0:00:25.310,0:00:30.059 ♪ ♪ 0:00:36.780,0:00:38.289 I come from a pretty traditional 0:00:38.289,0:00:40.745 sculpture background in the sense that I[br]spent four years 0:00:40.745,0:00:43.345 in art school, literally just making things. 0:00:45.540,0:00:47.116 You know, to hand-make something mean 0:00:47.116,0:00:48.293 you're going to process it. 0:00:48.293,0:00:49.672 Like, it comes into your head, 0:00:49.672,0:00:51.080 and then it moves[br]through your body, 0:00:51.261,0:00:53.236 and then it gets pushed back 0:00:53.236,0:00:54.497 out into the world. 0:00:55.000,0:00:58.077 [sewing machine whirring] 0:00:59.810,0:01:04.380 I'm interested in how objects reflect[br]cultural moments. 0:01:05.700,0:01:10.042 And I think I'm trying to figure out, you know,[br]why we value what we value. 0:01:10.146,0:01:11.358 [electronic music] 0:01:12.472,0:01:14.871 So with the[br]"Counterfeit Crochet Project," 0:01:14.871,0:01:17.470 I invited crochet crafters from all over the world 0:01:17.600,0:01:21.618 to join me in bootlegging[br]designer handbags. 0:01:23.352,0:01:27.530 The invitation was to choose a designer handbag that you would like to own, 0:01:27.530,0:01:31.370 but couldn't afford, download an image from[br]it online 0:01:31.960,0:01:35.231 and then using your own crochet crafting skills, hand-make it. 0:01:37.928,0:01:43.821 And interestingly, it touched a nerve, and, you know, lots of people started to join up, 0:01:43.821,0:01:47.365 and then send me photographs of[br]themselves with their handmade bags. 0:01:51.110,0:01:54.960 It was fun and lighthearted,[br]but invariably what would happen was,[br]you know, 0:01:54.960,0:01:57.899 we would have these really great[br]discussions about everything from the 0:01:57.899,0:02:02.537 hierarchy of the fashion system to you know, [br]global counterfeiting schemes. 0:02:05.270,0:02:08.819 I think one of the reasons I got[br]interested in this idea of like bootlegs 0:02:08.819,0:02:12.239 or counterfeits is actually, it's an[br]extension from this idea that there is 0:02:12.239,0:02:16.046 an authentic, and you know from a very[br]personal standpoint 0:02:16.046,0:02:20.681 I was really curious about what it meant to be an authentic, um, Filipino. 0:02:23.995,0:02:26.459 I was thinking a lot about historical 0:02:26.459,0:02:29.459 ethnographic photography 0:02:29.600,0:02:33.369 Specifically, um, images I'd[br]seen taken in the Philippines. 0:02:33.654,0:02:36.146 ♪ ♪ 0:02:38.095,0:02:42.414 So the whole series is made in Omaha[br]Nebraska, which I think is hilarious 0:02:43.694,0:02:46.668 And I had gone[br]to the shopping malls, 0:02:46.823,0:02:51.671 and using my credit card, purchased mass-consumer goods, 0:02:51.878,0:02:54.660 took them back to my studio,[br]and then styled them. 0:02:57.000,0:03:02.057 And then returned them all[br]to the department stores for full store credit. 0:03:04.295,0:03:09.690 So it was kind of this way of thinking about what we wanna consume in those images, 0:03:10.208,0:03:12.793 partaking in it, but then also denying it. 0:03:16.319,0:03:18.795 This is something that, um... 0:03:18.795,0:03:22.374 It's a portrait of[br]my mother and myself, 0:03:22.814,0:03:28.843 um, not long after we moved to, [br]the U.S. from the Philippines. 0:03:29.355,0:03:32.757 And then for my birthday, she decided to take me to Disneyland. 0:03:33.145,0:03:34.828 And so this photograph is actually, 0:03:34.828,0:03:38.570 I think, in the Frontierland, where you can pay to have your portrait 0:03:38.570,0:03:41.073 taken after you put on all these western[br]costumes. 