Omer Fast: "CNN Concatenated" | ART21 "Exclusive"

[MALE ANNOUNCER] This is CNN.

[Omer Fast: "CNN Concatenated"]

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

I / just / feel / like / I / have / so / much
/ to / give / but

sometimes / you / can / be / so / full / of
/ resentment.

[MAN TAKES A BREATH]

Why / is / that?

[MAN TAKES A BREATH]

Perhaps / I / talk / too / much.

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

Maybe / I / come / on / a / little / too / strong.

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

Sometimes / even / I / over / react.

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

Okay.

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

[OMER FAST] So "CNN Concatenated" is an 18-minute-long monologue, in a sense,

that's composed from thousands of very small clips

recorded on the Cable News Network.

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

If / we're / going / to be / in / this / relationship

for / some / time,

we / may / as / well / begin / working / on
/ this / together / now.

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

It's / not / enough / to / turn / me / on
/ once / in / a / while.

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

It's / not / enough / for / you / to / turn
/ to / me

every / time / you / need / something.

[MAN TAKES A BREATH]

[FAST] I started the piece earlier than 2001

and began collecting material not really knowing

what I was going to do with it,

and began to form very primitive sentences

with these little words that I was collecting.

...statistics / and / their / partisan / priorities,

between / the / Middle / East / and / the
/ Far / West,

between / the / Mid / West / and / the / Far
/ East,

between / the / coasts / and / the / swing
/ states,

between / the / standards / of / reporting
/ and / the

measures / of / the / demographic / tastes

between / the / spy / plane / and / the / space
/ station,

civilians / on / submarines / and / billionaires
/ in / orbiting / vacations...

[FAST] And then I moved to Germany on September 1st, 2001,

and, while sitting in German classes learning a language--

and writing downs words and reciting them--

I heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center,

and realized that the piece, in a sense,

would have to change.

I kept ordering VHS cassettes from CNN

of the aftermath.

And through that footage,

the challenge was to articulate a voice--

to try to locate a voice-

that sort of responds to all that,

or rather speaks through it at the same time.

[MAN TAKES A BREATH]

Where / do / our / respons- / -ibilities / begin?

[MAN TAKES A BREATH]

Where / do / our / needs / end?

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

What / have / we / done / to / deserve / this?

[MAN TAKES SILENT PAUSE]

What / could / we / have / done / to / prevent
/ it / from / happening?

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

What / can / we / learn?

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

Where / do / we / go / from / here?

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

What / do / we / know?

[MAN TAKES A BREATH]

How / have / we / changed?

[MAN TAKES A BREATH]

What / should / we / have / done / different
/ -ly?

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

Who / can / we / trust?

[FAST] But if the work succeeds,

it's when you pass that point--

you begin to almost close your eyes,

with all the clutter

and with all the noise that it makes

and begin to listen to that voice

that's speaking through the footage.

That voice, it's a pretty scared voice.

It's pretty urgent,

demanding, aggressive, scared voice.

I / don't / know / what / to / say.

[WOMAN TAKES SILENT PAUSE]

[FAST] That voice is, I suppose, in a way,

that kind of...

those sort of agents or their doppelganger

that are used for me.

[WOMAN TAKES A BREATH]

Every / time / I / try / to / speak / carefully,

I / fuck / up / and / make / a / big / mess
/ of / it / all.

[WOMAN TAKES SILENT PAUSE]