0:00:00.760,0:00:03.343 (lively music) 0:00:07.512,0:00:09.929 (bass plays) 0:00:11.220,0:00:12.540 - I've always resisted the idea 0:00:12.540,0:00:15.543 that somehow my practice is archival. 0:00:16.440,0:00:19.113 It's about using the material[br]that's available to me, 0:00:19.950,0:00:23.220 and that material is[br]incredibly rich material. 0:00:23.220,0:00:24.390 (upbeat music) 0:00:24.390,0:00:28.590 It's not archival to me any[br]more than the fact that, 0:00:28.590,0:00:31.390 you know, when a composer[br]sits down to make a new piece, 0:00:32.340,0:00:33.651 the notes are there. 0:00:33.651,0:00:36.234 (upbeat music) 0:00:41.340,0:00:44.310 Beethoven, Bach, Cecil[br]Taylor, Duke Ellington, 0:00:44.310,0:00:46.503 they're not creating new notes, 0:00:47.700,0:00:48.533 you know what I mean? 0:00:48.533,0:00:50.679 They're sequencing the notes. 0:00:50.679,0:00:54.096 (upbeat music continues) 0:00:59.820,0:01:02.400 Do they just amplify the same frequency? 0:01:02.400,0:01:05.190 It just got louder.[br](upbeat music) 0:01:05.190,0:01:07.640 You know, is it a counterpoint[br]to that frequency? 0:01:10.230,0:01:11.430 At its core, 0:01:11.430,0:01:14.266 it's just about how do you[br]make a thing of beauty? 0:01:14.266,0:01:16.620 (upbeat music) 0:01:16.620,0:01:18.180 And a thing of beauty to me is a thing 0:01:18.180,0:01:19.330 that you wanna look at. 0:01:20.760,0:01:23.400 And then in conjunction with that, 0:01:23.400,0:01:24.997 maybe you do other things like say, 0:01:24.997,0:01:26.946 "Hey, Black people are human beings too." 0:01:26.946,0:01:30.363 (upbeat music continues) 0:01:35.866,0:01:40.866 (birds chirp)[br](traffic passes) 0:01:42.840,0:01:44.910 A lot of what I do is just 0:01:44.910,0:01:48.453 a kinda structured free association. 0:01:49.567,0:01:51.000 "Mickey Mouse was a Scorpio", 0:01:51.000,0:01:53.050 it's Mickey Mouse and Damballah 0:01:54.090,0:01:55.890 and even though they[br]couldn't be more different 0:01:55.890,0:01:59.100 on a certain material[br]level, one is an animation, 0:01:59.100,0:02:02.580 the other is a photograph[br]of a witch doctor. 0:02:02.580,0:02:04.170 But when you see those two, 0:02:04.170,0:02:05.730 it's very clear you're looking at 0:02:05.730,0:02:09.363 the same entity in two[br]different iterations. 0:02:10.950,0:02:13.770 That's a fundamental[br]thing I'm interested in. 0:02:13.770,0:02:15.960 Like, that's sort of very specific 0:02:15.960,0:02:18.690 and local big bang that[br]happens when you put one, 0:02:18.690,0:02:21.510 I would argue, Black being[br]next to another Black being. 0:02:21.510,0:02:23.343 Like, what is engendered by that? 0:02:25.077,0:02:30.077 (intense music)[br](background chatter) 0:02:30.150,0:02:33.273 Even the films or the videos[br]are just extensions of that. 0:02:34.110,0:02:36.160 It's like, what happens when you do that? 0:02:37.050,0:02:38.790 - I know that every person[br]walking this planet. 0:02:38.790,0:02:39.623 - [Arthur] And then you do it again. 0:02:39.623,0:02:42.155 - Came from a womb and[br]because I have one of those. 0:02:42.155,0:02:43.620 - [Arthur] You know,[br]you have one big bang, 0:02:43.620,0:02:45.300 you put it next to another big bang 0:02:45.300,0:02:46.500 and then another big bang, 0:02:46.500,0:02:47.613 then another big bang. 0:02:48.750,0:02:51.766 - Bitch, I'm a mother, no drama. 0:02:51.766,0:02:54.540 The fact that y'all[br]think that being a woman 0:02:54.540,0:02:57.750 is about cosmetics lets me know 0:02:57.750,0:03:00.854 that y'all don't know the[br]hell y'all talking to. 0:03:00.854,0:03:03.604 (tranquil music) 0:03:04.530,0:03:07.170 - And the picture unit is just another way 0:03:07.170,0:03:11.160 to sequence images.