0:00:09.797,0:00:11.800
Carrie Mae Weems: You know, it's like–[br]I open up this box;

0:00:11.800,0:00:13.480
it’s like opening up[br]a can of worms.

0:00:13.480,0:00:14.258
You know what I mean?

0:00:14.258,0:00:18.446
It’s just like the most amazing–[br]it was the most amazing project.

0:00:19.280,0:00:20.920
There were a group[br]of photographs

0:00:20.920,0:00:23.040
that I knew that I[br]absolutely had to use.

0:00:23.040,0:00:26.720
I had been thinking about them[br]for years and years and years.

0:00:26.720,0:00:29.560
I had lectured on them in[br]any number of contexts

0:00:29.560,0:00:32.386
in my classrooms[br]for a really long time.

0:00:33.220,0:00:34.280
And there were a[br]group of them that

0:00:34.280,0:00:36.720
came out of the[br]Harvard archives.

0:00:36.720,0:00:39.840
This was one of them,[br]a very early daguerreotype

0:00:39.840,0:00:42.680
that had been done in[br]North Carolina,

0:00:42.680,0:00:46.000
South Carolina,[br]of a family of slaves.

0:00:46.000,0:00:49.120
But it was the kind of project[br]that allowed me to think again

0:00:49.120,0:00:54.040
about the history of black[br]subjects in photography as well,

0:00:54.040,0:00:57.320
how the black body had been[br]used photographically.

0:00:57.320,0:01:01.815
The final pieces are with texts,[br]and the text is etched into glass.

0:01:02.120,0:01:05.080
They look very different once[br]they're behind glass

0:01:05.080,0:01:08.680
because the glass and the text[br]becomes really, really important

0:01:08.680,0:01:13.493
to how the audience is being[br]asked to engage with the photographs.

0:01:15.120,0:01:17.360
And so there were these[br]beginning images that seemed

0:01:17.360,0:01:22.680
to me to really crystallize and[br]compress in four images

0:01:22.680,0:01:26.995
the history of African-Americans[br]in the history of photography.

0:01:28.480,0:01:32.050
There are 30 photographs[br]within the series.

0:01:33.840,0:01:37.280
All of the photographs for[br]the Getty series are–

0:01:38.200,0:01:43.160
are appropriated images[br]from other historical sources.

0:01:43.160,0:01:46.560
Harvard threatened to sue me[br]for the use of the first photographs

0:01:46.560,0:01:48.000
that I showed you.

0:01:48.840,0:01:52.200
So I thought,[br]Harvard is going to sue me

0:01:52.200,0:01:57.640
for using these images of[br]black people in their collection,

0:01:57.640,0:02:00.540
the richest university[br]in the world.

0:02:01.734,0:02:04.000
I think that I don't have[br]really a legal case,

0:02:04.000,0:02:07.440
but maybe I have a[br]moral case that could be made

0:02:07.440,0:02:12.080
that might be really useful[br]to carry out in public.

0:02:12.080,0:02:16.840
And so after worrying about it[br]and thinking about it,

0:02:16.840,0:02:18.000
I called them up,[br]and I said,

0:02:18.000,0:02:20.907
"I think actually your suing me[br]would be a really good thing.

0:02:21.721,0:02:25.360
You should, and we should have[br]this conversation in court.

0:02:25.360,0:02:27.920
I think it would be[br]really instructive for

0:02:27.920,0:02:31.120
any number of reasons[br]and certainly for artists

0:02:31.120,0:02:33.920
that are really engaged in the[br]act of appropriation

0:02:33.920,0:02:36.772
who think that there[br]is a larger story to tell."

0:02:37.280,0:02:42.321
Harvard then finally thought,[br]"No, I guess we won't sue her.”

0:02:43.480,0:02:46.440
And then they asked me to,[br]every time a sell was made,

0:02:46.440,0:02:49.327
that I would have to pay them[br]for the use of the photographs.

0:02:51.280,0:02:55.061
And then they bought the[br]photographs for their collection.

0:03:00.360,0:03:02.200
So it was like,[br]"Okay, well, you bought 'em.

0:03:02.200,0:03:04.720
Do I have to pay you?[br]Do I have to pay you too?"

0:03:04.720,0:03:07.463
I mean– I mean,[br]I’m a little confused.

0:03:14.480,0:03:19.240
I come from this big,[br]wonderful, crazy family of,

0:03:19.240,0:03:21.600
I don't know,[br]300 or so of us.

