1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:09,377 --> 00:00:16,617 [soulful melody playing on cello] 4 00:00:21,289 --> 00:00:25,093 [waves crash] 5 00:00:31,465 --> 00:00:35,203 [light, rhythmic banging in distance] 6 00:00:40,641 --> 00:00:43,711 [banging continues] 7 00:00:47,415 --> 00:00:51,319 [ambient electronica music] 8 00:01:30,491 --> 00:01:35,763 * 9 00:01:47,708 --> 00:01:51,645 [phone ringing] 10 00:01:51,712 --> 00:01:52,846 MICHAEL BROWN (on phone): Kintock Control. 11 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:54,382 This is Michael Brown speaking. 12 00:01:54,482 --> 00:01:55,549 How can I help you? 13 00:01:55,649 --> 00:01:56,717 Yeah, this is Krimes. 14 00:01:56,784 --> 00:01:59,553 I'm leaving work to head to the house. 15 00:01:59,620 --> 00:02:00,721 BROWN: What's your name again, sir? 16 00:02:00,821 --> 00:02:03,157 Krimes. K-R-I-M-E-S. 17 00:02:03,224 --> 00:02:04,958 -BROWN: All right. I got you, man. -All right, thanks. 18 00:02:05,025 --> 00:02:06,294 -BROWN: All right? -Yep. 19 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:07,461 [line disconnects] 20 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:16,737 [flock of geese honking] 21 00:02:17,871 --> 00:02:21,909 [bright clip-clopping of horse hooves] 22 00:02:23,577 --> 00:02:26,247 [cars passing] 23 00:02:30,884 --> 00:02:32,486 JESSE KRIMES: Me and my mother lived above 24 00:02:32,553 --> 00:02:35,889 my grandfather's machine shop. 25 00:02:35,923 --> 00:02:40,027 And when she was at work, I would always go downstairs. 26 00:02:40,994 --> 00:02:43,096 Yeah, the smell of this place. 27 00:02:43,163 --> 00:02:45,766 This is like a very distinct smell. 28 00:02:45,866 --> 00:02:48,202 So, every time I smell it, it's like, 29 00:02:48,269 --> 00:02:49,770 oh, yeah. I'm home. 30 00:02:49,837 --> 00:02:52,072 It's a good grease smell. 31 00:02:53,774 --> 00:02:54,942 The sandblaster. 32 00:02:55,042 --> 00:02:56,444 I used to play with that thing 33 00:02:56,510 --> 00:02:57,711 all the time when I was little. 34 00:02:57,778 --> 00:02:59,280 So, you like put your arms in it. 35 00:02:59,347 --> 00:03:01,349 It feels like you become this like machine, 36 00:03:01,415 --> 00:03:03,451 and your hands are in here. 37 00:03:06,954 --> 00:03:09,957 The phone that they could never find. 38 00:03:10,057 --> 00:03:12,960 But people call here all the time, and they never answer. 39 00:03:14,895 --> 00:03:17,130 I don't even know what that is. 40 00:03:19,967 --> 00:03:22,270 I would always come through and raid everything 41 00:03:22,303 --> 00:03:25,973 and steal the materials and turn 'em into my art projects. 42 00:03:26,073 --> 00:03:29,377 I think these things are really elegant. 43 00:03:30,878 --> 00:03:33,146 Which is weird to say about this dirty shit. 44 00:03:35,949 --> 00:03:38,952 I would read Foucault's "Discipline and Punish." 45 00:03:38,986 --> 00:03:41,989 There was an image in there of this tree, 46 00:03:42,055 --> 00:03:43,991 and it was all contorted. 47 00:03:44,057 --> 00:03:47,127 And there was a post that was stuck in the ground, 48 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,431 and they tied it around this contorted part of the tree 49 00:03:50,498 --> 00:03:52,766 to try and straighten it. 50 00:03:52,833 --> 00:03:55,102 You know, this one's straight. 51 00:03:56,637 --> 00:03:58,939 That's how it's supposed to look. 52 00:04:01,909 --> 00:04:06,980 These [chuckles] remind me of that contorted tree. 53 00:04:07,014 --> 00:04:10,418 That's what happens when there's too much compression: 54 00:04:10,484 --> 00:04:11,985 you bend the valves. 55 00:04:12,019 --> 00:04:14,121 It freezes up the head, 56 00:04:14,187 --> 00:04:17,358 completely shuts down the entire engine of the car, 57 00:04:17,458 --> 00:04:19,693 destroys it... 58 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,995 all from this little thing. 59 00:04:24,532 --> 00:04:26,867 But they're beautiful like that. 60 00:04:30,604 --> 00:04:33,674 Yeah, I'll probably end up making something with these. 61 00:04:33,707 --> 00:04:36,344 I think we found some new materials! 62 00:04:38,679 --> 00:04:41,882 [light guitar playing] 63 00:04:49,156 --> 00:04:52,393 Growing up, I didn't actually understand what an artist was. 64 00:04:53,727 --> 00:04:55,896 I was always kind of like a maker. 65 00:04:59,867 --> 00:05:02,536 There was these really interesting objects 66 00:05:02,570 --> 00:05:04,638 that I connected with. 67 00:05:06,507 --> 00:05:09,810 Machine equipment and cardboard boxes 68 00:05:09,877 --> 00:05:11,379 piled up in the corner. 69 00:05:12,980 --> 00:05:15,082 And I would always make these 70 00:05:15,182 --> 00:05:17,551 three-dimensional theatrical structures out of cardboard, 71 00:05:17,585 --> 00:05:21,755 just design little scenes and tape them together. 72 00:05:21,855 --> 00:05:25,225 Got lost in making these things all day. 73 00:05:26,427 --> 00:05:28,228 The only time I felt comfortable 74 00:05:28,261 --> 00:05:31,031 was when I was actually making work. 75 00:05:32,833 --> 00:05:37,070 * 76 00:05:39,873 --> 00:05:43,110 [sandblaster whirs] 77 00:05:46,079 --> 00:05:48,281 [sandblaster slowly powers down] 78 00:05:48,348 --> 00:05:52,019 I always did really well in my art classes, 79 00:05:52,085 --> 00:05:55,523 and I wanted to go to an art school. 80 00:05:55,589 --> 00:05:57,124 [metal pieces clink and clank] 81 00:05:57,190 --> 00:06:00,293 But I don't ever recall in my life anyone being like, 82 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:02,262 "Oh, this is something you're really good at. 83 00:06:02,295 --> 00:06:04,297 You should explore this." 84 00:06:04,398 --> 00:06:07,200 There was never really much direction. 85 00:06:10,471 --> 00:06:14,408 I was kind of left to my own devices most of my life. 86 00:06:18,712 --> 00:06:23,316 [mellow music playing on guitar] 87 00:06:25,152 --> 00:06:27,988 I noticed early on, coming through school, 88 00:06:28,088 --> 00:06:31,291 that I was different from a lot of my friends. 89 00:06:32,660 --> 00:06:34,995 Most of the kids had two parents, 90 00:06:35,062 --> 00:06:36,329 they had houses 91 00:06:36,430 --> 00:06:40,133 and cars and, you know, nicer things. 92 00:06:42,335 --> 00:06:45,439 My mother had me when she was 16. 93 00:06:46,907 --> 00:06:50,010 It was basically a child raising a child. 94 00:06:51,445 --> 00:06:53,013 We didn't even have a kitchen. 95 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,082 We didn't have a refrigerator. 96 00:06:55,148 --> 00:06:57,417 Our beds were in the same room. 97 00:06:57,485 --> 00:07:00,954 My mother had to work all day, every day, 98 00:07:01,021 --> 00:07:04,424 and my biological father was never there. 99 00:07:06,860 --> 00:07:11,131 The guy who raised me was Tom Adams. 100 00:07:12,432 --> 00:07:13,934 He actually was there at the hospital, 101 00:07:14,001 --> 00:07:15,368 but he wasn't in the delivery room. 102 00:07:15,435 --> 00:07:17,337 But yeah, he came in right away and held him. 103 00:07:17,370 --> 00:07:22,009 And, oh, he loved him. Yeah. 104 00:07:22,042 --> 00:07:25,879 And... nobody ever loved Jesse like he did. 105 00:07:25,979 --> 00:07:30,217 [mellow music continues] 106 00:07:30,317 --> 00:07:33,153 JESSE: I was very close to him. 107 00:07:33,220 --> 00:07:35,055 I didn't know that he wasn't my father 108 00:07:35,122 --> 00:07:38,391 until I was about nine or ten years old. 109 00:07:39,793 --> 00:07:42,730 At that point in time, his relationship with my mother 110 00:07:42,830 --> 00:07:46,333 was going south 'cause he was drinking more and more, 111 00:07:46,399 --> 00:07:49,036 and he was beginning to use heroin. 112 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,509 When I was 16 years old, 113 00:07:55,576 --> 00:07:59,246 he was in, I think, a drug rehabilitation center, 114 00:07:59,346 --> 00:08:01,582 and he just walked out the door one day 115 00:08:01,649 --> 00:08:04,084 and went and hung himself in the woods. 116 00:08:04,918 --> 00:08:06,554 And, um... 117 00:08:08,155 --> 00:08:10,758 you know, that was kind of, uh... 118 00:08:11,592 --> 00:08:13,493 that was intense. 119 00:08:14,394 --> 00:08:16,196 So... 120 00:08:18,599 --> 00:08:20,433 [sighs] 121 00:08:27,174 --> 00:08:29,109 Yeah, that was, uh, 122 00:08:29,209 --> 00:08:31,244 that was the point in time 123 00:08:31,278 --> 00:08:34,181 when I started kind of acting out. 124 00:08:35,348 --> 00:08:39,620 I got involved in drinking and partying. 125 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,890 I started selling weed 126 00:08:42,956 --> 00:08:46,293 and then selling cocaine at parties. 127 00:08:46,393 --> 00:08:48,295 * 128 00:08:48,395 --> 00:08:50,731 It was no secret I was a train wreck. 129 00:08:50,798 --> 00:08:54,134 Getting arrested all the time for public drunkenness 130 00:08:54,234 --> 00:08:56,804 and underage drinking. 131 00:08:56,904 --> 00:08:58,639 I was so reckless. 132 00:08:58,706 --> 00:09:00,708 I really didn't give a shit about myself. 133 00:09:00,774 --> 00:09:03,777 I didn't care if I lived. I didn't care. 134 00:09:07,380 --> 00:09:10,584 I had full scholarships to Temple University, 135 00:09:10,651 --> 00:09:13,220 Tyler School of Art. 136 00:09:13,286 --> 00:09:15,422 But I ended up getting in trouble there. 137 00:09:15,488 --> 00:09:17,390 I lost all my scholarships. 138 00:09:17,457 --> 00:09:20,260 I got kicked out of school and went to prison 139 00:09:20,327 --> 00:09:22,830 for possession with intent. 140 00:09:25,265 --> 00:09:27,500 And that was my first time ever being in prison, 141 00:09:27,567 --> 00:09:30,137 and I served a year and a half state sentence. 142 00:09:31,805 --> 00:09:32,973 When I came home, 143 00:09:33,006 --> 00:09:35,475 I was trying to work and go to school. 144 00:09:37,510 --> 00:09:42,115 And the stress of that began to wear on me. 145 00:09:42,182 --> 00:09:45,185 So, I went back to what I knew, 146 00:09:45,252 --> 00:09:48,656 and I began, um, 147 00:09:48,689 --> 00:09:50,023 selling cocaine again. 148 00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:53,593 [tense music playing] 149 00:09:55,328 --> 00:09:57,865 [indistinct TV chatter] 150 00:09:57,931 --> 00:10:01,034 -It was a Friday night... -[heavy knock on door] 151 00:10:01,101 --> 00:10:04,204 in February of 2009. 152 00:10:04,271 --> 00:10:06,373 I immediately just turned and ran. 153 00:10:06,439 --> 00:10:08,876 -[loud bang] -[police chatter] 154 00:10:08,942 --> 00:10:10,944 They kicked in the door. 155 00:10:11,011 --> 00:10:13,981 [police chatter continues] 156 00:10:14,047 --> 00:10:16,216 [handcuffs tighten] 157 00:10:17,617 --> 00:10:20,220 I admitted everything that was mine. 158 00:10:20,287 --> 00:10:21,855 I showed them where the drugs were. 159 00:10:21,889 --> 00:10:24,992 I was honest about everything and just sat there 160 00:10:25,058 --> 00:10:27,527 while they went through the house. 161 00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:32,532 And then they find 147 grams of cocaine. 