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Video Episodes:
149 Views
20:00:55 03/05/10
Jessica Stockholder: Form
[LESS INFO] 149 VIEWS | ADDED 20:00:55 03/05/10
Episode #096: From her home in New Haven, Connecticut, Jessica Stockholder discusses the strength of form and the difficulty in articulating the meaning behind abstract shapes. A pioneer of multimedia genre-bending installations, Jessica Stockholder’s site-specific interventions and autonomous floor and wall pieces have been described as “paintings in space.” Her work is energetic, cacophonous, and idiosyncratic, but closer observation reveals formal decisions about color and composition, and a tempering of chaos with control.Learn more about Jessica Stockholder at: http://www.art21.org/artists/jessica-stockholderVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller and Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Mead Hunt. Sound: Merce Williams. Editor: Jenny Chiurco and Mary Ann Toman. Artwork Courtesy: Jessica Stockholder.
116 Views
16:42:35 02/26/10
Paul McCarthy: Lifecasting
[LESS INFO] 116 VIEWS | ADDED 16:42:35 02/26/10
Episode #095: Surrounded by various figurative sculptures in progress in his Los Angeles studio, including an over-sized bust of President George W. Bush, artist Paul McCarthy discusses the process of casting from life and the resulting perfections and imperfections.Paul McCarthy’s video-taped performances and provocative multimedia installations lampoon polite society, ridicule authority, and bombard the viewer with a sensory overload of often sexually-tinged, violent imagery. With irreverent wit, McCarthy often takes aim at cherished American myths and icons—Walt Disney, the Western, and even the Modern Artist—adding a touch of malice to subjects that have been traditionally revered for their innocence or purity. Whether conflating real-world political figures with fantastical characters such as Santa Claus, or treating erotic and abject content with frivolity and charm, McCarthy’s work confuses codes, mixes high and low culture, and provokes an analysis of fundamental beliefs.Learn more about Paul McCarthy at: http://www.art21.org/artists/paul-mccarthyVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Robert Elfstrom. Sound: Doug Dunderdale. Editor: Lizzie Donahue & Joaquin Perez. Artwork Courtesy: Paul McCarthy. Special Thanks: Jacobine van der Meer.
60 Views
14:10:36 02/19/10
William Kentridge: "Return"
[LESS INFO] 60 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:36 02/19/10
Episode #094: Shot in his Johannesburg studio in South Africa, William Kentridge reveals the process and unusual presentation of the video work Return — a component of the larger project (REPEAT) from the beginning / Da Capo (2008) — which had its debut on the fire screen of Teatro La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy. Having witnessed first-hand one of the twentieth century’s most contentious struggles—the dissolution of apartheid—William Kentridge brings the ambiguity and subtlety of personal experience to public subjects most often framed in narrowly defined terms. Using film, drawing, sculpture, animation, and performance, he transmutes sobering political events into powerful poetic allegories. Aware of myriad ways in which we construct the world by looking, Kentridge often uses optical illusions to extend his drawings-in-time into three dimensions.Learn more about William Kentridge at: http://www.art21.org/artists/william-kentridgeVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Bob Elfstrom. Sound: Ray Day. Editor: Mary Ann Toman. Artwork Courtesy: William Kentridge.
21 Views
12:26:32 02/12/10
John Baldessari: Recycling Images
[LESS INFO] 21 VIEWS | ADDED 12:26:32 02/12/10
Episode #093: While sifting through boxes of film stills in his Santa Monica studio, artist John Baldessari talks about being a pack rat and discusses his attitude towards appropriating images.Synthesizing photomontage, painting, and language, Baldessari’s deadpan visual juxtapositions equate images with words and illuminate, confound, and challenge meaning. He upends commonly held expectations of how images function, often by drawing the viewer’s attention to minor details, absences, or the spaces between things.Learn more about John Baldessari at: http://www.art21.org/artists/john-baldessariVIDEO | Producer:
Wesley Miller &
Nick Ravich
. Interview:
Susan Sollins
. Camera:
Bob Elfstrom. Sound: Ray Day. Editor: Lizzie Donahue &
Paulo Padilha.
Artwork Courtesy:
John Baldessari.
