[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.24,0:00:16.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a student in undergrad in photography with\Nan interest in film,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.89,0:00:19.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'd overheard a conversation amongst a\Ncouple of my professors
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.34,0:00:24.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about an exhibition that was going to be opening\Nat a gallery called Martha Schneider.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.28,0:00:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the title of it was "New Artists, Old\NProcesses,"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.01,0:00:31.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I felt that I really fit in.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.98,0:00:35.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I decided to take a portfolio to the gallery.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.37,0:00:40.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think at this time I was maybe 19. I\Nwas maybe a sophomore.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.72,0:00:45.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They weren't interested in looking at work\Nof artists coming off the street.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.23,0:00:50.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But after a little bit of pleading, she looked\Nat my portfolio,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.68,0:00:54.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the next week she gave me a solo show\N[LAUGHS]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.19,0:00:55.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in that space.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.74,0:01:04.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From that solo show, a few works were bought by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.54,0:01:06.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--[MALE INTERVIEWER, OFF CAMERA] So you're\Npretty ballsy?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.48,0:01:09.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[JOHNSON] Well I think it was naiveté more\Nthan balls.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.51,0:01:10.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it was just an idiot.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.86,0:01:13.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean if I had... I wouldn’t make that\Ndecision today.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.62,0:01:15.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m not going to go into a gallery... [LAUGHS]
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.90,0:01:17.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not going to go into MoMA with a portfolio
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.98,0:01:22.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and say, "Hey, I'm here with my things. You\Nshould look at them."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.68,0:01:33.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,["Rashid Johnson Keeps His Cool"]
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.12,0:01:37.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--[JOHNSON] He enters.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.20,0:01:41.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Hauser & Wirth, Upper East Side]
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.92,0:01:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Marc Payot, Gallerist]
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.12,0:01:50.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--[PAYOT] Especially in your case, the black\Nworks,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.86,0:01:53.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--it's impossible to see
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.24,0:01:55.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--it gets flat in photography.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.80,0:01:58.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--[JOHNSON] It's kind of a nice thing when\Npeople see the photographs
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.22,0:01:59.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--and then they actually see the works--
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.88,0:02:02.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--how visceral the actual textures are.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.08,0:02:04.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--But people like pictures.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.99,0:02:05.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[ALL LAUGH]
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.37,0:02:08.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was working with a lot of, kind of,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.92,0:02:13.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nineteenth-Century photographic process materials.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.15,0:02:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, while you're working with those materials,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.00,0:02:17.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,quite a bit of what you're doing is actually,\Nlike,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.95,0:02:22.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,physically applying the photo-sensitive chemistry\Nto the paper.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.12,0:02:24.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it got me very, kind of, interested in\Npaper.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.16,0:02:28.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It got me very interested in materials, and\Nhow material was being applied,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.40,0:02:31.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how, physically, I was participating with it;
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.14,0:02:35.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which, I think, later on, leads me to melting\Nblack soap and wax, and pouring it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.89,0:02:39.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I think it was a very natural progression\Nfor me.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.32,0:02:56.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was really interested in, kind of, taking\Nownership of a few different materials--
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.76,0:02:59.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some things that I hadn't seen really employed\Nin art objects
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.89,0:03:03.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I could, kind of, essentially take as\Nmy own.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.32,0:03:10.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I was about 22, I started going to the\NRussian Turkish bath house all the time,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.20,0:03:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I was just, kind of, sitting there and\Nsweating,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.00,0:03:19.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and finding a way to kind of relax, because\NI'm kind of a tad high strung, and...
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.74,0:03:20.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[LAUGHS]
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.72,0:03:23.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, it really became kind of like almost like\Na temple to me,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.84,0:03:25.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like almost a religious space.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.62,0:03:29.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I've always wanted to find a material\Nor something I could kind of use
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.74,0:03:33.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to have a conversation about, like cleansing,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.49,0:03:36.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, like a psychological cleansing,\Nas well as a physical cleansing.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.96,0:03:39.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles]
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.70,0:03:43.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shea butter, for me...
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.08,0:03:46.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I was young, my mom would bring it back\Nfrom West Africa,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.37,0:03:48.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we'd have it in the house.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.10,0:03:50.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And over time, I starting thinking,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.98,0:03:53.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"We're, like, putting Africa on ourselves,\Nright?"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.68,0:03:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like, we're like essentially kind of coating\Nourselves with this African product.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.20,0:04:01.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've always been interested in the domestic,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.63,0:04:04.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and around, kind of, highjacking, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.59,0:04:06.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,things that we're familiar with,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.58,0:04:09.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and, you know, essentially kind of occupying\Nthem,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.52,0:04:12.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or translating them through different filters.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.38,0:04:19.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Venice Biennale, Italy]
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.08,0:04:23.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A professor of mine used to say:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.70,0:04:27.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the morning, you would get up, and before\Nyou left the house,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.04,0:04:31.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you'd look in the mirror, and you'd change\Nsomething small about yourself,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.63,0:04:33.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's who you thought you were.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.14,0:04:35.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's who your "now" character was.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.08,0:04:38.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, and then two minutes after you leave\Nthat mirror, that thing has changed.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.91,0:04:40.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[LAUGHS] You know?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.26,0:04:42.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, with the mirror works,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.01,0:04:46.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which become kind of these vehicles for deconstructing\Nwhat has been reflected in them...
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.51,0:04:49.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, it was interesting to make an art\Nobject
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.06,0:04:53.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you can then find your "now" space again,\Nyou know,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.68,0:04:55.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while you actually participate with the object.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.64,0:04:58.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You get to be that "now" character.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.00,0:05:05.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My blackness--or the issues around that--
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.50,0:05:08.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have a strong effect on how my work is born
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.47,0:05:12.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and around the conversation that inevitably\Nwill happen,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.96,0:05:17.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I don't think that it's really the sum\Nof all what my work is.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.48,0:05:21.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think, formally, I'm trying to approach\Nart making
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.28,0:05:25.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a way that is a part of the bigger history\Nof art.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.28,0:05:38.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,New York is a beast, you know?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.52,0:05:41.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a difficult place to come to as an artist.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.90,0:05:43.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's not a whole lot of hand-holding.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.33,0:05:48.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, I had several shitty studios, and...\N[LAUGHS]
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.09,0:05:51.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, but I think one thing was consistent--
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.25,0:05:55.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I knew that I wanted to continue to work,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:55.87,0:05:58.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to see how far I could push the work.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.30,0:06:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a place I think you come to when you\Ndecide that you really want to be an artist,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.98,0:06:08.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that you will do whatever is necessary
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.44,0:06:13.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to allow the work to get the attention that\Nyou think it deserves.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.02,0:06:17.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--[JOHNSON] Can I bum a cigarette off anyone?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.40,0:06:19.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--[MAN] Congrats, man.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.66,0:06:20.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--[JOHNSON] Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.06,0:06:23.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They say, I think, New York shakes,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.96,0:06:26.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if you’re not grounded in it, [LAUGHS]
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.92,0:06:30.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know you might fall off this motherfucker.\N[LAUGHS]
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.38,0:06:31.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--[MALE INTERVIEWER, OFF CAMERA] Have you\Ngotten close?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.94,0:06:33.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've been okay.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.44,0:06:35.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've been alright, you know?