162 00:10:34,668 --> 00:10:38,338 ut when I refused to cooperateB and snitch on other people, 163 00:10:38,405 --> 00:10:41,574 they increased my drug weights from 147 grams 164 00:10:41,675 --> 00:10:46,880 up to 50 kilos based off of other people's statements. 165 00:10:46,914 --> 00:10:49,316 And they're like, "Oh, yeah. I know that guy! 166 00:10:49,382 --> 00:10:51,484 I got 40 grams from him yesterday," 167 00:10:51,551 --> 00:10:53,987 and then they charge you with that. 168 00:10:54,054 --> 00:10:57,557 his is a typical practice thatT happens in the federal system. 169 00:10:58,425 --> 00:11:00,360 [tense music continues] 170 00:11:00,427 --> 00:11:02,262 CINDY KRIMES: And they actually called me 171 00:11:02,362 --> 00:11:04,597 and said, "If he doesn't tell on these people, 172 00:11:04,698 --> 00:11:06,934 we're gonna file federal charges." 173 00:11:07,935 --> 00:11:09,937 And I said, "Go for it." 174 00:11:10,037 --> 00:11:12,105 I said, "You can file all the federal charges you want. 175 00:11:12,172 --> 00:11:14,607 I'd rather have my son in jail than dead." 176 00:11:19,947 --> 00:11:21,749 JESSE: It was pre-sentence. 177 00:11:21,782 --> 00:11:23,416 I'm presumably innocent, 178 00:11:23,450 --> 00:11:26,619 and they had me in solitary confinement. 179 00:11:28,288 --> 00:11:32,292 It was 23 and 1 lockdown, like dirt floors. 180 00:11:32,392 --> 00:11:34,427 The sinks are busted off the wall. 181 00:11:34,461 --> 00:11:36,864 The toilets leak and don't work. 182 00:11:37,965 --> 00:11:38,966 There's no sunlight. 183 00:11:39,066 --> 00:11:41,368 You get no outside recreation. 184 00:11:43,270 --> 00:11:45,438 And you get thoughts of suicide. 185 00:11:51,278 --> 00:11:53,747 I was basically losing my mind. 186 00:11:58,218 --> 00:12:00,788 Art is what I know, so the whole time, 187 00:12:00,821 --> 00:12:03,957 I was making artwork to survive. 188 00:12:06,159 --> 00:12:08,328 [light chiming] 189 00:12:08,428 --> 00:12:11,064 [pen scratches across page] 190 00:12:11,131 --> 00:12:13,300 I worked on the purgatory series 191 00:12:13,333 --> 00:12:17,170 the entire time I was in pre-sentencing. 192 00:12:17,237 --> 00:12:20,808 I remember from when I was a kid playing with Silly Putty 193 00:12:20,841 --> 00:12:23,176 that I could put it onto a newspaper 194 00:12:23,276 --> 00:12:24,945 and pull the ink off of it, 195 00:12:25,012 --> 00:12:27,280 and it would leave that inverse image on there. 196 00:12:27,347 --> 00:12:29,182 [pensive music on piano and strings] 197 00:12:29,282 --> 00:12:33,486 And I began cutting portraits of people who were accused 198 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,756 of committing crimes in the paper out 199 00:12:36,824 --> 00:12:40,360 using the inner connector of a AAA battery 200 00:12:40,460 --> 00:12:41,761 that I sharpened on the floor 201 00:12:41,829 --> 00:12:44,497 and used as a kind of cutting device. 202 00:12:45,799 --> 00:12:48,501 And I would carve prison-issued bars of soap 203 00:12:48,535 --> 00:12:52,105 into little slivers. 204 00:12:52,172 --> 00:12:54,441 And then by making the surface wet 205 00:12:54,507 --> 00:12:57,811 and pressing the portrait on top of the soap, 206 00:12:57,878 --> 00:13:00,713 it would leave the inverse image of the face. 207 00:13:03,483 --> 00:13:07,020 In order for me to send these pieces of soaps out, 208 00:13:07,054 --> 00:13:09,356 I needed to figure out a way to house them 209 00:13:09,389 --> 00:13:10,991 so that they wouldn't break. 210 00:13:11,058 --> 00:13:14,727 And that's when I thought of the prison playing cards. 211 00:13:15,728 --> 00:13:17,464 * 212 00:13:17,530 --> 00:13:20,233 [indistinct prison chatter] 213 00:13:20,333 --> 00:13:22,035 I began collecting the cards 214 00:13:22,069 --> 00:13:25,906 and cutting the faces off of face cards. 215 00:13:30,410 --> 00:13:32,913 And after I would get so many cards, 216 00:13:32,980 --> 00:13:35,248 I would make these card structures and mail out 217 00:13:35,315 --> 00:13:36,749 two in an envelope. 218 00:13:41,154 --> 00:13:43,556 And I made hundreds of them. 219 00:13:45,859 --> 00:13:50,430 I would work roughly 12 hours a day. 220 00:13:50,497 --> 00:13:53,766 This process kept me sane because, really, 221 00:13:53,867 --> 00:13:56,569 I never knew if I would even make it out of there. 222 00:14:06,079 --> 00:14:09,116 [music gently fades] 223 00:14:11,851 --> 00:14:15,088 [traffic rushing, horns honking] 224 00:14:18,558 --> 00:14:19,893 We went to sentencing, 225 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,862 and that was a major moment for me. 226 00:14:22,930 --> 00:14:27,034 Just walking into that courtroom, you feel the power. 227 00:14:30,938 --> 00:14:34,574 The United States of America versus Jesse Krimes. 228 00:14:34,641 --> 00:14:39,779 Like, this is absolutely ridiculous. 229 00:14:41,781 --> 00:14:45,385 All of these things that I viewed as not that serious 230 00:14:45,452 --> 00:14:49,322 became very serious at that moment. 231 00:14:49,389 --> 00:14:53,626 I'm never doing anything to put myself in this situation again. 232 00:14:56,829 --> 00:15:02,002 I ended up being found guilty f 500 grams of powder cocaine.o 233 00:15:03,903 --> 00:15:07,174 So, instead of 100 months, the judge gave me 234 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:09,977 a 70-month federal sentence. 235 00:15:12,279 --> 00:15:17,084 The judge recommends that I get sent to a low-security facility, 236 00:15:17,150 --> 00:15:20,287 but he also said that, you know, if I ever come back 237 00:15:20,353 --> 00:15:22,189 in front of another judge again 238 00:15:22,289 --> 00:15:24,157 that he has a permanent residence 239 00:15:24,191 --> 00:15:26,026 for me in the BOP. 240 00:15:26,126 --> 00:15:28,595 So, basically, I'm, you know, if I get in trouble again, 241 00:15:28,661 --> 00:15:30,964 I have a life sentence. 242 00:15:32,465 --> 00:15:36,203 [dramatic electronic music] 243 00:15:36,303 --> 00:15:39,372 But the one thing that really stood out to me 244 00:15:39,472 --> 00:15:41,774 was when he said, 245 00:15:41,841 --> 00:15:45,712 "Earlier today, someone came before me who had 246 00:15:45,778 --> 00:15:50,050 "a similar criminal history with the exact same offense, 247 00:15:50,117 --> 00:15:54,521 "and I just gave that person 20 years. 248 00:15:56,789 --> 00:15:59,059 But I see value in you." 249 00:16:01,628 --> 00:16:04,697 n the moment, I was just like,I thank fucking God. 250 00:16:04,731 --> 00:16:09,036 But then like afterwards, I was like, well, why? 251 00:16:09,069 --> 00:16:11,971 I was with the guy in the holding cell 252 00:16:12,039 --> 00:16:13,673 before I went in for my sentencing, 253 00:16:13,740 --> 00:16:15,242 and it was a Black guy. 254 00:16:15,342 --> 00:16:16,576 [balance creaks] 255 00:16:16,643 --> 00:16:18,678 It seemed to me that race 256 00:16:18,745 --> 00:16:22,249 was the main driving factor in that decision. 257 00:16:25,218 --> 00:16:27,254 Honestly, it made me angry. 258 00:16:32,159 --> 00:16:36,196 [somber electronic music] 259 00:16:46,206 --> 00:16:49,176 The Bureau of Prisons ignored the judge's recommendation. 260 00:16:49,242 --> 00:16:53,113 They didn't send me to a low-security facility. 261 00:16:53,180 --> 00:16:55,948 They sent me to a medium-security facility 262 00:16:56,015 --> 00:16:58,385 as far away from home as possible: 263 00:16:58,451 --> 00:17:02,021 utner FCI-2 in North Carolina.B 264 00:17:04,791 --> 00:17:08,528 It's full of every gang that you can imagine. 265 00:17:08,595 --> 00:17:10,930 So, like, the Hell's Angels are there, 266 00:17:10,963 --> 00:17:12,965 um, the Italian Mafia's there, 267 00:17:13,032 --> 00:17:16,469 the Russian Mafia, Black Guerrilla Family, Pisces, 268 00:17:16,569 --> 00:17:20,740 Sureños, Latin Kings, um, you name it. 269 00:17:20,807 --> 00:17:23,643 Every major criminal organization in the world 270 00:17:23,710 --> 00:17:26,413 is, is housed there. 271 00:17:26,479 --> 00:17:28,815 Going in there, I was terrified. 272 00:17:30,883 --> 00:17:34,254 But I walked into the cafeteria, 273 00:17:34,321 --> 00:17:35,288 and it's like, 274 00:17:35,355 --> 00:17:37,924 all the whites sitting here, all the Blacks 275 00:17:37,990 --> 00:17:40,293 and all of the Spanish, and everyone was segregated. 276 00:17:40,327 --> 00:17:42,962 There was like no racial mixing at all. 277 00:17:42,995 --> 00:17:44,397 [voices echo] 278 00:17:44,464 --> 00:17:47,234 Within the first couple weeks, there was this huge war 279 00:17:47,300 --> 00:17:50,837 that almost jumped off between the whites and the Blacks. 280 00:17:51,471 --> 00:17:53,906 [inmates arguing] 281 00:17:53,973 --> 00:17:56,343 The guys handed me shanks. 282 00:17:57,677 --> 00:17:59,346 I took them, but I just 283 00:17:59,412 --> 00:18:02,014 threw them away in the trash can 284 00:18:02,115 --> 00:18:04,484 'cause there's no way I was gonna go out there 285 00:18:04,517 --> 00:18:06,018 and stab anybody. 286 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:08,355 I mean, that would've given me a life sentence. 287 00:18:12,325 --> 00:18:17,264 That division is really fostered by the prison system, 288 00:18:17,330 --> 00:18:19,166 so that people don't unify 289 00:18:19,199 --> 00:18:23,870 and rise up against the guards and the staff. 290 00:18:23,936 --> 00:18:26,206 [somber music playing] 291 00:18:26,306 --> 00:18:29,709 You fear for your life on a day-to-day basis. 292 00:18:32,011 --> 00:18:35,448 That was my introduction to the federal prison system. 293 00:18:41,388 --> 00:18:45,392 [mellow guitar playing] 294 00:18:53,866 --> 00:18:56,736 I found out that I was having a son 295 00:18:56,836 --> 00:18:59,071 he week before I got indicted.t 296 00:19:11,718 --> 00:19:14,421 Whether me and her worked out or not, 297 00:19:14,521 --> 00:19:17,990 there's no way that I'm not gonna be there for my kid. 298 00:19:19,926 --> 00:19:21,728 There was a lot of absence in my life, 299 00:19:21,761 --> 00:19:23,563 and then I basically 300 00:19:23,596 --> 00:19:26,833 did the same thing to my kid. 301 00:19:26,899 --> 00:19:29,936 I know how damaging that was for me. 302 00:19:50,423 --> 00:19:53,960 I knew that I needed to do what I had to do 303 00:19:54,026 --> 00:19:55,395 to make it out of prison 304 00:19:55,462 --> 00:19:58,398 so that I could come home and be a present father. 305 00:20:11,311 --> 00:20:13,446 [indistinct shouting] 306 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:15,582 I felt like I was at war. 307 00:20:15,648 --> 00:20:18,050 I had to get out intact. 308 00:20:20,653 --> 00:20:23,323 I just stayed in the cell and made drawings as a way to 309 00:20:23,423 --> 00:20:26,926 disconnect from everything that's going on around me. 310 00:20:27,927 --> 00:20:30,797 [wistful piano music] 311 00:20:34,233 --> 00:20:36,603 I wasn't that skilled at drawing before I went in. 312 00:20:36,669 --> 00:20:38,971 It was just something I learned. 313 00:20:41,841 --> 00:20:45,778 I began using graphite and a #2 pencil 314 00:20:45,845 --> 00:20:49,349 to do recreations of masterworks. 315 00:20:51,017 --> 00:20:53,119 But I would transfer the heads of offenders 316 00:20:53,185 --> 00:20:56,956 over top of the religious icons. 