WEBVTT

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["New York Close Up"]

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--Thanks for coming, you guys.

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--You've been in this whole journey with me

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--and it means a lot.

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--My whole life…

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["Jordan Casteel--Artist"]

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[WOMAN]
--Congratulations, though!

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[CASTEEL]
--Thank you.

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I consider myself to be more of an introvert
than an extrovert.

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I can flip on--

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like, adrenaline can kick in

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and I'm able to perform
extroversion really well.

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And so I often try to find
my kindred spirits in the world,

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and usually it's somebody who's, kind of,
standing off to the side.

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There's a certain amount of mindfulness

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that it requires to slow down enough

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to really feel what it is to be present
with someone in a moment.

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["Jordan Casteel Stays in the Moment"]

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I've always had an inclination
towards seeing people who

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might be easily unseen.

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[LOUIE]
I remember it like it was yesterday.

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It was a real calm, vivrant night.

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It feels like the way it's painted--

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it was a vibe...
like pink, summer...

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125th Street, where we ran into Jordan.

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I'm so proud to be here today,

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to be a part of this
and be the face of it right now.

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I love her.

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[QUENTIN]
I feel like a superstar. [LAUGHS]

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Yo, I can't stop blushing! [LAUGHS]

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I can't stop blushing.

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[ZEN]
I was walking the dogs, right?

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And we met and I sat and posed for the photo.

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[MAN]
It was here in New York right?

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[ZEN]
Yeah, Harlem.

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[125th Street, Harlem]

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[LOUIE]
How you doing?

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Can I introduce you to Megastar Brand store?

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We got it all.

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You get hoodies.

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We got long sleeve tees.

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Black Power everything.

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We got all kinds of...

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How you doing miss?

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Can I introduce you to Megastar Brand store?

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[WOMAN]
Maybe next time, baby.

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[LOUIE]
All right, take care.

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[CASTEEL]
I was walking around, shooting at night

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and Louie and A-Thug
were packing up their stuff.

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So while I was taking the pictures,

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at some point, Louie asked,
"What's going on here?"

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"Are you an artist?
A photographer?"

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"What brings you to Harlem?"

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And I was like, "Oh, I'm actually a painter,"

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"I'm doing this project,"
blah blah blah.

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And they were like, "Oh, yeah!"

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"We'd love to participate!"

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They had phenomenal energy from the beginning.

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--Y'all turned this into a photo shoot.
I ain't mad at it.

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[LAUGHS]
--Make use of it while you got the camera!

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The actual moment of me photographing someone

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is that speedy moment.

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I'm in and out with them.

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But I get to spend the most intimate time,
initially,

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by myself in the studio,

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re-engaging with what I felt from someone
in an instant.

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I sit in here literally for hours alone, in
my own head--

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to have the space to really delve into
my most intimate thoughts and feelings,

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and to process the world around me,

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which is what I do when I'm painting.

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I spend a lot of time just looking

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and deciding colors in advance,

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and then mixing them meticulously

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so that when I get to this point

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I'm able to exert a certain amount of confidence.

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My way of trying to reconnect with
the immediacy that happens

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if you're sitting in front of somebody,
you know?

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That you're working from life.

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The camera, it's really become a liaison
between me and the sitter.

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It gives me time to
slow down before I go fast.

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In that moment with A-Thug and Louie,

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I don't know if I noticed that "melanin" shirt
sitting on the table.

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I'm quite sure I didn't
as I'm taking the pictures.

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But it's only in retrospect,

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as I took time to really study the environment
that they had created,

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that I was like, "Whoa!"

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"There are really prominent things 
happening here."

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His shirt saying,
"T.H.U.G., the hate you gave us,"

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I also didn't notice until I started making
the painting.

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I think that's a very powerful statement,

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to wear it on your chest like a shield

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that communities of color often have to create

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in order to protect and honor ourselves.

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[LOUIE]
I get the best feeling when I come outside

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and somebody's wearing one of my t-shirts,

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one of my hats.

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Right here is a little bear I done drew out,

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animated it with the little graphic design.

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So, I've got to produce.

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Like, making art into
wearable clothing right now.

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Young Style Designs.

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It's wearable art right here, though.

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Jordan, her work is on showcase.

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You've got to go inside of an establishment.

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I'm more of a street hustler,

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I get it out right on the
cement concrete block.

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She left a little event in my life,
like a nice little milestone.

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Just dropped down and did something nice.

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[CASTEEL]
I have somehow found a way

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to weasel myself into a one-percent opportunity
within the art market

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that has proven, on so many levels,

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that room for me
is few and far between,

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as a young African-American woman

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in a space that is primarily run by older
White men.

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The history of this country is complicated.

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The history of how art has moved through institutions,

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and been valued, is complicated.

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With access comes responsibility.

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With visibility comes responsibility.

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[ZEN]
There are very few spaces where

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Black men are being represented

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outside of criminality and entertainment.

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People probably pass the subjects in this
work everyday,

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without acknowledging anything about them.

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There is a value in just being.