0:03:21.600,0:03:25.680
So I started thinking about this[br]relationship of me to my family

0:03:25.680,0:03:27.719
and how to sort of[br]tease that out.

0:03:28.838,0:03:30.880
It was important for me[br]because I really needed

0:03:30.880,0:03:32.920
to understand something[br]about the nature of

0:03:32.920,0:03:35.320
my own being and[br]my own voice and

0:03:35.320,0:03:37.018
really where I come from.

0:03:38.360,0:03:41.520
My father was a really great,[br]great, great storyteller, and,

0:03:41.520,0:03:44.203
you know, narrative and[br]storytelling was in the blood.

0:03:45.240,0:03:48.120
I just came from[br]a family reunion.

0:03:48.120,0:03:53.200
My aunt Nellie, who's sort of[br]the chronicler of our family,

0:03:53.200,0:03:55.960
put together this really[br]beautiful scrapbook.

0:03:55.960,0:03:57.200
And I love this photograph.

0:03:57.200,0:03:58.533
I grew up with this picture.

0:03:59.143,0:04:02.708
This is sort of like the anchor,[br]the bedrock of my family.

0:04:03.318,0:04:07.040
This is my beautiful mother[br]and all of her sisters,

0:04:07.040,0:04:09.018
and I’m crazy about them all.

0:04:11.520,0:04:14.600
This is a photograph[br]of my grandfather.

0:04:14.600,0:04:17.360
My grandfather was Jewish[br]and Native American,

0:04:17.360,0:04:19.960
and he married my grandmother[br]who was this–

0:04:19.960,0:04:24.103
you know, this black woman,[br]and they had 11 children together.

0:04:25.140,0:04:27.320
Papa was this sort of[br]amazing guy,

0:04:27.320,0:04:30.560
who, because he basically[br]passed for white,

0:04:30.560,0:04:34.760
was able to employ his[br]entire family in Portland, Oregon.

0:04:34.760,0:04:38.680
And there were times when[br]he would take Osie, my grandmother,

0:04:38.680,0:04:42.280
with him for a job,[br]and they would fire him

0:04:42.280,0:04:45.320
because they realized that[br]he was married to a black woman.

0:04:45.320,0:04:50.120
Or sometimes when my grandfather[br]had all of the kids in the car,

0:04:50.120,0:04:52.160
white people would[br]pass by and say,

0:04:52.160,0:04:54.186
"What are you doing with[br]all them niggers in your car?"

0:04:55.040,0:04:57.080
They were just sort of[br]extraordinary people,

0:04:57.080,0:05:00.067
and what they put in motion[br]is still there.

0:05:00.240,0:05:04.774
And my mother and her sisters have[br]carried on that amazing tradition.

0:05:06.320,0:05:08.891
I moved away from home[br]when I was 16.

0:05:09.440,0:05:11.160
I went to my father and said,

0:05:11.160,0:05:13.857
"Dad, I think I’m ready to[br]move out on my own.”

0:05:14.040,0:05:16.960
He said, "you think that you could,[br]like, move out and pay your rent

0:05:16.960,0:05:19.840
and buy your food[br]and all that by yourself

0:05:19.840,0:05:23.320
and not come back home,[br]like, every other day for food

0:05:23.320,0:05:26.294
or rent or a safe haven?"

0:05:26.680,0:05:28.765
and I said, "Yeah, I think I can do that."

0:05:29.680,0:05:33.600
And he said, "Well, if you think you[br]can do that, then go do that.

0:05:33.600,0:05:36.040
If you think that you need to[br]come back home after you've tried it,

0:05:36.040,0:05:38.520
you are always, of course,[br]welcome to come back home,

0:05:38.520,0:05:41.520
but if you think you can[br]take care of yourself,

0:05:41.520,0:05:43.480
then go take care of yourself."

0:05:43.480,0:05:46.332
And I left home, and[br]I haven’t been back since.

0:05:49.139,0:05:52.520
And so I went to San Francisco[br]with my girlfriend.

0:05:52.520,0:05:55.240
I had been interested in dance[br]and theater to a certain extent.

0:05:55.240,0:05:58.880
I mean, I just knew how to[br]dance really well.

0:05:58.880,0:06:02.967
And I started dancing with[br]the famous and extraordinary Ann Halprin.