32 Views
17:32:33 02/05/10
Julie Mehretu: Workday
[LESS INFO] 32 VIEWS | ADDED 17:32:33 02/05/10
Episode #092: Filmed in her Berlin studio, Julie Mehretu discusses the ups and downs of her daily studio practice. Mehretu is shown working on the painting Middle Grey (2007-2009), one work in a suite of seven paintings commissioned by the Deutsche Guggenheim as part of the exhibition Julie Mehretu: Grey Area.Mehretu’s paintings and drawings refer to elements of mapping and architecture, achieving a calligraphic complexity that resembles turbulent atmospheres and dense social networks. Architectural renderings and aerial views of urban grids enter the work as fragments, losing their real-world specificity and challenging narrow geographic and cultural readings. The paintings’ wax-like surfaces—built up over weeks and months in thin translucent layers—have a luminous warmth and spatial depth, with formal qualities of light and space made all the more complex by Mehretu’s delicate depictions of fire, explosions, and perspectives in both two and three dimensions. Her works engage the history of nonobjective art—from Constructivism to Futurism—posing contemporary questions about the relationship between utopian impulses and abstraction.Learn more about Julie Mehretu at: http://www.art21.org/artists/julie-mehretuVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Ian Serfontein. Sound: Paul Stadden. Editor: Lizzie Donahue & Paulo Padilha. Artwork Courtesy: Julie Mehretu.
63 Views
23:28:35 01/21/10
Paul McCarthy: Animatronic Designer Jon Dawe
[LESS INFO] 63 VIEWS | ADDED 23:28:35 01/21/10
Episode #090: Animatronic Designer Jon Dawe reveals the process behind the robotic creature effects in artist Paul McCarthy's sculpture "Bush and Pig." Dawe's previous work, as part of Stan Winston Studio and Tatopoulos Studios, includes special effects and mechanical designs for the popular films "Jurassic Park," "Hellboy," "Underworld," and "Fantastic Four," among others.Paul McCarthy's video-taped performances and provocative multimedia installations lampoon polite society, ridicule authority, and bombard the viewer with a sensory overload of often sexually-tinged, violent imagery. With irreverent wit, McCarthy often takes aim at cherished American myths and icons—Walt Disney, the Western, and even the Modern Artist—adding a touch of malice to subjects that have been traditionally revered for their innocence or purity. Whether conflating real-world political figures with fantastical characters such as Santa Claus, or treating erotic and abject content with frivolity and charm, McCarthy's work confuses codes, mixes high and low culture, and provokes an analysis of fundamental beliefs.Learn more about Paul McCarthy at: http://www.art21.org/artists/paul-mccarthyVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera
: Bob Elfstrom. Sound: Doug Dunderdale. Editor: Lizzie Donahue & Paulo Padilha. Artwork Courtesy: Paul McCarthy. Special Thanks: Jon Dawe.
30 Views
16:09:26 01/14/10
Allan McCollum: "Shapes Copper Cookie Cutters"
[LESS INFO] 30 VIEWS | ADDED 16:09:26 01/14/10
Episode #089: Larry Little, co-founder of Aunt Holly's Copper Cookie Cutters with his wife Holly, describes his experiences working with artist Allan McCollum on the "Shapes from Maine" (2009) exhibition at Friedrich Petzel Gallery in New York. Little describes the origins of his home business in Trescott, Maine, the process he developed for making cookie cutters by hand, and his working relationship with McCollum.Applying strategies of mass production to hand-made objects, Allan McCollum’s labor-intensive practice questions the intrinsic value of the unique work of art. McCollum’s installations—fields of vast numbers of small-scale works, systematically arranged—are the product of many tiny gestures, built up over time. Viewing his work often produces a sublime effect as one slowly realizes that the dizzying array of thousands of identical-looking shapes is, in fact, comprised of subtly different, distinct things. Engaging assistants, scientists, and local craftspeople in his process, McCollum embraces a collaborative and democratic form of creativity.Learn more about Allan McCollum at: http://www.art21.org/artists/allan-mccollumVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Dowling. Camera: Richard Kane & Joel Shapiro. Sound: Kenny Weinberg. Editor: Lizzie Donahue & Paulo Padilha. Artwork Courtesy: Allan McCollum. Thanks: Holly & Larry Little.