[br](tranquil music) 0:03:11.160,0:03:12.510 You know, I call it a maze, 0:03:12.510,0:03:17.433 but it's less of a maze[br]than a kind of guided tour. 0:03:19.290,0:03:22.200 You know, with a certain possibility of 0:03:22.200,0:03:24.900 insights into relationships 0:03:24.900,0:03:28.092 that wouldn't necessarily[br]be available to you. 0:03:28.092,0:03:30.759 (intense music) 0:03:31.800,0:03:33.420 As you physically move through it, 0:03:33.420,0:03:35.160 you know, if you go forward a step, 0:03:35.160,0:03:36.690 you're gonna see another thing 0:03:36.690,0:03:39.180 and people just say like,[br]they saw this gruesome image, 0:03:39.180,0:03:41.130 and they just like put their head down 0:03:41.130,0:03:42.690 and just moved forward, 0:03:42.690,0:03:45.420 but only to be confronted[br]with another gruesome image, 0:03:45.420,0:03:46.530 you know what I mean? 0:03:46.530,0:03:47.940 And the thing about it is like, 0:03:47.940,0:03:52.350 they are quote unquote gruesome[br]images in it, for sure. 0:03:52.350,0:03:53.640 You see this gruesome scene, 0:03:53.640,0:03:55.170 then you see an image with a Black woman 0:03:55.170,0:03:56.610 with a piece of wood in her hand. 0:03:56.610,0:03:58.268 Like, what's the relationship? 0:03:58.268,0:04:00.360 (intense music) 0:04:00.360,0:04:02.280 What's the nature of, 0:04:02.280,0:04:05.497 you know, absorbing or[br]being subjected to violence? 0:04:05.497,0:04:08.164 (intense music) 0:04:15.090,0:04:16.530 Every time I open this shit up, 0:04:16.530,0:04:19.023 it's just like that is a thing. 0:04:19.890,0:04:22.563 So now I'm trying to figure[br]out what to do with it. 0:04:27.450,0:04:28.320 I think it's in here. 0:04:28.320,0:04:29.700 It may not be in here, but let me see. 0:04:29.700,0:04:31.293 I think I put it in here. 0:04:33.540,0:04:35.187 That's "Apex". 0:04:36.330,0:04:38.850 Now I just basically had a[br]file that had stuff in it, 0:04:38.850,0:04:42.420 and then at some point I[br]started putting it in order 0:04:42.420,0:04:46.953 and I would just do this[br]while I was talking about it. 0:04:47.790,0:04:49.320 And then at some point like, 0:04:49.320,0:04:50.820 oh, let's just put it on a timeline 0:04:50.820,0:04:52.230 so you don't have to click, 0:04:52.230,0:04:53.332 you know what I mean? 0:04:53.332,0:04:56.082 (electric music) 0:04:58.987,0:05:02.130 "Apex" is about a rock band in the future. 0:05:02.130,0:05:04.380 The story happens during[br]the course of the world 0:05:04.380,0:05:06.308 as we know it coming to an end. 0:05:06.308,0:05:09.810 (electric music) 0:05:09.810,0:05:12.000 The so-called fine art space, 0:05:12.000,0:05:14.610 it's mostly interesting[br]because it's so flexible, 0:05:14.610,0:05:17.190 like in terms of what it[br]is, you know what I mean? 0:05:20.173,0:05:21.720 I can't imagine another space 0:05:21.720,0:05:24.644 that's better in terms of playing[br]with these sorts of ideas. 0:05:24.644,0:05:27.061 (soft music) 0:05:30.660,0:05:33.363 I studied architecture[br]at Howard University. 0:05:34.710,0:05:37.113 Realized pretty much two years in 0:05:37.113,0:05:38.910 that I was ambivalent about that 0:05:38.910,0:05:42.810 because it was hard for me to imagine 0:05:42.810,0:05:45.010 what it was gonna look[br]like on a day to day. 0:05:46.050,0:05:49.740 But my interests very quickly 0:05:49.740,0:05:52.050 were consolidated around the idea 0:05:52.050,0:05:54.240 that I think initially I understood 0:05:54.240,0:05:57.210 as being related to architecture. 0:05:57.210,0:05:59.070 You know, and it would be something like, 0:05:59.070,0:06:01.530 if Kind of Blue was a house,[br]what would it look like? 0:06:01.530,0:06:03.480 Or if Electro Ladyland was a house, 0:06:03.480,0:06:04.680 what would it look like? 0:06:06.120,0:06:10.110 Using Black music as a preeminent example, 0:06:10.110,0:06:11.823 of Black aesthetics in action. 0:06:13.110,0:06:15.570 What I've come to understand is that 0:06:15.570,0:06:19.200 that impulse to demonstrate the breadth 0:06:19.200,0:06:23.700 and complexity of transposing 0:06:23.700,0:06:26.250 Black aesthetics to anything you do 0:06:26.250,0:06:28.143 is what I was kind of interested in. 0:06:29.610,0:06:34.610 If you look at where[br]Afro-American culture is strong, 0:06:34.830,0:06:39.180 it is in the spaces of[br]immaterial expressivity. 