317 00:20:57,023 --> 00:20:59,959 I wanted to decontextualize the way that we view 318 00:21:00,026 --> 00:21:01,994 who is an offender and who isn't. 319 00:21:02,028 --> 00:21:04,531 And so, I also began transferring images of 320 00:21:04,597 --> 00:21:08,034 celebrities and politicians, based on the premise 321 00:21:08,100 --> 00:21:11,471 that we're all some type of offender. 322 00:21:11,538 --> 00:21:14,206 It's just a matter of whether you've been caught or not. 323 00:21:15,442 --> 00:21:19,712 [music intensifies] 324 00:21:19,779 --> 00:21:23,282 Over time of making the work, people would come to the cell 325 00:21:23,350 --> 00:21:27,286 and wanna talk and wanna see what I was doing. 326 00:21:29,155 --> 00:21:30,390 So, they're like, "Oh, you're an artist. 327 00:21:30,490 --> 00:21:32,224 Can you draw? Can you do portraits?" 328 00:21:32,325 --> 00:21:35,294 So, I just did one real quick off of someone's ID, 329 00:21:35,362 --> 00:21:38,030 and everyone was really impressed. 330 00:21:38,064 --> 00:21:41,568 So, you know, then I had tons of people coming to the cell 331 00:21:41,668 --> 00:21:44,203 to get portraits and buy portraits. 332 00:21:46,573 --> 00:21:49,842 The work served as this medium of communication 333 00:21:49,909 --> 00:21:52,345 that allowed me to connect with people 334 00:21:52,412 --> 00:21:54,914 past that whole prison persona. 335 00:22:04,424 --> 00:22:07,093 [traffic roars past] 336 00:22:11,564 --> 00:22:13,566 They did a portrait of you and put it in Philly? 337 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:14,667 Holy shit! [laughs] 338 00:22:14,734 --> 00:22:16,068 You got me, man. You got me. 339 00:22:16,102 --> 00:22:18,738 They put a portrait of Cano in Philadelphia, overdue. 340 00:22:18,771 --> 00:22:21,441 -[laughs] -And me right next to you. 341 00:22:28,014 --> 00:22:29,882 I always wondered what this feeling was, 342 00:22:29,949 --> 00:22:32,852 to walk into prison and not be an inmate. 343 00:22:32,919 --> 00:22:34,053 -Yeah. -Here it goes. 344 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:35,722 I had the codes to this place. 345 00:22:35,788 --> 00:22:37,957 I first met O and Cano 346 00:22:38,024 --> 00:22:40,693 when I got transferred to Fairton, New Jersey, 347 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:42,462 which has a drug program. 348 00:22:42,562 --> 00:22:45,565 This is Al Capone's cell. 349 00:22:45,632 --> 00:22:46,866 [camera shutter clicks] 350 00:22:46,933 --> 00:22:48,768 I basically used the drug program 351 00:22:48,801 --> 00:22:50,937 to get me back closer to home. 352 00:22:52,872 --> 00:22:55,542 [tender guitar music] 353 00:22:55,608 --> 00:22:57,744 JARED "O" OWENS: Before I met Jesse, I wanna say it was, 354 00:22:57,810 --> 00:23:00,146 had to be about 10 years 355 00:23:00,246 --> 00:23:04,150 I was there for conspiracy to distribute powder cocaine. 356 00:23:05,485 --> 00:23:07,487 In "Shawshank Redemption," I guess I was like 357 00:23:07,554 --> 00:23:10,823 the Morgan Freeman of the art room [chuckling]. 358 00:23:10,890 --> 00:23:12,158 That's who I was! 359 00:23:12,224 --> 00:23:14,160 I was the guy who knew how to get-- 360 00:23:14,226 --> 00:23:16,328 move in the environment because I was there so long. 361 00:23:18,765 --> 00:23:21,400 One day, I walked in to go start on one of my paintings, 362 00:23:21,468 --> 00:23:24,003 and he was sitting there. And I looked, and I said, 363 00:23:24,070 --> 00:23:25,438 "Why is this guy sitting in front of my painting?" 364 00:23:25,505 --> 00:23:27,406 And I said, "If he's sitting in front of my painting 365 00:23:27,474 --> 00:23:30,443 and he's looking at it, then he's gotta be an artist." 366 00:23:32,745 --> 00:23:36,182 What are the odds of me bumping into somebody 367 00:23:36,282 --> 00:23:40,319 who's a conceptual artist in a federal prison? 368 00:23:40,352 --> 00:23:44,190 I guarantee you if there's another conceptualist in there 369 00:23:44,290 --> 00:23:46,959 [laughs] he might not ven know he's a conceptualist.e 370 00:23:47,026 --> 00:23:49,261 CANO: What Picasso? What Picasso you don't like? 371 00:23:49,328 --> 00:23:50,530 -A lot. -And he likes Matisse. 372 00:23:50,597 --> 00:23:52,298 I love Matisse. I like him better than Picasso. 373 00:23:52,364 --> 00:23:53,966 -Love Matisse. -Matisse is terrible. 374 00:23:54,033 --> 00:23:56,268 -What?! -He's like one of the worst artists. 375 00:23:56,335 --> 00:23:59,138 Ladies and gentlemen, excuse that sacrilege. 376 00:23:59,205 --> 00:24:01,207 -Matisse and-- -I'm so tired of him. 377 00:24:01,307 --> 00:24:03,109 -He's like a Renoir. -What? 378 00:24:03,175 --> 00:24:04,644 -Renoir and Matisse. -Totally different. 379 00:24:04,711 --> 00:24:05,878 -I like Matisse. -No. 380 00:24:05,945 --> 00:24:07,680 -I like Matisse. -No. 381 00:24:09,882 --> 00:24:10,950 -I wish. -[laughs] 382 00:24:11,017 --> 00:24:13,720 This was every day in the art room. This. 383 00:24:13,820 --> 00:24:17,624 -This what we do inside. -Every day. 384 00:24:17,690 --> 00:24:20,493 JESSE: When I got there, I went straight to the art room 385 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,029 'cause I wanted to see who's making what, 386 00:24:23,062 --> 00:24:24,731 if I could get a space. 387 00:24:24,831 --> 00:24:26,866 o, I just spoke to the guards,S and they're like, 388 00:24:26,899 --> 00:24:29,869 "Oh, you need to talk to O." 389 00:24:29,902 --> 00:24:32,639 O: So, we started talking, nd the conversation went from,a 390 00:24:32,705 --> 00:24:34,641 "Which prison did you come from? What did they have there? 391 00:24:34,707 --> 00:24:36,475 "Did they let you have colored pencils? Did you have this? 392 00:24:36,543 --> 00:24:38,377 Did you have that? What kinda paint did you have?" 393 00:24:38,410 --> 00:24:39,979 And I knew a lot of artists he didn't know, 394 00:24:40,046 --> 00:24:41,548 and he knew a lot that I didn't know. 395 00:24:41,581 --> 00:24:44,050 So, we would feed off each other. 396 00:24:45,918 --> 00:24:47,253 God puts people in your life. 397 00:24:47,353 --> 00:24:48,855 [bright electronic music] 398 00:24:48,921 --> 00:24:52,525 I had nobody else to talk to about art, you know? 399 00:24:52,592 --> 00:24:57,096 There's not a lot of people in there that are 400 00:24:57,196 --> 00:24:59,165 thinking about art on that level. 401 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:03,335 GILBERTO "CANO" RIVERA: And when you're in that atmosphere, 402 00:25:03,402 --> 00:25:06,405 you don't wanna open yourself entirely to people. 403 00:25:07,707 --> 00:25:10,109 But O lived in my unit, so it was like, 404 00:25:10,209 --> 00:25:12,579 "Oh, we got a new artist. You're gonna like him." 405 00:25:12,612 --> 00:25:15,081 So, when I met Jesse, we talked about art, 406 00:25:15,114 --> 00:25:16,916 and I seen what he had to offer that was different 407 00:25:16,949 --> 00:25:18,851 than other artists I had met. 408 00:25:18,918 --> 00:25:21,621 And we just like hit it off from like the beginning. 409 00:25:23,422 --> 00:25:26,525 JESSE: Artists are definitely treated differently in prison. 410 00:25:28,527 --> 00:25:32,131 You're a highly valued member of the community 411 00:25:32,198 --> 00:25:34,200 because you provide something real 412 00:25:34,266 --> 00:25:36,803 that humanizes people and connects people 413 00:25:36,869 --> 00:25:40,873 to their families and makes people feel valuable. 414 00:25:43,309 --> 00:25:44,443 CANO: That's a commodity. 415 00:25:44,476 --> 00:25:46,979 You sell it, you know what I'm sayin', 416 00:25:47,079 --> 00:25:49,649 so you could eat, you would never go hungry. 417 00:25:49,749 --> 00:25:51,984 Out here, artists go hungry. 418 00:25:52,051 --> 00:25:54,153 O did really well in there, and Cano. 419 00:25:54,220 --> 00:25:56,155 You know, they would paint a lot of portraits, 420 00:25:56,255 --> 00:25:59,158 nd they would do a lot of worka that people would buy. 421 00:25:59,258 --> 00:26:00,593 And that's how they survived. 422 00:26:00,660 --> 00:26:02,161 That's how they bought their materials 423 00:26:02,228 --> 00:26:04,430 to make the other work. 424 00:26:04,496 --> 00:26:07,734 'Cause these guys were really advanced in terms of the work 425 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:08,801 that they were making. 426 00:26:08,868 --> 00:26:11,103 They were doing beautiful abstractions 427 00:26:11,170 --> 00:26:12,338 and experimenting 428 00:26:12,404 --> 00:26:15,474 with different techniques and styles. 429 00:26:18,444 --> 00:26:20,647 O: To me and Jesse and Cano, 430 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:22,348 doing portraits is like a card trick. 431 00:26:22,414 --> 00:26:24,350 We were past that. 432 00:26:24,450 --> 00:26:27,453 We were looking for something deeper. 433 00:26:27,519 --> 00:26:31,858 [bright music on guitar and chiming bells] 434 00:26:34,661 --> 00:26:36,162 -JESSE: When I was in Fairton, 435 00:26:36,195 --> 00:26:38,931 I had a larger space to work in, 436 00:26:38,998 --> 00:26:44,470 so that allowed me to change the scale of my project. 437 00:26:44,536 --> 00:26:47,039 For the last three years of my sentence, 438 00:26:47,106 --> 00:26:52,344 I created "Apokaluptein: 16389067." 439 00:26:55,047 --> 00:26:59,551 he title comes from the originT of the word "apocalypse," 440 00:26:59,618 --> 00:27:02,689 which means to uncover and reveal, 441 00:27:02,722 --> 00:27:04,056 in combination with 442 00:27:04,123 --> 00:27:07,559 with my Federal Bureau of Prisons identification number. 443 00:27:12,999 --> 00:27:16,568 began to think about buildingI a sort of time machine, 444 00:27:16,669 --> 00:27:21,808 one made of images sewn together, blended, embedded. 445 00:27:21,874 --> 00:27:24,711 A chance to travel outside of my container, 446 00:27:24,744 --> 00:27:27,413 visiting the future that already exists 447 00:27:27,479 --> 00:27:31,583 while avoiding the present circumstances of my condition. 448 00:27:39,759 --> 00:27:41,994 O: He says, "I'm gonna take a sheet, 449 00:27:42,061 --> 00:27:44,596 "and I'm gonna transfer an image with styling gel. 450 00:27:44,663 --> 00:27:47,333 "And I'm gonna do a big one, all right? 451 00:27:47,399 --> 00:27:49,435 And I'm gonna do Heaven, Earth, Hell." 452 00:27:49,535 --> 00:27:50,937 And I was like, "Okay. I get you." 453 00:27:51,037 --> 00:27:54,073 A little of, what's the guy's name? [clicks tongue] 454 00:27:54,106 --> 00:27:56,108 JESSE: Bosch. 455 00:27:56,175 --> 00:27:59,846 I wanted to do a kind of vertical triptych. 456 00:28:01,714 --> 00:28:06,285 I'd decided to use federal prison bedsheets as a canvas. 457 00:28:08,454 --> 00:28:10,890 So, I would do a bunch of work for other people, 458 00:28:10,957 --> 00:28:12,792 portraits and tattoo work, 459 00:28:12,859 --> 00:28:15,594 and then they would pay me in books of stamps, 460 00:28:15,627 --> 00:28:19,799 which is roughly $7 in prison currency. 461 00:28:19,899 --> 00:28:22,101 And then I would pay a friend of mine 462 00:28:22,134 --> 00:28:23,602 who was working in the laundry. 