25 Views
16:24:12 01/08/10
Cao Fei: Avatars
[LESS INFO] 25 VIEWS | ADDED 16:24:12 01/08/10
Episode #088: In her Beijing studio, Cao Fei reflects on the behavior of avatars in the digital environment of Second Life and the motivations behind people who explore and inhabit virtual worlds. The video showcases Cao’s project RMB City and the many avatars that frequent it, including the artist’s own avatar China Tracy. Cao’s work reflects the fluidity of a world in which cultures have mixed and diverged in rapid evolution. Her video installations and new media works explore perception and reality in places as diverse as a Chinese factory and the virtual world of Second Life. Depictions of Chinese architecture and landscape abound in scenes of hyper-capitalistic Pearl River Delta development, in images that echo traditional Chinese painting, and in the design of her own virtual utopia, RMB City. Fascinated by the world of Second Life, Cao Fei has created several works in which she is both participant and observer through her Second Life avatar, China Tracy, who acts as a guide, philosopher, and tourist. Cao Fei is featured in the Season 5 (2009) episode Fantasy of the Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS. Learn more about Cao Fei at: http://www.art21.org/artists/cao-feiVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview & Translation: Phil Tinari & Xiaotong Wang. Camera: Takahisa Araki & Frank Dellario. Editor: Paulo Padilha & Mark Sutton. Voiceover: Clara S. Jo. Artwork Courtesy: Cao Fei.
164 Views
23:11:37 12/17/09
Cindy Sherman: Mannequins & Masks
[LESS INFO] 164 VIEWS | ADDED 23:11:37 12/17/09
Episode #087: Surveying some of the props she's used over the years, including masks and mannequin parts, artist Cindy Sherman demonstrates how she uses stand-ins to gauge the focus and composition of her images. In self-reflexive photographs and films, Cindy Sherman invents myriad guises, metamorphosing from Hollywood starlet to clown to society matron. Often with the simplest of means—a camera, a wig, makeup, an outfit—Sherman fashions ambiguous but memorable characters that suggest complex lives lived out of frame. Sherman’s investigations have a compelling relationship to public images, from kitsch (film stills and centerfolds) to art history (Old Masters and Surrealism) to green-screen technology and the latest advances in digital photography. Learn more about Cindy Sherman at: http://www.art21.org/artists/cindy-shermanVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Joel Shapiro. Sound: Roger Phenix. Editor: Lizzie Donahue & Paulo Padilha. Artwork Courtesy: Cindy Sherman.
93 Views
23:02:45 12/10/09
Doris Salcedo: Third World Identity
[LESS INFO] 93 VIEWS | ADDED 23:02:45 12/10/09
Episode #086: In her Bogot
13 Views
18:28:39 12/03/09
Kimsooja: "A Beggar Woman" & "A Homeless Woman"
[LESS INFO] 13 VIEWS | ADDED 18:28:39 12/03/09
Episode #085: Artist Kimsooja reflects on her series of videotaped performances — "A Beggar Woman" and "A Homeless Woman" (both 2000-01) — realized in cities around the world: Cairo, Delhi, Lagos, and Mexico City.Kimsooja’s videos and installations blur the boundaries between aesthetics and transcendent experience through their use of repetitive actions, meditative practices, and serial forms. In many pieces, everyday actions—such as sewing or doing laundry—become two- and three-dimensional or performative activities. In videos that feature her in various personas (Needle Woman, Beggar Woman, Homeless Woman), she leads us to reflect on the human condition, offering open-ended perspectives through which she presents and questions reality. Learn more about Kimsooja at: http://www.art21.org/artists/kimsoojaVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Richard Numeroff. Sound: Merce Williams. Editor: Lizzie Donahue & Paulo Padilha. Artwork Courtesy: Kimsooja.