0:06:03.720,0:06:07.760
Ann was already really[br]interested in ideas about peace

0:06:07.760,0:06:13.675
and using dance as a way[br]to bridge different cultures together.

0:06:15.160,0:06:18.400
I didn't know what one[br]could really do with dance.

0:06:18.400,0:06:21.760
I knew that it was really the[br]visual arts that somehow

0:06:21.760,0:06:23.835
would be more my calling.

0:06:24.120,0:06:26.880
And then I had a boyfriend[br]who was a photographer,

0:06:26.880,0:06:30.600
and he would film all of our parties[br]and happenings and rallies

0:06:30.600,0:06:31.840
and demonstrations.

0:06:31.840,0:06:35.120
We were all radicals,[br]living in San Francisco.

0:06:35.120,0:06:37.901
And he introduced me to photography.

0:06:45.960,0:06:52.715
I was daydreaming about[br]the Birmingham Riots in the 1960s.

0:06:54.281,0:06:56.160
And the image started moving.

0:06:56.160,0:06:59.680
I was thinking about one particular[br]photograph made by Charles Moore,

0:06:59.680,0:07:01.040
a photograph that I love,

0:07:01.040,0:07:03.900
and Charles Moore didn’t really want[br]me to use his photograph.

0:07:04.531,0:07:05.320
And so I thought,

0:07:05.320,0:07:08.892
"Okay, then I’m gonna bring[br]that photograph to life.

0:07:09.360,0:07:11.012
I’ll construct that moment."

0:07:11.520,0:07:15.400
And so I went to Birmingham,[br]and I pulled out some students,

0:07:15.400,0:07:17.614
and we did a whole series of actions,

0:07:17.614,0:07:22.880
and out of that came this idea[br]to do an entire series of

0:07:22.880,0:07:27.618
re-creations around the idea of 1968.

0:07:28.899,0:07:32.160
I realized that we were[br]at this incredible moment,

0:07:32.160,0:07:34.120
that 40 years had elapsed,

0:07:34.120,0:07:37.160
that Martin Luther King had[br]died 40 years ago,

0:07:37.160,0:07:39.800
and that it would be important to[br]look at some things that happened

0:07:39.800,0:07:42.120
just before that and[br]just after that

0:07:42.120,0:07:44.720
so that you would have to[br]look at the assassination of Martin.

0:07:44.720,0:07:47.200
You would have to look at the[br]assassination of Malcolm.

0:07:47.200,0:07:50.120
You would have to look at the[br]assassination of Medgar Evers,

0:07:50.120,0:07:52.385
of Robert F. Kennedy,[br]John F. Kennedy,

0:07:53.280,0:07:57.712
this idea of how then we[br]arrived at this incredible moment.

0:07:58.200,0:08:02.480
And then I realized that Barack Obama,[br]of course, was running for

0:08:02.480,0:08:04.640
the presidency of the United States.

0:08:04.640,0:08:10.520
This incredible, tumultuous,[br]brutal history is absolutely what

0:08:10.520,0:08:14.960
makes him possible,[br]that he could not be in that position

0:08:14.960,0:08:18.160
without the death of[br]all those people,

0:08:18.160,0:08:21.600
and so that he is literally[br]standing on the ashes

0:08:21.600,0:08:26.720
and the spirit of all those[br]things that have come before.

0:08:26.720,0:08:29.480
And I just thought if[br]I didn’t look at those things now,

0:08:29.480,0:08:33.000
if I didn't look at all of[br]that kind of trauma

0:08:33.000,0:08:34.440
and the mourning,[br]you know,

0:08:34.440,0:08:40.640
and the sadness of the history[br]of the last 40 years, then,

0:08:40.640,0:08:43.496
you know, I really wasn't[br]worth my salt.

0:08:44.920,0:08:46.957
I don't know if this work[br]will be important,

0:08:48.320,0:08:50.240
but I know that it's[br]important for me,

0:08:50.240,0:08:52.720
that it was important for me[br]to look at this history,

0:08:52.720,0:08:57.720
to really think about where[br]we are now, contemporarily.

0:08:57.720,0:09:02.040
And it was important for me[br]to consider deeply in my heart

0:09:02.040,0:09:05.200
how we had arrived[br]at this moment.