463 00:28:23,635 --> 00:28:25,938 He would give me two sheets. 464 00:28:28,941 --> 00:28:33,145 The sheet itself is produced in the prison 465 00:28:33,212 --> 00:28:34,881 using prison labor. 466 00:28:37,249 --> 00:28:39,651 They pay them like 40 cents an hour, 467 00:28:39,752 --> 00:28:43,155 and they're making millions of dollars. 468 00:28:43,255 --> 00:28:48,660 So, the sheet that's produced by the incarcerated person 469 00:28:48,761 --> 00:28:50,729 is then used to literally cover 470 00:28:50,797 --> 00:28:53,332 and hide his body while he sleeps. 471 00:28:54,633 --> 00:28:58,304 So, stripping their sheets and, you know, 472 00:28:58,337 --> 00:29:00,572 defacing them, destroying them, 473 00:29:00,639 --> 00:29:03,509 it was like a nice form of resistance. 474 00:29:06,745 --> 00:29:08,614 When I saw that art had a "fuck you" element 475 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:10,682 to the system, I was all-- I was onboard. 476 00:29:10,749 --> 00:29:13,685 I was like, great. I wanna be part of that. 477 00:29:14,686 --> 00:29:18,524 [haunting electronic music] 478 00:29:18,590 --> 00:29:21,293 I wasn't buying paints. I wasn't buying brushes. 479 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:22,862 I didn't need canvas. 480 00:29:22,962 --> 00:29:26,632 I was stealing everything from the prison on purpose. 481 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,437 O: Procurement of all the elements of his piece, 482 00:29:31,503 --> 00:29:33,539 whew, it takes a army, you know what I mean? 483 00:29:33,639 --> 00:29:35,374 It is not, it's not like out here. 484 00:29:35,474 --> 00:29:36,508 You need it, you go get it, you know? 485 00:29:36,542 --> 00:29:37,944 In there, getting the sheets, 486 00:29:38,010 --> 00:29:39,178 you can go to the Hole. 487 00:29:39,245 --> 00:29:42,648 Getting the, the newspaper is a, is a mission. 488 00:29:42,714 --> 00:29:45,717 I mean, the styling gel was ust as important as the paper.j 489 00:29:45,818 --> 00:29:48,054 That's how he did the transfers. 490 00:29:50,156 --> 00:29:52,558 He tried to buy a case of it, and they were like, 491 00:29:52,658 --> 00:29:54,961 "What are you doing with all this styling gel?!" 492 00:29:55,027 --> 00:29:56,028 nd they gave him two or three.A 493 00:29:56,062 --> 00:29:58,797 They were like, "That's all you're gettin'." 494 00:29:58,865 --> 00:30:01,133 You know, I would go to the commissary 495 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:02,401 and get him styling gel, 496 00:30:02,468 --> 00:30:03,903 and they would look at me like, 497 00:30:03,970 --> 00:30:06,138 "The fuck are you getting styling gel for? You're bald!" 498 00:30:06,205 --> 00:30:08,074 [upbeat music on guitar and keyboards] 499 00:30:08,174 --> 00:30:11,911 The staff would come sit and watch him and be like, "Cool." 500 00:30:13,312 --> 00:30:15,414 One time, they said something. 501 00:30:15,481 --> 00:30:16,682 "That's not a bed sheet that he's doing?" 502 00:30:16,748 --> 00:30:20,719 I said, "No, no, that's a canvas." 503 00:30:20,752 --> 00:30:22,889 JESSE: You know, this is considered contraband, 504 00:30:22,922 --> 00:30:26,725 so it could've gotten me time in solitary. 505 00:30:26,758 --> 00:30:30,229 If my points go up, I could've been sent to a penitentiary. 506 00:30:30,262 --> 00:30:31,563 That was the least of my worries. 507 00:30:31,597 --> 00:30:33,900 I just didn't wanna lose the work. 508 00:30:36,435 --> 00:30:39,105 [upbeat music fades] 509 00:30:43,275 --> 00:30:47,113 CANO: I didn't know exactly what Jesse was up to. 510 00:30:47,213 --> 00:30:50,749 I never knew that he was onna make this colossal thing.g 511 00:30:53,619 --> 00:30:56,055 He would complete a panel, 512 00:30:56,122 --> 00:30:58,790 and it was kinda interesting the way he thought about it 513 00:30:58,891 --> 00:31:01,260 way before how to unite these things. 514 00:31:01,293 --> 00:31:04,396 And he was doing 'em, and he already had it sketched out 515 00:31:04,463 --> 00:31:06,632 in his, in his mind what it was gonna be. 516 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:12,304 [chimes tinkling brightly] 517 00:31:12,404 --> 00:31:14,606 -JESSE: At the time, I couldn't have explained to you 518 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,809 why I was doing it. 519 00:31:17,876 --> 00:31:22,081 It was an intuitive way to work through these concepts 520 00:31:22,148 --> 00:31:25,051 that I'm still figuring out: 521 00:31:25,117 --> 00:31:28,654 what it means to be good and what it means to be bad. 522 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,158 And I was reading these philosophical texts... 523 00:31:33,725 --> 00:31:37,629 "The Divine Comedy," "The Kingdom and the Glory," 524 00:31:37,663 --> 00:31:39,831 "The Wretched of the Earth," 525 00:31:39,898 --> 00:31:43,502 Bourdieu's "Distinction," Hegel. 526 00:31:45,837 --> 00:31:48,840 Reading these philosophical texts 527 00:31:48,907 --> 00:31:51,477 was a way to kind of decode these things to me 528 00:31:51,510 --> 00:31:53,946 and work through some of these, 529 00:31:54,013 --> 00:31:57,583 some of the visual imagery that was developing intuitively. 530 00:32:00,486 --> 00:32:03,689 "The New York Times" served as my window onto the world. 531 00:32:03,789 --> 00:32:06,858 That's why I was selecting imagery outta there. 532 00:32:06,925 --> 00:32:09,495 Images out of the travel section, 533 00:32:09,528 --> 00:32:12,864 man-made disasters, natural disasters. 534 00:32:16,268 --> 00:32:22,208 This was the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. 535 00:32:22,274 --> 00:32:26,445 This is a father carrying his child after a bomb went off, 536 00:32:26,512 --> 00:32:28,780 and she was injured by shrapnel. 537 00:32:31,350 --> 00:32:36,888 ll of the Hell panels are madeA rom commercial advertisements.f 538 00:32:40,226 --> 00:32:44,896 They would have articles exposing the factory fires 539 00:32:44,997 --> 00:32:47,399 in Bangladesh where all of the workers were dying 540 00:32:47,499 --> 00:32:49,401 in these apparel fires. 541 00:32:49,501 --> 00:32:52,238 And it's H&M and it's Ralph Lauren. 542 00:32:55,841 --> 00:32:58,077 And then there are full-page advertisements 543 00:32:58,177 --> 00:33:00,312 for H&M, Ralph Lauren. 544 00:33:04,416 --> 00:33:06,552 The figures came out of Foucault's 545 00:33:06,585 --> 00:33:09,588 "Discipline and Punish," where he talks about 546 00:33:09,655 --> 00:33:11,890 the corporal body. 547 00:33:14,926 --> 00:33:17,196 And they're all ballerina figures. 548 00:33:19,065 --> 00:33:25,371 They had this whole idea of this perfect human body, 549 00:33:25,437 --> 00:33:27,339 the perfection of movement. 550 00:33:27,406 --> 00:33:32,511 t's this completely artificialI thing that we idealize 551 00:33:32,578 --> 00:33:34,780 and aspire to. 552 00:33:40,619 --> 00:33:44,056 Each one of these would take about a month. 553 00:33:44,123 --> 00:33:48,460 I would work on them in the cell, 554 00:33:48,527 --> 00:33:50,129 oh, roughly, 555 00:33:50,229 --> 00:33:53,599 probably 12 hours a day, seven days a week. 556 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,035 So, there's a lot of hours. 557 00:33:59,805 --> 00:34:02,974 Making this was very transcendental and, you know, 558 00:34:03,075 --> 00:34:06,245 I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this thing. 559 00:34:08,414 --> 00:34:12,118 So, using that material, to have it confiscated 560 00:34:12,151 --> 00:34:14,320 was my biggest fear. 561 00:34:17,756 --> 00:34:20,926 So, I ordered one canvas out of Blick catalog, 562 00:34:20,992 --> 00:34:24,730 and when it came in the mail, I just took it off of the roll 563 00:34:24,796 --> 00:34:26,832 and gave the canvas to Jared. 564 00:34:26,932 --> 00:34:30,669 nd I put my sheets on the rollA and then put all the labels, 565 00:34:30,736 --> 00:34:33,139 the Blick labels and the red tape, back on it 566 00:34:33,172 --> 00:34:34,973 so it looked like it was a linen canvas 567 00:34:35,006 --> 00:34:38,144 that was ordered through the appropriate channels. 568 00:34:39,445 --> 00:34:41,747 And every piece that I finished, 569 00:34:41,813 --> 00:34:44,683 it got boxed up and shipped out that day 570 00:34:44,750 --> 00:34:49,521 so that I could minimize the chance of it being confiscated. 571 00:34:49,621 --> 00:34:51,823 I had a rapport with the mail people. I'm like, "Hey, what's up, guys?" 572 00:34:51,857 --> 00:34:54,126 And I'd be like, "How many boxes you got?" Five, six boxes. 573 00:34:54,193 --> 00:34:57,196 I'd put his stuff on the top, and I would always make sure 574 00:34:57,296 --> 00:34:59,131 that it went out. 575 00:35:01,533 --> 00:35:05,036 JESSE: It kind of like took the place of my body in a way, 576 00:35:05,137 --> 00:35:08,774 so when I was making it and sending it out, it was, 577 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:12,878 it was almost like sending out pieces of myself 578 00:35:12,944 --> 00:35:15,214 outside of the prison walls. 579 00:35:17,015 --> 00:35:21,353 [ethereal electronic music] 580 00:35:32,164 --> 00:35:36,134 Realizing that I was about to be released, 581 00:35:36,202 --> 00:35:37,669 I remember rushing 582 00:35:37,736 --> 00:35:43,309 to finish the last section, which was the Heaven section. 583 00:35:43,375 --> 00:35:47,379 And I ended up finishing the final panel 584 00:35:47,413 --> 00:35:51,049 nd sending it out three monthsa before I was released. 585 00:35:53,352 --> 00:35:57,323 That's when I had to start making plans as best I could. 586 00:35:57,389 --> 00:36:00,759 Like, what am I gonna do when I come home? 587 00:36:00,826 --> 00:36:04,263 Who am I living with? And do I have a job? 588 00:36:05,897 --> 00:36:09,601 I had foolish delusions of grandeur 589 00:36:09,668 --> 00:36:11,002 that I was just gonna come home 590 00:36:11,069 --> 00:36:13,339 and create artwork, have serious shows. 591 00:36:13,405 --> 00:36:15,907 [laughs] Like, immediately! 592 00:36:18,076 --> 00:36:19,845 Not immediately, but that was the vision 593 00:36:19,911 --> 00:36:22,748 that I had for my life. 594 00:36:22,781 --> 00:36:25,116 [ethereal music continues] 595 00:36:25,217 --> 00:36:28,920 There's still a million tripwires that would send me 596 00:36:28,954 --> 00:36:31,257 right back into prison. 597 00:36:31,290 --> 00:36:34,125 But I knew that I wouldn't put myself in a position 598 00:36:34,192 --> 00:36:37,863 to be rearrested or to get that life sentence. 599 00:36:43,435 --> 00:36:46,305 September 12th of 2013, 600 00:36:46,405 --> 00:36:48,974 I was released into the halfway house. 601 00:36:50,442 --> 00:36:55,247 Technically, by BOP standards, I'm still incarcerated. 602 00:36:58,250 --> 00:37:01,553 The first time I was able to like come up here... 603 00:37:01,620 --> 00:37:03,555 [turn signal clicking] 604 00:37:07,125 --> 00:37:10,562 and actually drive on the highway? 605 00:37:13,565 --> 00:37:15,000 All of that stress and bullshit 606 00:37:15,066 --> 00:37:18,003 of being in prison and then coming home. 607 00:37:18,069 --> 00:37:19,271 And you're happy to be home, 608 00:37:19,338 --> 00:37:21,006 but you're still surrounded by people. 