35 Views
23:16:43 11/30/09
Yinka Shonibare MBE: Being an Artist
[LESS INFO] 35 VIEWS | ADDED 23:16:43 11/30/09
Episode #084: In his London studio, artist Yinka Shonibare MBE reflects on what it means for him to be an artist, how he views his occupation as a utopian pursuit, and how the lines between the personal and professional aspects of his life are blurred.Known for using batik in costumed dioramas that explore race and colonialism, Yinka Shonibare MBE also employs painting, sculpture, photography, and film in work that disrupts and challenges our notions of cultural identity. Taking on the honorific MBE as part of his name in everyday use, Shonibare plays with the ambiguities and contradictions of his attitude toward the Establishment and its legacies of colonialism and class. In multimedia projects that reveal his passion for art history, literature, and philosophy, Shonibare provides a critical tour of Western civilization and its achievements and failures.Learn more about Yinka Shonibare MBE at: http://www.art21.org/artists/yinka-shonibare-mbeVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Ian Serfontein. Sound: Paul Stadden. Editor: Lizzie Donahue & Paulo Padilha. Artwork Courtesy: Yinka Shonibare MBE. Thanks: Ann Marie Pe
261 Views
16:32:04 11/19/09
Paul McCarthy: "Piccadilly Circus"
[LESS INFO] 261 VIEWS | ADDED 16:32:04 11/19/09
Episode #083: Artist Paul McCarthy describes the improvisational process and performances behind the video work "Piccadilly Circus" (2003). Filmed at an unoccupied London bank before being renovated by Hauser & Wirth gallery in 2002, and shot several months before the start of the Iraq War, the work features costumed players in the roles of President George W. Bush, Osama Bin Laden, and the Queen Mum (in three versions). Paul McCarthy's video-taped performances and provocative multimedia installations lampoon polite society, ridicule authority, and bombard the viewer with a sensory overload of often sexually-tinged, violent imagery. With irreverent wit, McCarthy often takes aim at cherished American myths and icons—Walt Disney, the Western, and even the Modern Artist—adding a touch of malice to subjects that have been traditionally revered for their innocence or purity. Whether conflating real-world political figures with fantastical characters such as Santa Claus, or treating erotic and abject content with frivolity and charm, McCarthy's work confuses codes, mixes high and low culture, and provokes an analysis of fundamental beliefs.Learn more about Paul McCarthy at: http://www.art21.org/artists/paul-mccarthyVIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Bob Elfstrom. Sound: Doug Dunderdale. Editor: Lizzie Donahue & Paulo Padilha. Artwork Courtesy: Paul McCarthy.
20 Views
22:34:20 11/12/09
John Baldessari: "Raised Eyebrows/ Furrowed Foreheads"
[LESS INFO] 20 VIEWS | ADDED 22:34:20 11/12/09
Episode #082: During the installation of his exhibition "Raised Eyebrows/ Furrowed Foreheads" (2009) at Marian Goodman Gallery in New York, artist John Baldessari discusses his life-long obsession with the distinction between parts and wholes, as well as his reductive philosophy of art-making.Synthesizing photomontage, painting, and language, Baldessari’s deadpan visual juxtapositions equate images with words and illuminate, confound, and challenge meaning. He upends commonly held expectations of how images function, often by drawing the viewer’s attention to minor details, absences, or the spaces between things.Learn more about John Baldessari at: http://www.art21.org/artists/john-baldessariVIDEO | Producer:
Wesley Miller &
Nick Ravich
. Interview:
Susan Sollins
. Camera:
Bob Elfstrom & Sam Henriques. Sound: Tom Bergin. Ray Day. Editor: Lizzie Donahue &
Paulo Padilha.
Artwork Courtesy:
John Baldessari. Thanks: Analia Saban & Marian Goodman Gallery, New York.
8 Views
21:11:00 11/05/09
Roni Horn: Water
[LESS INFO] 8 VIEWS | ADDED 21:11:00 11/05/09
Episode #081: Artist Roni Horn discusses the paradoxical identity and dependency of water, paired with scenes of Icelandic landscapes. Water and Iceland serve as both subjects and metaphors in the artist’s work, coming together most recently in Vatnasafn/Library of Water, a building designed by the artist in Stykkish
5 Views
03:59:00 10/30/09
Jeff Koons: Versailles
[LESS INFO] 5 VIEWS | ADDED 03:59:00 10/30/09
Episode #080: From his studio in New York City, Jeff Koons discusses his 2008 exhibition at the Ch
03/05/10