0:03:42.420,0:03:47.204 I think, you know, at the time we were[br]trying on these fictional identities of 0:03:47.204,0:03:51.276 what it might have looked like to be a[br]new American. 0:03:52.260,0:03:54.280 Also, I mean,[br]it's an amazing portrait. 0:03:54.280,0:03:57.809 Like, my mom is 22 years old[br]here, and she looks beautiful, 0:03:57.809,0:04:00.072 and I'm this[br]angry little four year old. 0:04:00.709,0:04:01.748 [Laughs] 0:04:07.625,0:04:15.000 - [singing "El Breve Espacio[br]En Que No Estás"] 0:04:17.160,0:04:20.585 The title of my next exhibition is[br]called "Citizens" 0:04:22.680,0:04:25.607 I think there's always been embedded[br]politics in my work, 0:04:25.607,0:04:28.100 whether it's issues of colonialism or capitalism 0:04:28.981,0:04:31.740 but given recent politics I've been 0:04:31.740,0:04:35.793 really trying to figure out how to[br]actually put it more at the forefront. 0:04:35.793,0:04:36.863 - Ready to fight? 0:04:36.863,0:04:37.828 Crowd: Damn Right! 0:04:37.828,0:04:38.675 - Are you ready to fight? 0:04:38.675,0:04:39.615 Crowd: Damn Right! 0:04:39.900,0:04:44.129 The Bay Area has been a real flash point[br]for a lot of recent protests and so I 0:04:44.129,0:04:46.341 and so I feel like I've been[br]in the middle of it. 0:04:47.506,0:04:51.113 You know, you watch the news,[br]you watch images flashing by, 0:04:51.113,0:04:53.167 and you're kind of trying[br]to process it all. 0:04:53.832,0:04:57.266 - We need to figure out how wide[br]the actual banner is. 0:04:57.628,0:05:00.983 And I was noticing that this[br]one particular banner kept popping up. 0:05:01.941,0:05:03.865 And depending[br]on how it was held up, 0:05:03.865,0:05:08.277 or how it was being displayed you could or[br]in some cases could not read the text 0:05:09.131,0:05:10.317 - Cool.[br]- All right. 0:05:10.317,0:05:13.077 And so[br]I downloaded those images, 0:05:13.077,0:05:15.582 and then, you know,[br]traced it on the computer, 0:05:16.099,0:05:19.143 projected it onto a larger piece of fabric, 0:05:19.713,0:05:21.200 and then hand sewed it. 0:05:22.805,0:05:26.533 It says "Become Ungovernable,"[br]and it's kind of, you know, 0:05:26.533,0:05:29.535 I feel like the banner itself[br]is becoming ungovernable. 0:05:29.535,0:05:32.214 Like, it's got loose ends,[br]it's got, you know, 0:05:32.214,0:05:35.348 the text itself is kind of, like, falling off the page,[br]um so it's trying to kind of embody that 0:05:35.348,0:05:38.947 um, so it's kitrying[br]to kind of embody that, 0:05:38.947,0:05:41.230 that inability to be controlled. 0:05:43.979,0:05:46.795 One of the problems,[br]I think, with slogans 0:05:46.795,0:05:51.254 is that people think they already know what the slogan means, 0:05:51.927,0:05:54.120 and so you can either shut off to it, 0:05:54.120,0:05:56.543 or you can, you know, nod your head in agreement. 0:05:58.492,0:06:01.118 So when I was using[br]these images of protests, 0:06:01.118,0:06:05.000 I was more interested in[br]actually how they're filtered 0:06:05.000,0:06:06.301 through media channels. 0:06:08.100,0:06:11.100 [Sewing machine whirring] 0:06:16.080,0:06:18.964 In a lot of my projects,[br]I'm really interested in this connection between 0:06:18.964,0:06:20.628 the analog and the digital 0:06:24.043,0:06:29.690 So, I decided to create this huge hand sewn quilted checkerboard background 0:06:30.084,0:06:30.584 [mouse clicks] 0:06:32.212,0:06:35.493 And it resembles a Photoshop transparency background 0:06:37.020,0:06:39.626 When you cut out an image in Photoshop, 0:06:39.626,0:06:43.126 Photoshop will put in this like really weird you know, checkerboard pattern. 