609 00:37:21,072 --> 00:37:23,275 So, you're still like performing. 610 00:37:23,342 --> 00:37:26,578 And being in the car was like the first time 611 00:37:26,645 --> 00:37:29,448 I was actually by myself. 612 00:37:31,983 --> 00:37:33,452 It was early in the morning. 613 00:37:33,519 --> 00:37:35,253 There wasn't a lot of traffic. 614 00:37:37,088 --> 00:37:40,125 It was the most liberating feeling. 615 00:37:40,191 --> 00:37:41,927 I think I was singing at the top of my lungs, 616 00:37:41,993 --> 00:37:43,529 and I never sing. 617 00:37:47,533 --> 00:37:51,537 [optimistic piano playing] 618 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:06,385 [quiet conversations] 619 00:38:10,789 --> 00:38:15,327 * 620 00:38:43,755 --> 00:38:46,024 * 621 00:39:05,010 --> 00:39:07,513 JESSE: All right. Love you! 622 00:39:07,579 --> 00:39:09,948 Have a good weekend! 623 00:39:16,788 --> 00:39:20,091 [traffic rushing] 624 00:39:21,627 --> 00:39:23,595 [sirens in distance] 625 00:39:24,796 --> 00:39:26,732 -Hey. Allie. 626 00:39:26,798 --> 00:39:28,867 -How you doing? -How's it going? 627 00:39:28,934 --> 00:39:31,903 These are the two walls. This is east and west. 628 00:39:31,970 --> 00:39:32,971 Okay. 629 00:39:33,071 --> 00:39:35,574 JESSE: My adjustment is probably 630 00:39:35,641 --> 00:39:37,909 pretty atypical. 631 00:39:37,976 --> 00:39:40,145 I had a transitional job waiting for me 632 00:39:40,245 --> 00:39:41,647 as soon as I came home 633 00:39:41,747 --> 00:39:45,150 with the Mural Art restorative justice program. 634 00:39:46,718 --> 00:39:49,488 The director of the program, Robyn Buseman, 635 00:39:49,555 --> 00:39:52,157 came into Fairton. 636 00:39:52,257 --> 00:39:55,594 So, he was in the art studio, and he was showing me 637 00:39:55,661 --> 00:39:59,164 a piece of this big work that he'd done on sheets. 638 00:39:59,264 --> 00:40:00,666 But he couldn't show me the whole thing 'cause it was 639 00:40:00,732 --> 00:40:03,569 kind of hush-hush, and it was on prison property. 640 00:40:03,635 --> 00:40:06,672 And I said to him, "You know, when you get out, 641 00:40:06,738 --> 00:40:09,174 "we can probably get you into our mural arts program 642 00:40:09,274 --> 00:40:13,445 where we hire people to work our to six months, part-time."f 643 00:40:13,512 --> 00:40:15,847 RUSSELL CRAIG: That's where I met Jesse. 644 00:40:15,947 --> 00:40:17,983 Like a month after me working here, 645 00:40:18,016 --> 00:40:21,319 then he came along to Mural Arts. 646 00:40:21,352 --> 00:40:23,455 We was working together ever since. 647 00:40:25,857 --> 00:40:27,659 We ended up getting a reputation for being like a team 648 00:40:27,693 --> 00:40:30,128 that don't play when it come to installing and stuff. 649 00:40:30,195 --> 00:40:31,463 So, I get dedicated. 650 00:40:31,530 --> 00:40:35,033 We work on weekends, days, or holidays, all that. 651 00:40:36,802 --> 00:40:41,106 JESSE: You see that, Craig? They don't even fit together. 652 00:40:41,172 --> 00:40:44,275 They're not cut straight. 653 00:40:44,342 --> 00:40:46,778 Craig often calls me Captain America 654 00:40:46,845 --> 00:40:48,379 and calls himself Iron Man. 655 00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:50,682 RUSSELL: Thinking you should, you go make the lines, 656 00:40:50,716 --> 00:40:51,817 you should just put it there, 657 00:40:51,883 --> 00:40:53,552 and that's gotta be a touch-up area. 658 00:40:53,619 --> 00:40:55,320 JESSE: Put our lines there and get them to... 659 00:40:55,386 --> 00:40:58,356 And then we argue, and I say, "No, I'm more like Iron Man 660 00:40:58,389 --> 00:41:01,126 "because he's much more abrasive, matter-of-fact. 661 00:41:01,192 --> 00:41:02,694 He's kind of a dick." 662 00:41:02,728 --> 00:41:05,797 This is gonna be a, a nightmare. 663 00:41:05,864 --> 00:41:08,967 Craig would be more like Thor, I think, 664 00:41:09,034 --> 00:41:11,402 or The Incredible Hulk. 665 00:41:11,503 --> 00:41:15,674 So, he's quiet, reserved, and then he turns into beast mode. 666 00:41:17,208 --> 00:41:21,547 [spirited music on piano] 667 00:41:26,484 --> 00:41:29,087 RUSSELL: I'm a visual artist. I paint. 668 00:41:32,157 --> 00:41:34,726 It started like when I was very young. 669 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,596 I was around seven. 670 00:41:37,696 --> 00:41:41,600 My childhood was like the hood, street life, 671 00:41:41,667 --> 00:41:43,201 foster homes and stuff, ya know what I mean. 672 00:41:43,268 --> 00:41:45,604 So then, once I started running away from them, 673 00:41:45,671 --> 00:41:48,106 it was like the streets became like your family. 674 00:41:49,775 --> 00:41:53,411 I was about 20 when I first went to jail. 675 00:41:53,444 --> 00:41:58,449 I was like 26 or so when I went upstate. 676 00:42:00,285 --> 00:42:03,454 Jesse had a lot of drugs, more than what I had, 677 00:42:03,521 --> 00:42:06,625 and I did more time than he did. 678 00:42:06,692 --> 00:42:09,795 I got a 5-to-10 in which I did 7. 679 00:42:09,861 --> 00:42:13,464 We talked about that, but we don't go heavy into it. 680 00:42:13,565 --> 00:42:15,300 He know, and we know. We just know. 681 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:17,569 It's just the reality of it, you know what I'm sayin'? 682 00:42:20,872 --> 00:42:22,908 When I first walked in, 683 00:42:22,974 --> 00:42:25,443 it was just all you see was like 684 00:42:25,476 --> 00:42:27,813 mad Black people. And I was thinking like, damn! 685 00:42:27,913 --> 00:42:31,549 They locking up a lot of Black people, and that's one jail. 686 00:42:31,617 --> 00:42:34,319 So, just imagine all the jails in Pennsylvania. 687 00:42:34,419 --> 00:42:37,989 Then you've got jails all over the United States. 688 00:42:38,089 --> 00:42:40,291 [cell door slam shut] 689 00:42:40,325 --> 00:42:42,661 One day, I went to the yard, and the wall's like 690 00:42:42,728 --> 00:42:44,495 real, real big, you know what I'm sayin'? 691 00:42:44,596 --> 00:42:48,166 When the sun set, the horizon, you can't see it. 692 00:42:48,233 --> 00:42:50,669 So, the wall kinda killed my spirit, 693 00:42:50,736 --> 00:42:53,639 and I like ain't go out for a year. 694 00:42:55,406 --> 00:42:56,507 'Cause I had nothing. 695 00:42:56,608 --> 00:43:00,511 Zero money on the books, zero visits. 696 00:43:00,578 --> 00:43:02,113 And being like in the foster homes and stuff, 697 00:43:02,180 --> 00:43:03,348 I never had no real family. 698 00:43:03,448 --> 00:43:06,852 You just ain't have that support. 699 00:43:06,918 --> 00:43:09,354 I would just watch the block, and I would just watch 700 00:43:09,420 --> 00:43:11,456 how everybody was moving. 701 00:43:11,522 --> 00:43:14,159 'Cause it's like a machine. 702 00:43:14,192 --> 00:43:17,295 It's a dark machine, too. 703 00:43:17,362 --> 00:43:19,364 That's why the art became important, 'cause it was 704 00:43:19,464 --> 00:43:21,833 like a focus, and it was like an escape. 705 00:43:21,867 --> 00:43:24,302 * 706 00:43:24,369 --> 00:43:25,971 I did it all day. 707 00:43:26,037 --> 00:43:28,774 All day, every day. 708 00:43:32,543 --> 00:43:35,046 The goal was learn art, do art, 709 00:43:35,146 --> 00:43:36,882 get outta the street life, 710 00:43:36,982 --> 00:43:39,217 get outta the prison life. 711 00:43:42,153 --> 00:43:45,957 [music swells] 712 00:43:59,137 --> 00:44:01,139 JESSE: All right. 713 00:44:01,206 --> 00:44:05,310 I think the best way to start is to just 714 00:44:05,376 --> 00:44:10,849 put the whole top row in, and we'll go 13 down to 1. 715 00:44:10,916 --> 00:44:12,583 -WOMAN: Okay. -Yeah, they're numbered funny. 716 00:44:12,684 --> 00:44:16,554 The system I developed was like, in the process, so. 717 00:44:19,424 --> 00:44:21,359 How many times have you put this all together? 718 00:44:21,426 --> 00:44:22,560 Not very many, right? 719 00:44:22,593 --> 00:44:25,263 No. I've laid it out on the floor a lot. 720 00:44:25,330 --> 00:44:27,365 WOMAN: Yeah. 721 00:44:36,274 --> 00:44:37,909 [laughter] 722 00:44:37,943 --> 00:44:42,013 Well, I was actually on like a 40-foot scaffolding 723 00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:45,116 -just the other day, installing a mural, so. -Oh! 724 00:44:45,183 --> 00:44:46,885 This is kind of what I do every day! 725 00:44:46,952 --> 00:44:49,454 -Is that with the Mural Project? -Yeah. 726 00:44:49,554 --> 00:44:51,122 Wow. 727 00:44:51,189 --> 00:44:55,861 [gentle piano music] 728 00:45:01,599 --> 00:45:03,869 JESSE: You can see marks from the tiles 729 00:45:03,935 --> 00:45:06,137 on the desk that I worked on. 730 00:45:06,237 --> 00:45:08,306 It's almost like these little crosshairs. 731 00:45:08,373 --> 00:45:09,808 That I always found really interesting 732 00:45:09,875 --> 00:45:13,311 'cause it was like the trace of the actual prison. 733 00:45:16,647 --> 00:45:19,985 I used the size of that desk as kind of my guideline. 734 00:45:25,757 --> 00:45:29,761 * 735 00:45:39,504 --> 00:45:44,675 [hammering echoes] 736 00:45:44,742 --> 00:45:49,180 Coming home without this body of work 737 00:45:49,247 --> 00:45:51,783 and without having something to kind of 738 00:45:51,850 --> 00:45:53,518 represent my experience, 739 00:45:53,618 --> 00:45:56,855 I mean, I wouldn't be able to really talk about it 740 00:45:56,955 --> 00:45:59,858 in the way that I'm able to talk about it now. 741 00:46:14,172 --> 00:46:16,374 -I think that's pretty good. -Yeah. 742 00:46:17,508 --> 00:46:19,010 JESSE: I'm actually surprised 743 00:46:19,044 --> 00:46:21,279 with how well it lined up and connected 744 00:46:21,346 --> 00:46:24,950 versus what I thought it was going to do. 745 00:46:25,016 --> 00:46:27,318 I thought it would be a little bit more disconnected 746 00:46:27,385 --> 00:46:29,020 in the horizon line. 747 00:46:30,388 --> 00:46:32,490 I'm really happy about it. 748 00:46:32,557 --> 00:46:36,627 This is my first solo exhibition of my work ever, 749 00:46:36,694 --> 00:46:39,564 so I'm really proud to have it, 750 00:46:39,630 --> 00:46:43,902 especially in the state that had me in prison. 751 00:46:44,002 --> 00:46:46,972 So, that feels really good to have it at a major university 752 00:46:47,038 --> 00:46:48,206 in the same state. 753 00:46:48,239 --> 00:46:49,340 We're the state university, you know? 754 00:46:49,407 --> 00:46:50,909 -Yes. -So, that-- 755 00:46:51,009 --> 00:46:53,411 I like that. [laughs] 756 00:46:57,015 --> 00:46:59,417 It kind of let me know that I was able 757 00:46:59,484 --> 00:47:01,719 to accomplish something. 758 00:47:06,657 --> 00:47:10,428 [music slowly fades into wind, birdsong] 759 00:47:18,503 --> 00:47:21,940 So, what do you think we're gonna catch over here? 760 00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:26,777 JESSE'S SON: I hope we don't catch a big catfish like last time. 761 00:47:26,844 --> 00:47:28,947 JESSE: That was a massive catfish, wasn't it? 762 00:47:29,047 --> 00:47:31,616 SON: Yeah. 763 00:47:31,716 --> 00:47:33,618 JESSE: We'll have to call Grandma over to get it off 764 00:47:33,718 --> 00:47:35,954 if you get one like that. 765 00:47:36,021 --> 00:47:37,288 SON: Yeah. 766 00:47:37,388 --> 00:47:38,890 -See, it's a fishing rod? -Oh, look. 767 00:47:38,957 --> 00:47:40,691 You can see the whole way to the bottom. 