive at the border.

 

The effect I am intending to have on the viewers is that Latino immigrants come to the United States with ambitions and in search of a better life but in reality they face discrimination and they discover that the American dream was just that, a dream. 

 

Choices

 

I was contemplating whether to just paint the border on the newspaper and then pasting newspaper cut-outs around the painting but I did not think it would have the same impact as actual creating the border. I decided to create the U.S.- Mexico border out of cardboard so that it was sturdier and it would not collapse as easily if I had only created it out of newspaper. I thought that creating a display would have a better effect on the viewers since it would be 3D. I chose to paste cut-outs all over the display to expose different aspects of both countries. 

 

I think that my display should be viewed in a quiet room so that the person seeing it will be able to collect their thoughts and reflect on how immigrants are truly treated by people in the United States. The viewer will also be able to analyze some of the reasons why Latino immigrants tend to migrate to the United States. 

 

Credits

 

My brother allowed me to drive his car to Michael's, which is where I bought most of the supplies I needed. I was missing some of the materials I needed for my project, so my father drove me to Blick Art Materials. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Marisol also had a Letter to the Editor published during the last week of class:

 

 

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.