0:06:39.180,0:06:41.400 You know, music, dance, things like that, 0:06:41.400,0:06:44.037 things that you could do on your body. 0:06:44.037,0:06:45.230 ♪ This is a God dream ♪ 0:06:45.230,0:06:50.230 ♪ This is a God dream ♪ 0:06:51.270,0:06:52.958 ♪ We on an ultra light beam ♪ 0:06:52.958,0:06:54.840 ♪ We on an ultra light beam ♪ 0:06:54.840,0:06:56.550 - Black people wore raw materials 0:06:56.550,0:06:59.310 so the whole notion of making things, 0:06:59.310,0:07:02.700 meaning being able to utilize material 0:07:02.700,0:07:04.053 wasn't so straightforward. 0:07:07.680,0:07:11.370 Black people remake things[br]by using them differently 0:07:11.370,0:07:12.570 than they were intended. 0:07:16.260,0:07:18.060 The appropriation thing 0:07:18.060,0:07:21.630 allowed me to maneuver[br]in a way that made sense 0:07:21.630,0:07:23.850 for me as a Black person, given my, 0:07:23.850,0:07:24.683 as I pointed out, 0:07:24.683,0:07:26.223 relationship to material. 0:07:27.150,0:07:28.580 Taking this and putting it next to that 0:07:28.580,0:07:31.710 it is like saying I don't[br]have to have material. 0:07:31.710,0:07:33.120 I don't have to make material. 0:07:33.120,0:07:35.973 I don't have to make[br]anything to make something. 0:07:37.911,0:07:39.057 - Yeah, no, I got you, bro.[br]- I'm about to break away. 0:07:39.057,0:07:42.300 - No, no, no, I just wanted[br]to come get some love. 0:07:42.300,0:07:43.350 That looks great. 0:07:43.350,0:07:45.300 - Yeah, it's a, again, 0:07:45.300,0:07:48.690 it's a artifact for my alternate universe 0:07:48.690,0:07:51.420 because she never had a record, you know. 0:07:51.420,0:07:53.550 It's just a still from a video, man. 0:07:58.215,0:07:59.457 - [Officer] Turn away. 0:07:59.457,0:08:03.686 Walk backwards, keep[br]your hands up in the air. 0:08:03.686,0:08:05.117 Keep going. 0:08:05.117,0:08:06.177 - [Officer 2] Come on back, come on back. 0:08:06.177,0:08:07.110 Keep walking backwards. 0:08:07.110,0:08:08.550 Keep walking backwards. 0:08:08.550,0:08:09.390 - As I like to say, 0:08:09.390,0:08:11.490 we are the canaries in the mine shaft 0:08:11.490,0:08:13.530 of Western civilization. 0:08:13.530,0:08:15.060 Nobody wants to be where we are. 0:08:15.060,0:08:16.743 Nobody wants to be Black. 0:08:19.050,0:08:20.100 But at the same time, 0:08:20.100,0:08:22.950 when they see Black people,[br]almost paradoxically, 0:08:22.950,0:08:26.220 we also exist as a kind of[br]emblem of the possibility 0:08:26.220,0:08:29.643 of transcending profound constraints. 0:08:30.750,0:08:31.740 You know what I mean? 0:08:31.740,0:08:33.900 Like everybody has their foot on our neck, 0:08:33.900,0:08:35.798 but we constantly stand. 0:08:35.798,0:08:38.730 (electric music) 0:08:38.730,0:08:40.470 So given we've come through it 0:08:40.470,0:08:44.280 and it's generated this[br]thing we call Blackness, 0:08:44.280,0:08:47.130 Black music, Black[br]dance, Black life force, 0:08:47.130,0:08:48.540 all these kinds of things, 0:08:48.540,0:08:52.373 how do we mine that?[br](electronic music) 0:08:55.710,0:09:00.710 It's less that the playing field[br]is uneven for Black people. 0:09:01.470,0:09:03.090 It's more like the playing field 0:09:03.090,0:09:05.640 is just more complex for Black people. 0:09:05.640,0:09:06.510 You know what I mean? 0:09:06.510,0:09:09.780 That's an opportunity to[br]contend with a landscape 0:09:09.780,0:09:13.112 that's more interesting[br]than a flat landscape. 0:09:13.112,0:09:15.945 (mid tempo music) 0:09:26.690,0:09:29.190 (piano music) 0:09:37.570,0:09:40.740 It is not about, it's a handicap. 0:09:40.740,0:09:41.790 It's not a handicap. 0:09:41.790,0:09:43.653 It's an opportunity to, 0:09:45.880,0:09:49.263 it's so funny, it's like[br]opportunity to levitate. 0:09:50.261,0:09:53.178 (slow piano music) 0:09:55.152,0:10:00.152 ♪ Oh (indistinct) ♪ 0:10:00.850,0:10:03.032 ♪ When you hit that fog ♪ 0:10:03.032,0:10:08.032 ♪ And it'll start for y'all ♪ 0:10:08.952,0:10:13.952 ♪ You say that I know we'll all do well ♪ 0:10:14.170,0:10:16.587 (slow music)