768 00:47:40,758 --> 00:47:41,960 Yeah! There's little fish. 769 00:47:42,060 --> 00:47:45,596 That's where we're gonna go, right there. 770 00:47:45,630 --> 00:47:47,765 JESSE: e has no idea I was in prison.H 771 00:47:49,434 --> 00:47:53,071 -Is it on? -Almost. 772 00:47:53,138 --> 00:47:55,640 Whoa! [laughs] 773 00:47:55,740 --> 00:47:57,909 You got a worm in the face! 774 00:47:57,976 --> 00:47:59,978 His mother brought him in to see me 775 00:48:00,045 --> 00:48:02,113 when he was first born, when I was in Dauphin County, 776 00:48:02,147 --> 00:48:03,982 and that was the only time I ever saw him 777 00:48:04,082 --> 00:48:05,383 while I was incarcerated. 778 00:48:05,450 --> 00:48:06,584 SON: Right there. 779 00:48:06,651 --> 00:48:09,820 Ah, yeah, you can see 'em. Hold on. 780 00:48:09,887 --> 00:48:12,457 I saw him again for the first time 781 00:48:12,490 --> 00:48:15,560 when I was in the halfway house. 782 00:48:17,162 --> 00:48:17,895 [giggles] 783 00:48:17,963 --> 00:48:20,165 -What kinda fish is that? -Uh... 784 00:48:20,231 --> 00:48:23,568 JESSE: I got a pass to go to the zoo to meet him. 785 00:48:25,937 --> 00:48:29,174 Interesting place to meet your son for the first time. 786 00:48:30,441 --> 00:48:32,843 Walking around a bunch of caged animals 787 00:48:32,910 --> 00:48:34,779 after coming home from prison. 788 00:48:34,845 --> 00:48:36,181 All right! 789 00:48:36,281 --> 00:48:38,183 SON: There. 790 00:48:38,283 --> 00:48:40,185 He was like, "Get offa me!" 791 00:48:40,251 --> 00:48:42,020 [Jesse laughs] 792 00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:45,256 JESSE: I remember not knowing how to treat him. 793 00:48:45,323 --> 00:48:47,292 -You wanna throw him back? -Yeah. 794 00:48:47,358 --> 00:48:51,829 JESSE: He very immediately felt like my son, 795 00:48:51,862 --> 00:48:55,833 but also felt like someone else's kid. 796 00:48:55,866 --> 00:48:58,369 SON: Yes! This is where big fish are. 797 00:48:58,469 --> 00:49:01,672 JESSE: His reaction was, like, at first a little shy 798 00:49:01,706 --> 00:49:03,174 and kind of clung to Mom, 799 00:49:03,208 --> 00:49:05,776 like when we first met outside of the zoo. 800 00:49:05,843 --> 00:49:10,015 -SON: Finger. Bleeding! -JESSE: It'll be Okay. 801 00:49:12,350 --> 00:49:14,652 JESSE: It's important that he knows that I'm there now, 802 00:49:14,719 --> 00:49:18,823 ust showing up and being therej as much as I can. 803 00:49:27,232 --> 00:49:32,070 [indistinct French chatter] 804 00:49:50,588 --> 00:49:54,325 [traffic roars, bright music begins] 805 00:49:58,263 --> 00:50:01,699 [subway squeals] 806 00:50:12,510 --> 00:50:14,745 * 807 00:50:41,139 --> 00:50:42,940 JESSE: I wasn't allowed to go outside at all. 808 00:50:42,973 --> 00:50:44,209 -PATRON: Lights? -Nothing. 809 00:50:44,275 --> 00:50:46,477 -No sunlight, no fresh air. -No sunlight. 810 00:50:46,544 --> 00:50:47,545 For a year. 811 00:50:47,612 --> 00:50:49,380 This work was very meditative, 812 00:50:49,447 --> 00:50:51,149 so it allowed me to disconnect 813 00:50:51,249 --> 00:50:55,120 from all that kind of, that dangerous environment. 814 00:50:55,153 --> 00:50:58,055 It had that element of game and chance, 815 00:50:58,123 --> 00:51:02,293 and the soap has this latent kind of language 816 00:51:02,327 --> 00:51:03,994 of purity and sanitization 817 00:51:04,095 --> 00:51:06,764 and washing oneself of one's sins. 818 00:51:07,665 --> 00:51:11,902 [stirring piano and string music] 819 00:51:16,907 --> 00:51:21,846 It's pretty amazing to think that I was just in prison 820 00:51:21,946 --> 00:51:25,350 a little over a year ago. 821 00:51:25,416 --> 00:51:29,019 It's nice to have this work that was hidden and created 822 00:51:29,120 --> 00:51:34,359 in solitary confinement having a chance to speak. 823 00:51:36,361 --> 00:51:38,863 But it feels very... 824 00:51:38,929 --> 00:51:41,666 very empowering to be here. 825 00:51:44,435 --> 00:51:49,106 * 826 00:51:58,149 --> 00:52:01,552 I had to write a letter to my probation officer 827 00:52:01,652 --> 00:52:04,555 to go to Paris. 828 00:52:04,655 --> 00:52:06,657 And he told me he supports me going, 829 00:52:06,724 --> 00:52:08,393 but he had to get approval from his boss. 830 00:52:08,459 --> 00:52:12,963 And then they had to go in front of a United States judge 831 00:52:13,030 --> 00:52:15,800 to get approval for me to leave the country. 832 00:52:21,372 --> 00:52:26,677 You know, I'm going home tomorrow, and as of right now, 833 00:52:26,744 --> 00:52:29,046 I don't have a job waiting for me. 834 00:52:29,079 --> 00:52:32,383 o it's a little bittersweet inS the sense that, you know, 835 00:52:32,417 --> 00:52:34,919 this is a great opportunity, 836 00:52:34,985 --> 00:52:38,189 but now I have to kind of go back to reality 837 00:52:38,256 --> 00:52:41,726 after being here and try to find work. 838 00:52:46,364 --> 00:52:50,067 [echoing footsteps] 839 00:53:11,722 --> 00:53:13,758 You can tell how old these paints are because 840 00:53:13,791 --> 00:53:16,927 they don't actually come out of the tube. [chuckles] 841 00:53:19,129 --> 00:53:21,899 But I think the one thing you learn in prison is to 842 00:53:21,966 --> 00:53:24,201 not waste your materials. 843 00:53:28,939 --> 00:53:32,377 So, I've had most of these paints since... 844 00:53:34,712 --> 00:53:36,947 before prison. 845 00:53:38,416 --> 00:53:41,419 I haven't really bought any new materials. 846 00:53:41,486 --> 00:53:44,289 I try to buy as, um... 847 00:53:45,456 --> 00:53:48,092 the least amount of new materials as possible, 848 00:53:48,158 --> 00:53:52,797 so I just use the old, crappy paint that I have 849 00:53:52,830 --> 00:53:55,300 and try to make it stretch. 850 00:54:07,678 --> 00:54:10,781 The deck's stacked against you when you come home, 851 00:54:10,848 --> 00:54:14,251 and there are days when I feel depressed. 852 00:54:18,423 --> 00:54:20,758 Being out here and not having money, 853 00:54:20,825 --> 00:54:22,593 it's kind of like still being in prison. 854 00:54:22,660 --> 00:54:26,797 Your liberty and your freedom is dependent upon money 855 00:54:26,864 --> 00:54:29,033 in a lot of ways. 856 00:54:33,371 --> 00:54:35,606 I moved in with a friend of mine. 857 00:54:35,673 --> 00:54:39,710 I'm not paying rent right now until I figure out 858 00:54:39,777 --> 00:54:42,046 what I'm gonna do. 859 00:54:44,382 --> 00:54:46,951 Since working with Mural Arts was temporary, 860 00:54:47,017 --> 00:54:49,153 I need to find a job. 861 00:54:51,221 --> 00:54:53,290 I've applied for a lot of positions, 862 00:54:53,358 --> 00:54:55,726 and I've gotten a lot of interest. 863 00:54:55,826 --> 00:55:00,865 However, my record stops me from getting a lot of jobs 864 00:55:00,898 --> 00:55:03,200 that I think I'm well-suited for. 865 00:55:07,071 --> 00:55:10,808 So, I'm free, but I'm not really free in the sense 866 00:55:10,875 --> 00:55:13,077 that other people are. 867 00:55:15,245 --> 00:55:17,081 They still have their hooks in you. 868 00:55:17,181 --> 00:55:19,650 So, even right now, I'm on supervision. 869 00:55:19,717 --> 00:55:23,087 o there's this kind of tensionS that you always feel, 870 00:55:23,153 --> 00:55:27,057 where the tiniest little thing can send you back to prison. 871 00:55:29,427 --> 00:55:32,262 It's just this looming thing over you. 872 00:55:35,766 --> 00:55:37,201 I started drinking. 873 00:55:37,267 --> 00:55:40,104 I started smoking cigarettes again. 874 00:55:43,007 --> 00:55:46,043 It's easy to fall back into old behaviors. 875 00:55:46,744 --> 00:55:51,048 * 876 00:55:54,552 --> 00:55:56,587 CASHIER: $39.29. 877 00:55:58,523 --> 00:56:02,527 -And did you want any cash back? -No, thank you. 878 00:56:02,593 --> 00:56:10,401 I can feel myself getting agitated and more reckless. 879 00:56:10,468 --> 00:56:13,471 And I can feel that kind of tension creeping back in 880 00:56:13,538 --> 00:56:17,141 that existed before I went to prison. 881 00:56:20,244 --> 00:56:23,147 * 882 00:56:36,927 --> 00:56:40,565 [music slowly fades] 883 00:56:40,631 --> 00:56:45,436 I was trying my best to get Lead Artist positions, 884 00:56:45,503 --> 00:56:47,805 apply for fellowships, get grants, 885 00:56:47,838 --> 00:56:51,008 and nothing was really panning out. 886 00:56:51,075 --> 00:56:54,445 And so, it was just a real constant struggle. 887 00:56:56,681 --> 00:57:00,918 I felt really worn down. 888 00:57:00,985 --> 00:57:02,953 [dark guitar music] 889 00:57:03,020 --> 00:57:06,824 One night, I ended up going out 890 00:57:06,857 --> 00:57:10,160 in Lancaster with a friend. 891 00:57:10,194 --> 00:57:14,364 I got pretty drunk, and when I walked outside, 892 00:57:14,431 --> 00:57:18,435 there was a cop standing out there. 893 00:57:18,503 --> 00:57:22,206 And he said that I stumbled, and he arrested me 894 00:57:22,306 --> 00:57:24,542 for public drunkenness. 895 00:57:26,877 --> 00:57:33,350 It felt like the thousands of nightmares that I've had 896 00:57:33,383 --> 00:57:36,353 since I've come home from prison, 897 00:57:36,386 --> 00:57:40,224 here I wake up in a jail cell.w 898 00:57:40,324 --> 00:57:42,693 It felt like everything was lost. 899 00:57:48,398 --> 00:57:52,737 First on my mind was just how royally I fucked up with my son. 900 00:57:52,803 --> 00:57:55,973 How, if they violate me, and I don't get to see him 901 00:57:56,040 --> 00:57:57,975 this weekend, that I've already established 902 00:57:58,042 --> 00:57:59,710 a relationship with him. 903 00:57:59,744 --> 00:58:04,749 And then now, this feels like an insane betrayal. 904 00:58:08,252 --> 00:58:11,021 Particularly after going through what I went through. 905 00:58:11,088 --> 00:58:14,091 [soft music playing] 906 00:58:16,927 --> 00:58:20,230 These aren't things that are just magically fixed. 907 00:58:21,732 --> 00:58:24,602 These are things that are a part of you forever. 908 00:58:32,777 --> 00:58:36,280 Waking up in the jail, I didn't have the expectation 909 00:58:36,380 --> 00:58:38,783 that I was going to get off. 910 00:58:38,849 --> 00:58:42,019 Everything that I had been working towards for years 911 00:58:42,086 --> 00:58:45,089 was about to just vanish. 912 00:58:45,122 --> 00:58:47,858 I was violated and going back to prison. 913 00:58:59,770 --> 00:59:02,539 Before I could even call my probation officer, 914 00:59:02,607 --> 00:59:03,808 he called me. 915 00:59:05,910 --> 00:59:08,913 Instead of violating me, he ended up recommending 916 00:59:08,979 --> 00:59:10,715 that I go to counseling. 917 00:59:11,816 --> 00:59:14,151 [soft music fades] 918 00:59:17,321 --> 00:59:21,325 The only other person that I told was Craig. 919 00:59:23,160 --> 00:59:25,295 RUSSELL: We was going out after that. 920 00:59:25,329 --> 00:59:26,597 He's like, "I can't. 921 00:59:26,664 --> 00:59:28,599 I gotta chill 'cause I got locked up." 922 00:59:28,666 --> 00:59:30,267 And I was like, "All right, word." 923 00:59:30,334 --> 00:59:32,336 And I just be supportive of it like, "You got through 924 00:59:32,402 --> 00:59:33,671 "that shit, you understand. 