0:06:45.000,0:06:47.520 It's actually to point out this idea that, 0:06:47.520,0:06:50.000 you know, digital culture is not neutral 0:06:50.337,0:06:52.595 that simply because there's a computer 0:06:52.595,0:06:55.530 involved doesn't mean that there isn't[br]human labor 0:06:55.659,0:06:57.939 ♪ ♪ 0:07:04.512,0:07:06.908 Um, hmm. 0:07:07.126,0:07:08.817 Yeah, let me[br]go hand that to you. 0:07:09.108,0:07:12.139 Yeah, I think we could[br]try something like this. 0:07:12.631,0:07:14.450 I feel like I'm constantly[br]making things. 0:07:14.864,0:07:18.400 And I do feel like I have this[br]ratio that I've worked out 0:07:18.581,0:07:22.184 where I call it[br]the sort of 80/20 ratio, 0:07:22.365,0:07:25.970 where 80% of what I make[br]is kind of crap, 0:07:25.970,0:07:29.380 but somehow I have to produce[br]it to get to the 20%, 0:07:29.689,0:07:30.979 which is successful. 0:07:30.979,0:07:33.523 [laughs][br]It's kind of like rubble, 0:07:33.523,0:07:35.523 but not really.[br][chuckles] 0:07:36.720,0:07:38.767 - Did you all buy[br]the fabric this color? 0:07:39.138,0:07:43.237 - Yeah, so this is, um, chroma[br]key fabric, the green screen. 0:07:43.237,0:07:46.500 I've been gravitating to[br]working with chroma key 0:07:46.681,0:07:49.831 which is this awful, acid color. 0:07:52.057,0:07:57.180 I'm standing in front of a green chroma[br]key screen. Anything that you photograph 0:07:57.180,0:08:00.418 or shoot in front of this screen, you can[br]put in any type of backdrop, 0:08:00.418,0:08:02.410 you can create a fantasy scene. 0:08:10.000,0:08:11.010 [laughter] 0:08:11.626,0:08:14.687 [camera shutter snaps] 0:08:16.800,0:08:21.580 And so, thinking about both[br]politics and social strife 0:08:21.580,0:08:25.543 and everything that's kind of permeated [br]and saturated everything, 0:08:25.698,0:08:27.427 you know, now it's just this kind of 0:08:27.427,0:08:29.763 constant in our backgrounds. 0:08:35.873,0:08:40.919 You know, what does that mean[br]to then use chroma key as the literal subject 0:08:40.919,0:08:42.742 instead of ignoring it? 0:08:44.218,0:08:46.218 ♪ ♪ 0:08:52.693,0:08:55.583 - All right.[br]Wanna grab that one, Durham? 0:08:56.982,0:09:01.251 So, I became a U.S. citizen when I was 26 years old. Despite having lived here 0:09:01.251,0:09:04.724 since I was three , I had to kind of make[br]that decision, 0:09:04.724,0:09:08.545 and then go through the process of the citizenship test. 0:09:09.296,0:09:10.429 - All right, I am an.. 0:09:12.757,0:09:17.437 I was thinking a lot about a 1942[br]photograph taken by Dorothea Lange. 0:09:18.240,0:09:21.884 and she had taken a photograph of an[br]Oakland store front 0:09:21.884,0:09:25.000 where a Japanese American had a business there, 0:09:25.000,0:09:29.019 and upon[br]the notification for Japanese internment 0:09:29.407,0:09:33.793 he had put up a sign in the window that just proclaimed "I am an American." 0:09:33.793,0:09:36.296 - Um, let's do the scrunching. 0:09:36.296,0:09:39.767 The idea that citizenship can[br]be given and also taken away 0:09:39.767,0:09:41.709 was something[br]that really interested me. 0:09:42.745,0:09:46.027 because I do feel like there's been a[br]lot of Reckoning with people having to 0:09:46.027,0:09:48.598 struggle with what it means to be an[br]American today. 0:09:48.598,0:09:50.108 Like, what do we stand for? 0:09:51.498,0:09:53.221 What can we become? 0:09:53.221,0:09:54.376 [cell phone snaps] 0:10:02.941,0:10:06.967 My current studio is located in a really industrial part of the Bay 0:10:09.209,0:10:11.560 It overlooks San Francisco, actually. 0:10:11.560,0:10:14.830 So, just looking out over the water, you can see it at a distance. 