0:09:05.200,0:09:09.000
And so then the idea that[br]I would ask a number of students

0:09:09.000,0:09:12.360
to assume the roles for themselves

0:09:12.360,0:09:15.666
and thereby come to[br]know something about that history–

0:09:16.480,0:09:20.866
all those things were really[br]very important for me to make.

0:09:21.944,0:09:23.240
Student Gyun Hur:[br]This is the assassination

0:09:23.240,0:09:24.840
of Robert Kennedy.

0:09:24.840,0:09:28.160
I think it's, I believe, like 1968.

0:09:28.160,0:09:33.960
I acted in a part of being a busboy,[br]and I think his name is Juan Romero.

0:09:33.960,0:09:35.480
At that time,[br]when he got shot,

0:09:35.480,0:09:38.240
the busboy,[br]who met him previously,

0:09:38.240,0:09:41.000
he ran up to him and[br]asked if he was okay

0:09:41.000,0:09:45.212
and gave him a rosary,[br]so that was the part that I reenacted.

0:09:45.720,0:09:47.200
As an immigrant daughter,

0:09:47.200,0:09:49.640
as somebody who never[br]experienced it before–

0:09:49.640,0:09:52.440
my parents don't know[br]really much about this whole thing,

0:09:52.440,0:09:55.880
and so for me to just come[br]into that place of understanding

0:09:55.880,0:09:59.080
what exactly happened,[br]I think that was the hardest.

0:09:59.507,0:10:00.440
Student Ashley Vieira:[br]This is Kent State,

0:10:00.440,0:10:02.520
and I’m the girl in the photograph.

0:10:02.520,0:10:06.080
It was an extremely emotional situation.

0:10:06.080,0:10:08.960
Carrie has this ability to[br]evoke emotion in people,

0:10:08.960,0:10:11.760
just from her voice,[br]and it was so soothing.

0:10:11.760,0:10:14.200
But when I got up there,[br]at first I was really nervous,

0:10:14.200,0:10:17.080
and I wasn't sure how[br]I should become sad

0:10:17.080,0:10:19.000
and become in that moment.

0:10:19.000,0:10:23.200
And then once she started talking to me,[br]just all these emotions fled,

0:10:23.200,0:10:26.253
and I–[br]and I cried really hard.

0:10:26.863,0:10:28.080
Gallery Viewer 1:[br]Veronica, the one with

0:10:28.080,0:10:30.263
the Kent State, I remember that.

0:10:30.263,0:10:30.743
Gallery viewer 2:[br]Oh, do you?

0:10:30.743,0:10:31.309
Gallery Viewer 1:[br]You know–

0:10:31.309,0:10:32.168
yeah, I remember that.

0:10:32.168,0:10:35.720
I remember that actual photograph.

0:10:35.720,0:10:38.320
I mean, I remember[br]watching it on television, you know.

0:10:38.320,0:10:40.160
Yeah, some of these are just–[br]I mean, just–

0:10:40.160,0:10:43.543
so these things have another[br]kind of pitch to it, you know?

0:10:43.543,0:10:44.160
Carrie Mae Weems:[br]What came out of

0:10:44.160,0:10:46.200
these photographs,[br]which is, you know,

0:10:46.200,0:10:47.600
what I really, really love,

0:10:47.600,0:10:52.760
is indeed another way of working,[br]this idea of constructing history.

0:10:52.760,0:10:56.240
Not only did I want the students[br]to be doing all the research and

0:10:56.240,0:10:59.880
studying the reenactment:[br]when did the students at Kent State die?

0:10:59.880,0:11:01.280
Who was there?[br]What was her name?

0:11:01.280,0:11:02.880
Who were the other students[br]that were killed?

0:11:02.880,0:11:05.480
They had to do all that work,[br]but then I thought,

0:11:05.480,0:11:08.820
let’s construct them in a[br]very sort of high, artificial way,

0:11:08.820,0:11:12.480
and let’s put everybody on a podium,[br]let’s put everything in there,

0:11:12.480,0:11:14.840
and then let's show all the tracks.

0:11:14.840,0:11:17.400
Let’s show all the lights.[br]Let’s just show everything.

0:11:17.400,0:11:21.401
Let’s just sort of show that all of[br]the stuff is being constructed.

0:11:23.984,0:11:26.040
Film voice over:[br]In this constructed place,

0:11:26.040,0:11:27.840
our classroom.

0:11:27.840,0:11:29.774
We revisit the past.