925 00:59:33,771 --> 00:59:35,806 "So, let's not fuck up again 'cause if you do, 926 00:59:35,840 --> 00:59:39,576 it'll prove whoever tryna take you down right." 927 00:59:39,644 --> 00:59:42,579 [indistinct chatter] 928 00:59:42,647 --> 00:59:45,415 And so, it was like, "We need to go back to work." 929 00:59:45,482 --> 00:59:49,820 And it was just art, art, art. It's always art, art, art. 930 00:59:49,854 --> 00:59:52,757 JESSE: You know, we just had a conversation where it was like, 931 00:59:52,823 --> 00:59:55,693 "We got too much good shit going on to throw it away 932 00:59:55,760 --> 00:59:59,697 for this kinda stuff. Get back in shape." 933 01:00:08,538 --> 01:00:12,677 [bright, energetic electronic music] 934 01:00:18,115 --> 01:00:20,350 [whispers]: That should work. 935 01:00:40,537 --> 01:00:44,208 * 936 01:01:13,904 --> 01:01:15,672 Got it. 937 01:01:27,217 --> 01:01:31,455 [music continues] 938 01:01:45,202 --> 01:01:47,637 Whoo! Look who made the book. 939 01:01:47,738 --> 01:01:49,439 There it is! 940 01:02:15,665 --> 01:02:17,734 * 941 01:02:17,802 --> 01:02:20,504 -MAN: Did you meet these guys? -JESSE: Jesse, nice to meet you. 942 01:02:20,604 --> 01:02:24,274 These are the guys from "Philly Voice." 943 01:02:24,341 --> 01:02:25,509 So, yeah, we were thinking that we would do 944 01:02:25,609 --> 01:02:27,311 the portrait shot first. 945 01:02:27,344 --> 01:02:28,946 [camera clicks] 946 01:02:29,013 --> 01:02:32,682 PHOTOGRAPHER: You wanna maybe smile a little bit? 947 01:02:32,749 --> 01:02:35,452 Awesome. 948 01:02:35,519 --> 01:02:39,824 So this exhibit, did the gallery come to you for this? 949 01:02:39,857 --> 01:02:43,027 JESSE: No, it kind of it was a mutual thing. 950 01:02:43,127 --> 01:02:46,130 So the curator, Julie Courtney, 951 01:02:46,196 --> 01:02:48,198 we had been planning to do a show, 952 01:02:48,265 --> 01:02:50,034 but we didn't have a place to do one yet. 953 01:02:50,134 --> 01:02:53,670 And she went out to lunch with someone from here, 954 01:02:53,703 --> 01:02:57,207 and they were very open to having her come in 955 01:02:57,274 --> 01:02:59,643 and curate the show here. 956 01:02:59,709 --> 01:03:02,712 Do you think your life would've shaped up this way had you not gone to prison? 957 01:03:02,813 --> 01:03:05,549 Like, do you look back on that and think maybe that was like 958 01:03:05,649 --> 01:03:07,651 a meant-to-be kinda situation? 959 01:03:07,717 --> 01:03:11,956 I do, actually. Prison really focused me. 960 01:03:12,022 --> 01:03:17,361 I think it really made me angry and kind of resentful 961 01:03:17,394 --> 01:03:19,563 while I was in there. 962 01:03:19,663 --> 01:03:23,633 But rather than get depressed and then get down on myself, 963 01:03:23,700 --> 01:03:28,472 I used that as like fuel and this unending source of 964 01:03:28,538 --> 01:03:31,575 drive and energy to make more work. 965 01:03:31,641 --> 01:03:36,480 Because I saw the power and kind of self-worth 966 01:03:36,546 --> 01:03:38,682 that it was giving to me. 967 01:03:38,748 --> 01:03:42,186 Like, the level of drive that that instilled in me is just, 968 01:03:42,252 --> 01:03:45,222 it's non-stop, so. 969 01:03:45,255 --> 01:03:49,426 Eventually, I feel like would like to relax a little.I 970 01:03:49,493 --> 01:03:53,363 But, yeah, I feel a tremendous social weight 971 01:03:53,430 --> 01:03:54,932 has been placed on me. 972 01:03:55,032 --> 01:03:56,533 -Hey, how are you? -Good! 973 01:03:56,600 --> 01:03:58,936 JESSE: You know, I still have tons of friends who are in there. 974 01:03:59,003 --> 01:04:00,938 Yeah, for the first year, pre-sentence... 975 01:04:01,005 --> 01:04:03,908 So, maybe one day I'll slow down and relax a little, 976 01:04:03,941 --> 01:04:06,776 but right now, it's just non-stop. 977 01:04:07,677 --> 01:04:11,916 [upbeat piano music] 978 01:04:41,878 --> 01:04:44,915 My documentary will explore the trauma-to-prison pipeline, 979 01:04:44,982 --> 01:04:47,317 the effects of trauma on the brain, 980 01:04:47,417 --> 01:04:49,819 restorative justice, and re-entry. 981 01:04:49,920 --> 01:04:51,821 Storytelling can create empathy, 982 01:04:51,922 --> 01:04:54,324 and empathy can move people to act. 983 01:04:54,391 --> 01:04:56,426 My project will allow an audience to know 984 01:04:56,493 --> 01:04:58,095 and, hopefully, empathize with those of us 985 01:04:58,162 --> 01:05:00,164 who have made tragic mistakes. 986 01:05:00,230 --> 01:05:03,433 One of the things that really burned itself into my brain 987 01:05:03,500 --> 01:05:07,671 when I was incarcerated was having a woman's body 988 01:05:07,737 --> 01:05:11,341 going through the system and losing authorship, 989 01:05:11,408 --> 01:05:13,243 losing authority over that body. 990 01:05:13,310 --> 01:05:16,313 And so, I just was really interested in this idea of 991 01:05:16,346 --> 01:05:21,751 the dehumanization of the body as a result of incarceration. 992 01:05:21,818 --> 01:05:24,621 The first project is the "Inmate Activity Book." 993 01:05:24,688 --> 01:05:26,523 It started out as like a joke. 994 01:05:26,590 --> 01:05:28,625 It was a friend of mine who was doing Fed time, 995 01:05:28,692 --> 01:05:30,660 and so I was sending him funny drawings, 996 01:05:30,694 --> 01:05:32,262 basically, is how this started. 997 01:05:32,329 --> 01:05:35,699 We printed a couple editions, and the feds like confiscated 998 01:05:35,765 --> 01:05:37,767 whole runs of this book. 999 01:05:37,834 --> 01:05:39,869 Okay, so, they say-- she likes it. 1000 01:05:39,936 --> 01:05:41,605 [laughter] 1001 01:05:41,671 --> 01:05:44,208 While I was in grad school in 2012, 1002 01:05:44,274 --> 01:05:46,143 I was wrongfully incarcerated. 1003 01:05:46,210 --> 01:05:49,113 I came up with this little idea of bringing my experience 1004 01:05:49,179 --> 01:05:50,447 to the space that I was in. 1005 01:05:50,480 --> 01:05:52,449 RUSSELL: We provide formerly incarcerated artists 1006 01:05:52,516 --> 01:05:56,386 from different disciplines $20,000 apiece: 1007 01:05:56,453 --> 01:05:59,456 10 for your pocket, 10 for your project 1008 01:05:59,523 --> 01:06:01,125 to create, like, art. 1009 01:06:01,191 --> 01:06:04,161 And providing an opportunity to put their talent out there 1010 01:06:04,228 --> 01:06:05,996 to show the world this talent. 1011 01:06:06,063 --> 01:06:09,566 JESSE: It's work that needs to be in MoMA. 1012 01:06:09,633 --> 01:06:12,402 It's work that needs to be in the Whitney. 1013 01:06:12,469 --> 01:06:15,539 And it's work that no one knows about. 1014 01:06:18,242 --> 01:06:20,410 WOMAN: Sherrill has the best kicks out of all of you. 1015 01:06:20,477 --> 01:06:22,146 Okay. 1016 01:06:23,647 --> 01:06:27,151 [indistinct chatter] 1017 01:06:27,217 --> 01:06:29,319 * 1018 01:06:41,165 --> 01:06:44,034 [birds chirping] 1019 01:06:51,941 --> 01:06:55,279 JESSE: So, I started getting a couple bigger projects. 1020 01:06:55,345 --> 01:06:58,115 I was the lead artist on the Voices Project, 1021 01:06:58,215 --> 01:07:00,284 which was a big project here in Philadelphia 1022 01:07:00,384 --> 01:07:02,552 hrough the Mural Arts program.t 1023 01:07:02,619 --> 01:07:05,289 That was definitely the biggest check that I've gotten 1024 01:07:05,355 --> 01:07:08,592 to lead a project. 1025 01:07:08,625 --> 01:07:10,460 And then I found out that I got selected 1026 01:07:10,527 --> 01:07:12,862 for the Rauschenberg Fellowship. 1027 01:07:13,897 --> 01:07:14,831 Hi. 1028 01:07:14,898 --> 01:07:16,600 And then the Art for Justice grant 1029 01:07:16,633 --> 01:07:18,602 was really the thing that solidly 1030 01:07:18,635 --> 01:07:20,770 put me back up on my feet. 1031 01:07:22,139 --> 01:07:25,041 So, I was feeling much more financially secure, I mean, 1032 01:07:25,109 --> 01:07:28,078 for the first time since I've been home. 1033 01:07:31,781 --> 01:07:34,918 [music slowly fades] 1034 01:07:39,756 --> 01:07:41,325 [cat meows] 1035 01:07:41,425 --> 01:07:43,660 This is a first edition Foucault, 1036 01:07:43,727 --> 01:07:46,096 "Discipline and Punish." 1037 01:07:46,163 --> 01:07:48,132 But the thing that's really interesting about it, 1038 01:07:48,165 --> 01:07:50,800 it's actually called, well, I'll murder it, 1039 01:07:50,834 --> 01:07:53,437 but it's basically "Surveillance and Punish," right? 1040 01:07:53,503 --> 01:07:56,673 And so, I was wondering, like, what happened in the translation 1041 01:07:56,773 --> 01:07:58,508 where they switched to "discipline"? 1042 01:07:58,575 --> 01:08:01,010 Because it's a very different connotation. 1043 01:08:06,350 --> 01:08:11,020 [ethereal electronic music] 1044 01:08:11,087 --> 01:08:14,124 [geese calling] 1045 01:08:19,329 --> 01:08:22,031 SON: I betcha my shoes are gonna smell like cow poop. 1046 01:08:22,098 --> 01:08:24,968 -[Jesse laughs] -I hate cow poop! 1047 01:08:25,034 --> 01:08:27,003 JESSE: You probably already smell like poop. 1048 01:08:27,036 --> 01:08:29,206 SON: I do not smell like poop! 1049 01:08:29,273 --> 01:08:31,040 JESSE: When's the last time you showered? 1050 01:08:31,141 --> 01:08:33,710 SON: Not yesterday, but the day before yesterday. 1051 01:08:33,777 --> 01:08:37,947 JESSE: Okay. That's pretty good. 1052 01:08:38,014 --> 01:08:40,884 SON: I bet you the police are gonna catch us! 1053 01:08:40,950 --> 01:08:43,052 JESSE: You think? 1054 01:08:44,854 --> 01:08:47,191 I feel great about being a father. 1055 01:08:48,558 --> 01:08:51,961 Yeah, but, you know, I still wish I could do more. 1056 01:08:53,062 --> 01:08:54,564 We should transfer this one. 1057 01:08:54,664 --> 01:08:57,501 I wanna show you how to do a transfer. 1058 01:08:57,567 --> 01:09:02,906 With [strains] hand sanitizer. 1059 01:09:02,972 --> 01:09:05,074 Like, I'm still in Philadelphia. 1060 01:09:05,141 --> 01:09:06,743 He still lives in Lancaster. 1061 01:09:06,810 --> 01:09:09,313 I only see him every other weekend, 1062 01:09:09,379 --> 01:09:11,815 and so there's parts of that that's like... 1063 01:09:13,250 --> 01:09:16,853 I don't know. I don't know how you fix that. 1064 01:09:18,722 --> 01:09:22,559 I definitely don't wanna move back to Lancaster. 1065 01:09:22,592 --> 01:09:25,429 So, that's not the best idea, 1066 01:09:25,529 --> 01:09:28,064 and I don't think that would be good for anyone. 1067 01:09:29,766 --> 01:09:32,736 So, I'd be there more, but I'd be miserable. 1068 01:09:38,942 --> 01:09:42,111 I like that technique. [laughs] 1069 01:09:47,517 --> 01:09:49,253 [whispers]: Beautiful! 1070 01:09:49,286 --> 01:09:52,389 Oh, look. That little smoke piece didn't transfer. 1071 01:09:54,458 --> 01:09:57,227 -Yeah, some of it did. -Oh, yeah. Some of it did. 1072 01:09:57,294 --> 01:09:58,962 And the spots look cool because then 1073 01:09:59,062 --> 01:10:00,964 it's like a woodpecker pecked it. 1074 01:10:01,064 --> 01:10:03,300 -Yeah. -Like a bird. 1075 01:10:05,735 --> 01:10:09,539 * 1076 01:10:21,150 --> 01:10:23,052 I wonder if I can come back at night and, like, 1077 01:10:23,119 --> 01:10:25,989 rip that out by the roots! 