0:10:16.357,0:10:18.429 You know, I grew up in that city, 0:10:19.620,0:10:22.555 I relocated to Oakland four years ago, 0:10:22.555,0:10:25.643 because I couldn't afford to stay in San Francisco anymore. 0:10:27.300,0:10:33.668 You know, the Bay area[br]can be a really wonderful kind of fermenting space for 0:10:33.668,0:10:35.331 for artists. 0:10:36.781,0:10:39.240 Not because it's easy to live here, 0:10:39.732,0:10:41.751 'cause it's not easy to live here, 0:10:42.942,0:10:46.144 but there are ways that[br]artists can create community 0:10:46.144,0:10:47.759 and spaces for themselves here. 0:10:52.200,0:10:56.613 If we're to look at the complexity of our contemporary culture, 0:10:56.820,0:10:58.512 our political moment, 0:10:58.823,0:11:00.414 you know, our lived realities, 0:11:00.414,0:11:03.140 I want my work to be as 0:11:03.140,0:11:05.465 complicated as well. 0:11:05.465,0:11:08.096 That there isn't just one way to look at it, you know, 0:11:08.096,0:11:11.153 that depending on your perspective you'll see[br]it a different way 0:11:12.095,0:11:14.626 And I also want it to inhabit[br]contradictions. 0:11:14.859,0:11:16.859 - All right. Fierce 0:11:19.604,0:11:22.179 And so, you know,[br]looking at images of protests, 0:11:22.775,0:11:25.372 we created[br]these composite characters. 0:11:26.459,0:11:28.064 And so they're fictions. 0:11:30.540,0:11:33.859 Black-clad individuals[br]are usually associated with, 0:11:33.859,0:11:36.124 you know,[br]a kind of very direct action. 0:11:37.393,0:11:40.325 Is it a character[br]that one finds problematic, 0:11:40.325,0:11:44.115 or is it something that[br]might elicit even you know, some empathy? 0:11:45.849,0:11:51.783 There's a portrait of someone covered in a very sheer gray-and-white[br]checkerboard pattern. 0:11:53.155,0:11:56.696 The portrait is of[br]a person who is undocumented. 0:11:58.255,0:12:00.450 It's a difficult thing for me[br]to talk about, actually, 0:12:00.450,0:12:06.455 because given the state of our contemporary political situation, 0:12:06.455,0:12:10.690 you know, that person[br]could be taken at any minute. 0:12:13.019,0:12:17.525 Depending on how you read that image[br]it's about either the removal 0:12:18.146,0:12:20.599 or about their protection. 0:12:41.002,0:12:43.709 One really important[br]possibility for art 0:12:43.709,0:12:47.075 is that it is[br]a recording device, you know. 0:12:47.075,0:12:48.598 I mean, it's a subjective one, 0:12:48.702,0:12:54.774 but it's a device, that, somehow through an individual or a [br]group of individuals 0:12:54.774,0:12:57.629 processes a situation[br]in the world, 0:12:57.629,0:13:00.155 and then creates a[br]subjective viewpoint of that. 0:13:02.304,0:13:03.843 As evidence. 0:13:10.779,0:13:14.378 I do not think at all that my work, in[br]and of itself, 0:13:14.378,0:13:16.090 is actually going to change the system 0:13:18.656,0:13:23.530 What I'm interested in though, is somehow reflecting a possibility. 0:13:32.749,0:13:38.122 What I'm doing is kind of like[br]absorbing and processing[br]the world around me, 0:13:38.122,0:13:41.403 and it's becoming political. 0:13:42.490,0:13:45.152 I don't think I have a choice anymore. 0:13:46.334,0:13:48.209 It's just my reality. 0:13:58.923,0:14:00.898 To learn more about Art21 and our 0:14:00.898,0:14:07.620 educational resources please visit us[br]online at pbs.org/art21 0:14:11.835,0:14:16.313 Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 9 is available on DVD 0:14:17.012,0:14:23.783 To order, visit shop.pbs.org or call 1-800 play PBS 0:14:24.672,0:14:29.147 This program is also available for download on iTunes.