0:11:30.080,0:11:33.440
The students examine the facts[br]and will participate

0:11:33.440,0:11:35.880
in the construction of history,

0:11:35.880,0:11:39.360
a history that has been[br]told to them by others.

0:11:39.360,0:11:44.600
But now, with their own bodies,[br]they engage their own dark terrain,

0:11:44.600,0:11:46.101
their own winter.

0:11:46.732,0:11:48.560
Carrie Mae Weems:[br]The video that goes along

0:11:48.560,0:11:50.440
with these photographs begins

0:11:50.440,0:11:53.574
and ends with Hillary Clinton[br]and Barack Obama.

0:11:53.960,0:11:58.400
So then I thought,[br]"Oh...oh, oh, oh.

0:11:58.400,0:12:03.400
Well– well, that's the other–[br]that's part two, isn't it?

0:12:03.400,0:12:04.320
That’s part two.”

0:12:04.320,0:12:06.600
So that's what we're actually doing today.

0:12:06.600,0:12:08.440
-Okay, ladies, let's go.

0:12:08.440,0:12:12.240
Very much in sort of a similar style,[br]John McCain, Barack Obama,

0:12:12.240,0:12:14.000
Sarah Palin as a beauty queen.

0:12:16.680,0:12:19.520
I’ve got all these little bombshells[br]coming to sort of dress up

0:12:19.520,0:12:22.480
in high heels and fishnets,[br]and they'll all walk around.

0:12:22.480,0:12:28.240
And now I think that Obama is[br]indeed the president of the United States.

0:12:28.240,0:12:32.811
For me, it gives the work just[br]that much more credibility,

0:12:33.360,0:12:38.320
right, you know, that it has[br]actually a success at the end of it.

0:12:38.320,0:12:40.440
-Each of you in turn,[br]you’re going to, like,

0:12:40.440,0:12:46.520
come walking towards[br]the camera. Okay?

0:12:46.520,0:12:48.200
That's one of the things[br]that we’re going to do.

0:12:48.200,0:12:50.160
So we have to set for that.

0:12:50.160,0:12:52.640
You're going to start[br]walking in this direction.

0:12:52.640,0:12:53.440
We may have to--

0:12:53.440,0:12:56.160
The other day,[br]I came home from Chicago,

0:12:56.160,0:12:58.160
and I immediately plugged in[br]my tape recorder,

0:12:58.160,0:13:01.138
and I made a series of[br]phone calls to a number of people,

0:13:02.480,0:13:04.560
all kinds of people,[br]that I’ve been in touch with

0:13:04.560,0:13:07.720
over the last many, many years,[br]to ask them about

0:13:07.720,0:13:10.600
what they were thinking[br]at that moment that it seemed

0:13:10.600,0:13:13.883
that maybe Barack was[br]actually going to be president.

0:13:16.120,0:13:20.920
I spoke to people who,[br]for the first time ever, said,

0:13:20.920,0:13:24.306
"My country, my country, my country."

0:13:24.937,0:13:26.117
Time...

0:13:27.520,0:13:30.000
Because I think, really,[br]it’s sort of, like,

0:13:30.000,0:13:34.334
really claiming yourself,[br]and it's a certain confidence.

0:13:34.840,0:13:37.880
And you're all involved in theater,[br]so you're all going to be working

0:13:37.880,0:13:39.360
in front of other people.

0:13:39.360,0:13:41.040
But I think it's even bigger.

0:13:41.040,0:13:46.388
I think it's really about connecting[br]with a story that is larger than you.

0:13:47.120,0:13:50.844
It’s not about you.[br]It’s not about you.

0:13:51.841,0:13:56.160
We’re using these bodies to[br]talk about something else

0:13:56.160,0:13:58.880
that's much bigger[br]than we are. Okay?

0:13:58.880,0:14:03.480
And so find confidence in the[br]historical story that we're gonna

0:14:03.480,0:14:06.301
use your body to[br]express this story through.

0:14:10.840,0:14:14.400
In one moment,[br]there was an enormous shift

0:14:14.400,0:14:18.439
in the American imagination–[br]in one moment.

0:14:19.578,0:14:24.880
People who had never considered–[br]African-Americans who had

0:14:24.880,0:14:32.160
never considered this to be home,[br]this to be a place that represented them,

0:14:32.160,0:14:36.080
suddenly said, “my country" and[br]"my president” and

0:14:36.080,0:14:39.866
"my, my, my, my, ours."