1078 01:10:28,792 --> 01:10:31,160 You gotta see what's under there. 1079 01:10:37,501 --> 01:10:40,003 It's interesting that some of the branches are like this, 1080 01:10:40,103 --> 01:10:42,005 and then some of them are roots. 1081 01:10:42,071 --> 01:10:43,840 The fact that you can't tell the difference 1082 01:10:43,940 --> 01:10:45,842 between opposite ends of the spectrum, right? 1083 01:10:45,909 --> 01:10:48,812 Whether it's a branch or it's a root system, like, either way, 1084 01:10:48,845 --> 01:10:51,915 it's still like an interconnected system. 1085 01:10:51,981 --> 01:10:54,183 And so, like, there is no top or bottom. 1086 01:10:54,284 --> 01:10:57,120 That's basically what the whole idea of the show is about. 1087 01:10:58,822 --> 01:11:01,958 [drill whirs] 1088 01:11:02,025 --> 01:11:06,930 I wasn't prepared for how difficult it was going to be 1089 01:11:06,996 --> 01:11:09,699 to be taken seriously as an artist 1090 01:11:09,799 --> 01:11:12,436 versus just viewed as a prison artist. 1091 01:11:15,104 --> 01:11:17,206 I mean, this guy needs some love anyway. 1092 01:11:17,307 --> 01:11:23,347 I think in 2016, I had went up to New York to show 1093 01:11:23,380 --> 01:11:27,050 "Apokaluptein" at the United Nations. 1094 01:11:27,150 --> 01:11:28,652 There you go. Blow it real light. 1095 01:11:28,718 --> 01:11:30,387 Go ahead. 1096 01:11:32,188 --> 01:11:34,791 And one day, me and Julie Courtney walked to Chelsea 1097 01:11:34,858 --> 01:11:37,394 because we wanted to see the shows, 1098 01:11:37,461 --> 01:11:42,899 and Julie just walked into a gallery. 1099 01:11:42,966 --> 01:11:44,968 And she came back out, and she's like, 1100 01:11:45,034 --> 01:11:46,403 "Oh, you really need to come in here. 1101 01:11:46,470 --> 01:11:49,205 "You need to meet Barry. He owns the gallery. 1102 01:11:49,238 --> 01:11:51,908 He's interested to meet you." 1103 01:11:51,975 --> 01:11:56,380 And then after talking, showing him my work, 1104 01:11:56,413 --> 01:11:59,816 he took me on as the first artist 1105 01:11:59,883 --> 01:12:02,051 that he's represented as a gallery. 1106 01:12:06,490 --> 01:12:10,560 I feel like I've been able to se my privilege, my education,u 1107 01:12:10,594 --> 01:12:14,831 and my networks to build something that is sustainable. 1108 01:12:14,898 --> 01:12:17,767 But the thing that's kind of frustrating to me is that people 1109 01:12:17,867 --> 01:12:19,903 who have been in prison 1110 01:12:19,936 --> 01:12:23,940 who are super, exceptionally talented artists 1111 01:12:24,040 --> 01:12:26,376 are not getting projects, not getting platforms, 1112 01:12:26,443 --> 01:12:31,047 in the top-tier contemporary art sphere. 1113 01:12:31,114 --> 01:12:34,083 And, I mean, t's slowly starting to happen,i 1114 01:12:34,117 --> 01:12:36,252 but they're missing the value that someone 1115 01:12:36,285 --> 01:12:39,623 who has been through this experience can contribute. 1116 01:12:43,059 --> 01:12:45,294 One in three people has a criminal record. 1117 01:12:45,361 --> 01:12:48,131 And so, that is a clear signal to me 1118 01:12:48,197 --> 01:12:51,067 that there is a whole pool of wasted talent, 1119 01:12:51,134 --> 01:12:52,869 not just in the prison system, 1120 01:12:52,936 --> 01:12:56,105 but people who have since come home. 1121 01:12:56,139 --> 01:12:58,875 [serene piano music] 1122 01:12:58,942 --> 01:13:00,276 RUSSELL: There's so much against you. 1123 01:13:00,309 --> 01:13:03,413 And I'm seeing more and more now how... 1124 01:13:04,581 --> 01:13:07,283 difficult things are. 1125 01:13:07,316 --> 01:13:10,253 It's always like a challenge every day. 1126 01:13:10,319 --> 01:13:12,656 In prison, you're sought after, you know what I mean? 1127 01:13:12,722 --> 01:13:16,059 Here, it's a dime a dozen, know what I mean? 1128 01:13:16,125 --> 01:13:20,163 And that, that's the sad truth. 1129 01:13:21,631 --> 01:13:25,669 But we trying to prosper, and we not going back. 1130 01:13:25,735 --> 01:13:29,473 At least we're gonna do verything in our power not to.e 1131 01:13:29,506 --> 01:13:31,675 O: I'm just gonna keep making art. 1132 01:13:31,741 --> 01:13:34,978 And as frustrating as it is not to sell a lot of paintings , 1133 01:13:35,011 --> 01:13:36,646 you gotta block that out. 1134 01:13:36,680 --> 01:13:39,583 So, the next step for me is just to keep painting. 1135 01:13:44,353 --> 01:13:47,691 * 1136 01:13:56,600 --> 01:13:59,703 Actually, today... 1137 01:13:59,803 --> 01:14:03,507 Yeah, so, today makes five years 1138 01:14:03,540 --> 01:14:06,510 since I was released from prison. 1139 01:14:06,543 --> 01:14:09,679 So, I've now officially been home... 1140 01:14:10,880 --> 01:14:12,882 longer than I've been in? 1141 01:14:12,982 --> 01:14:14,718 And my exhibition's opening tomorrow, 1142 01:14:14,818 --> 01:14:17,053 the day after I came home? 1143 01:14:19,022 --> 01:14:21,224 It's all good shit. 1144 01:14:25,995 --> 01:14:29,232 [soulful guitar music] 1145 01:14:42,345 --> 01:14:44,548 Ow, ow. That's hard to open. 1146 01:14:45,815 --> 01:14:47,416 [lid pops off] 1147 01:14:50,186 --> 01:14:54,824 Early celebration, calming mechanism, a lot of things. 1148 01:14:54,891 --> 01:14:58,662 * 1149 01:15:11,775 --> 01:15:14,611 There were a couple people who said they couldn't make it. 1150 01:15:14,711 --> 01:15:15,879 MAN: Like who? 1151 01:15:15,945 --> 01:15:19,716 O. So, O said the hurricane messed up 1152 01:15:19,783 --> 01:15:21,184 all of his travel stuff. 1153 01:15:21,250 --> 01:15:24,187 It was all kind of last-minute anyway. 1154 01:15:26,055 --> 01:15:27,957 He lives in South Carolina. 1155 01:15:28,024 --> 01:15:29,192 It's a pretty big ask to have 1156 01:15:29,258 --> 01:15:30,894 someone come up to New York 1157 01:15:30,960 --> 01:15:32,629 for a night to see a show. 1158 01:15:36,900 --> 01:15:38,802 What's up? How you doing? 1159 01:15:38,868 --> 01:15:40,203 A ton more fruits. 1160 01:15:40,269 --> 01:15:42,606 -Thank you for coming. -Yeah, no problem. 1161 01:15:45,141 --> 01:15:46,810 Aw, shit! Cano! 1162 01:15:46,876 --> 01:15:47,977 What's up, baby? How you feeling? 1163 01:15:48,077 --> 01:15:49,278 -What's going on? I'm good. -Yeah? 1164 01:15:49,312 --> 01:15:51,147 -Yeah, yeah, yeah. -Look who I bring with you. 1165 01:15:51,214 --> 01:15:52,982 -Hey! -See? Somehow. 1166 01:15:53,082 --> 01:15:54,217 I got you. I got you. I got you. 1167 01:15:54,283 --> 01:15:56,085 Somehow, I knew he was gonna be here. 1168 01:15:56,152 --> 01:15:58,254 I got the text, and I was like, that shit's fake! 1169 01:15:58,321 --> 01:15:59,555 -That's fake. -[laughs] 1170 01:15:59,623 --> 01:16:00,924 -What's up, my brother? -You can't bullshit me. 1171 01:16:00,990 --> 01:16:02,926 -I know. I tried. -[laughs] 1172 01:16:02,992 --> 01:16:04,828 I thought I would get you. 1173 01:16:07,063 --> 01:16:10,499 [indistinct chatter] 1174 01:16:15,939 --> 01:16:18,975 [light guitar playing] 1175 01:16:19,008 --> 01:16:21,344 * 1176 01:16:59,949 --> 01:17:01,651 JESSE: I was like, where the fuck? 1177 01:17:01,718 --> 01:17:03,119 RUSSELL: You even saw me when I first came in. 1178 01:17:03,152 --> 01:17:05,554 -Yeah, I did. I did. -Come get a drink with us. 1179 01:17:05,621 --> 01:17:07,490 -Late, though, late! -[laughs] 1180 01:17:07,556 --> 01:17:10,293 -It was a nice turnout and everything. -It was great, man. 1181 01:17:10,326 --> 01:17:11,728 It's better than I-- 1182 01:17:11,795 --> 01:17:13,462 and I was like, I ain't know this poppin' 1183 01:17:13,529 --> 01:17:15,531 -more than that other joint. -Yeah, for sure. 1184 01:17:15,631 --> 01:17:18,634 So, the glass is actually blown into those structures, right? 1185 01:17:18,702 --> 01:17:20,169 Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 1186 01:17:20,236 --> 01:17:22,538 -WOMAN: And then these are epoxy? -That's actually plastic. 1187 01:17:22,638 --> 01:17:23,873 -WOMAN: Yeah? -So, those are digital. 1188 01:17:23,973 --> 01:17:25,809 WOMAN: It's a transfer, like you were doing before. 1189 01:17:25,875 --> 01:17:27,643 JESSE: Kind of, yeah. 1190 01:17:28,678 --> 01:17:30,479 -This is amazing! -Thank you. 1191 01:17:30,546 --> 01:17:31,748 -Are you happy with it? -I am. 1192 01:17:31,815 --> 01:17:33,182 I'm incredibly happy. 1193 01:17:33,249 --> 01:17:35,752 -It's ah-mazing! -Yeah. 1194 01:17:35,819 --> 01:17:37,486 So, these are all natural roots. 1195 01:17:37,553 --> 01:17:40,857 And then I got the very cliché artificial plants 1196 01:17:40,924 --> 01:17:43,492 and attached them on and melted the plastic 1197 01:17:43,526 --> 01:17:44,828 and formed it and painted it 1198 01:17:44,861 --> 01:17:47,663 so they all look as seamless as possible. 1199 01:17:49,766 --> 01:17:51,667 -CANO: Presentation. -Yeah? Yeah, yeah. 1200 01:17:51,701 --> 01:17:54,938 Feeling this big time. I'm feeling this big time. 1201 01:17:55,004 --> 01:17:57,006 -Got the flowers going on. -[laughs] 1202 01:17:57,040 --> 01:17:58,507 I thought you'd like the flowers. 1203 01:17:58,541 --> 01:17:59,776 -I was like, this is Cano. -Yeah! 1204 01:17:59,843 --> 01:18:01,510 I remember when we were talking shit the one day. 1205 01:18:01,544 --> 01:18:02,779 You're like, "Sometimes a motherfucker 1206 01:18:02,846 --> 01:18:04,748 -just wants to paint flowers." -[laughs] Oh. 1207 01:18:04,848 --> 01:18:06,682 I was like, yeah. I get it. 1208 01:18:14,523 --> 01:18:16,726 I need this picture, too. 1209 01:18:18,061 --> 01:18:21,630 * 1210 01:18:37,213 --> 01:18:40,283 [birds chirping] 1211 01:18:46,823 --> 01:18:50,894 [tranquil guitar music] 1212 01:18:52,962 --> 01:18:55,231 JESSE: I'm not ashamed about 1213 01:18:55,298 --> 01:18:57,066 being in prison at all. 1214 01:18:57,100 --> 01:18:59,335 don't think anyone should be.I 1215 01:19:01,905 --> 01:19:03,773 You know? I made a mistake. 1216 01:19:03,840 --> 01:19:05,008 I'm not a bad person. 1217 01:19:05,074 --> 01:19:07,010 It doesn't make you a bad person. 1218 01:19:07,076 --> 01:19:09,312 Everyone likes to just be these simple narratives 1219 01:19:09,412 --> 01:19:12,782 and classifications because it's safe. 1220 01:19:14,583 --> 01:19:18,087 But people are complicated and more nuanced than that. 1221 01:19:19,989 --> 01:19:23,927 * 1222 01:19:37,173 --> 01:19:39,342 Some of them are probably living, 1223 01:19:39,442 --> 01:19:40,844 so you shouldn't break them off. 1224 01:19:40,944 --> 01:19:42,812 Well, this one's dead. Can I break this? 1225 01:19:42,879 --> 01:19:45,181 -Nah. -Come on! 1226 01:19:45,281 --> 01:19:49,819 -No, no breaking trees. -It's dead! 1227 01:19:53,656 --> 01:19:58,127 [soft piano playing] 1228 01:20:01,630 --> 01:20:03,833 JESSE: I feel pretty good. 1229 01:20:06,035 --> 01:20:09,172 But at the same time, it's bittersweet. 1230 01:20:13,042 --> 01:20:17,513 Because, you know, I'm here, but yet, 1231 01:20:17,580 --> 01:20:22,318 I think about a lot of the people who are still in prison, 1232 01:20:22,385 --> 01:20:25,088 who aren't going home... 1233 01:20:25,989 --> 01:20:28,191 at least not any time soon. 1234 01:20:42,571 --> 01:20:46,442 * 1235 01:21:28,117 --> 01:21:32,288 [energetic, uplifting piano music] 1236 01:21:32,388 --> 01:21:34,390 *