[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.18,0:00:12.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Kara Walker: Starting Out]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.26,0:00:19.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.52,0:00:27.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, I think...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.81,0:00:29.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'll probably need the ladder.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.58,0:00:31.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can you move it over a little?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.14,0:00:33.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, um...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.85,0:00:41.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Actually...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.12,0:00:49.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have to maybe credit my 24-year-old self
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.15,0:00:52.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for making a couple of good moves.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.52,0:00:53.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[The Drawing Center, New York, NY]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.99,0:00:56.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I started showing work,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.15,0:00:57.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was Providence, Rhode Island--
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.74,0:00:59.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was a student.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.29,0:01:01.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was 24,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.11,0:01:03.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and had a big breakout piece at
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.15,0:01:06.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Drawing Center in New York City.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.00,0:01:11.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's delicate because the only two things
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.54,0:01:12.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are holding them together
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.74,0:01:13.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are at the fingertips.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.54,0:01:16.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is Huck Finn in a dress,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.30,0:01:19.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and his foot is going to land about here.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.35,0:01:23.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People were just interested and curious.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.81,0:01:25.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Galleries were calling
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.67,0:01:27.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and wanted to know more,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.39,0:01:29.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and artists, they wanted to warn me against
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.56,0:01:32.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,having a big success at a young age.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.34,0:01:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I kind of felt like,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.48,0:01:36.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Well, I don't know myself yet,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.42,0:01:38.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"and they don't know me either,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.18,0:01:40.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"but if I stay in Providence,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.68,0:01:43.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"and take these opportunities as they come,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.24,0:01:44.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"that's good."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.09,0:01:51.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I knew I wasn't ready to live in New York.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.01,0:01:53.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, I knew that change is kind of inevitable,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.50,0:01:56.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I did want to come to the city when I\Nfelt ready.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.90,0:02:00.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've been teaching for, like, twelve years\Nor something
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.63,0:02:02.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at Columbia University.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.43,0:02:06.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started when I was also a veritable baby
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.33,0:02:09.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and about the same age as many of the graduate\Nstudents,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.10,0:02:11.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that was extremely awkward.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.40,0:02:13.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I came to the city,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.81,0:02:18.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I felt like my newly forming ego and sense\Nof self
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.37,0:02:21.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was just, like, torn to shreds.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.53,0:02:23.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think I wanted to have the role
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.73,0:02:25.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I was hired for,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.16,0:02:28.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was "a successful artist who was successful\Nat a young age,"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.50,0:02:30.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"telling people how to get what I got."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.18,0:02:35.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, I think I just accepted it this year,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.13,0:02:37.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I must know something--it's been twenty\Nyears.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.22,0:02:46.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't know what that something is,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.44,0:02:47.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but if I just keep talking,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.71,0:02:50.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then that something, you know, might slip\Nout.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.12,0:02:51.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Frieze Art Fair, New York, NY]
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.20,0:02:52.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's no diploma in the world that,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.85,0:02:54.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, declares you as an artist--
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.52,0:02:56.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's not like becoming a doctor, or something.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.17,0:02:57.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like, you can declare yourself an artist
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.78,0:03:00.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then figure out how to be an artist.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.08,0:03:11.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a different art world than the one that\NI stepped into.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.48,0:03:14.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It does seem to be bigger.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.27,0:03:16.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's more distractions, in a way,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.40,0:03:19.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the process of making one's own work.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.21,0:03:22.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The pressure to, kind of, conform to a particular
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.96,0:03:26.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,grad school pedigree is problematic.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.38,0:03:28.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think a lot of people feel that way.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.52,0:03:34.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's, like, a reality that artists are selling\Nwork
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.24,0:03:38.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to pay back massive debt from these\NM.F.A. programs.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.66,0:03:42.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, I did tell my students, not too long\Nago,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.71,0:03:43.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they have to--and will--
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.58,0:03:44.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,change the art world
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.70,0:03:47.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the moment they step into it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.90,0:03:50.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like, if it means prioritizing, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.26,0:03:52.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,critical discourse over objects,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.66,0:03:54.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or products, or something like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.68,0:03:55.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then, if that's what you want,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.86,0:03:57.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then you have to, kind of, make it happen.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.98,0:04:00.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if it's too expensive to make it happen\Nright here,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.41,0:04:04.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then you have to make it happen in the place\Nwhere you can,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.73,0:04:07.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and don't think of that as any kind of demotion.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.30,0:04:11.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you can look at the negatives as a student
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.14,0:04:13.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and see what needs to be changed,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.41,0:04:16.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then you have to do that.