[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.94,0:00:11.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lari Pittman:\NI think as chaotic as American culture is—
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.82,0:00:17.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sadly, ironically, or even perversely—\NI thrive on that.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.36,0:00:21.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m able to carve out\Na tremendous amount of freedom
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.28,0:00:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even more particularly in Los Angeles.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.36,0:00:34.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can control this idea of aesthetics and beauty—
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.72,0:00:40.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,micromanage it more here\Nthan I could in cultural situations
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.96,0:00:46.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where there is such a strong,\Nestablished code of aesthetics—
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.08,0:00:49.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it’s still the wild west on some levels,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.88,0:00:54.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you can still paint \Nit any which way you want.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.92,0:01:02.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to offer a painting that\Nsomehow the viewer has to stand in front of it
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.68,0:01:07.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and almost not believe it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.60,0:01:12.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in the act of not believing it,\Nwhat they’re actually seeing,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.20,0:01:13.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they get swept away in it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.58,0:01:17.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everything about it is fake and artificial,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.96,0:01:20.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they get transported somewhere far away.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.16,0:01:22.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That’s a great thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.72,0:01:30.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The work is visually available to everybody.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.04,0:01:33.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Multiple viewers can approach it very differently.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.76,0:01:40.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, I’m always excited when\Nthe UPS man or the water man comes in,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.76,0:01:44.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the front of the studio, and makes a delivery—
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.16,0:01:48.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they immediately just respond \Nto the work and thumbs up,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.80,0:01:50.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that type of thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.12,0:01:52.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I will not high five though.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.56,0:01:59.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I’m also interested that \Nthe work occupy a denser,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.52,0:02:04.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,critical territory that would \Nrequire a different type of audience,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.04,0:02:06.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,maybe a different type of visual literacy.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.52,0:02:13.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The work is not confined to one demographic.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.36,0:02:17.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The work has the capacity to \Nnavigate between these very,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.16,0:02:21.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very distant polls of the \Npopulist and the elitist.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.68,0:02:37.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s a very, very strong \NMediterranean core to who I am.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.84,0:02:40.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And quite frankly I need a lot of sun.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.76,0:02:49.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was born in Glendale, California,\Nbut my formative years were in Colombia.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.08,0:02:51.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother is Colombian.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.08,0:02:55.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My father is southern,\Nfrom the United States,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.56,0:02:57.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from a Protestant background.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.48,0:03:02.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I grew up in a very...not \Na contradictory world,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.44,0:03:04.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but a hybrid world.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.72,0:03:12.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had a pet chicken named Jaime,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.52,0:03:18.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I remember my aunt \NLigia bought for me at Sears
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.04,0:03:20.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when we were living in Colombia.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.52,0:03:27.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then we moved to my mother’s \Nfamily town near the equator.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.24,0:03:29.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was not going to leave Jaime behind.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.32,0:03:36.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My father asked the captain or the pilot \Nif I could bring the chicken on my lap
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.60,0:03:39.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that was fine,\Nit was all cleared.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.64,0:03:43.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My grandmother was with us \Nliving for a while in Cali
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.48,0:03:47.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I requested that we make \Na traveling outfit for Jaime,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.32,0:03:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we made a vest.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.52,0:03:53.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was just very proud and I was never made fun of.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.44,0:03:58.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was just that kind of \Nidea of totally normative.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.08,0:04:02.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so my father was with me\Nand I was allowed to have my chicken,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.96,0:04:04.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fully dressed for travel on my lap.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.32,0:04:09.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that that kind of pre-condition of
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.96,0:04:17.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,allowing me to express a fey side,\NI guess, as a young boy,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.96,0:04:23.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was given full reign and never, ever commented on,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.36,0:04:27.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think that that’s why the \Ndecorative aspect of the work
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.36,0:04:32.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comes systemically, organically,\Nnaturally to me because
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.32,0:04:40.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was really allowed to bloom and blossom\Nand wasn’t curtailed or curbed when I was a child.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.76,0:05:06.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m grateful for having a charmed life\Nand a certain amount of privilege
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.40,0:05:09.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m very excited and thankful for.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.32,0:05:15.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But even within that framework of\Nliving somewhat in a bubble,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.44,0:05:27.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think what keeps me radicalized is\Nbeing aware of the overwhelming hatred
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.96,0:05:32.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is exhibited by the American population
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.72,0:05:36.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and through actual legislation \Nagainst homosexuals.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.64,0:05:43.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can lead quite a pretty life (LAUGHS),
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.64,0:05:54.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it’s always quickly clarified by those\Nvery aggressive strains in American culture which,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.36,0:05:57.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a way, wonderfully puts me in my place.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.72,0:06:06.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I will not leave painting.\NI won’t leave it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.36,0:06:07.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I won’t leave it down.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.44,0:06:17.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it comes from a deep cultural pathology\Nthat maybe homosexuals might have.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.56,0:06:26.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is, you fix something up—\Nthat kind of service component of one’s kind,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.20,0:06:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of looking at things and fixing them up.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.00,0:06:33.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That’s kind of how I looked at\Npainting in the ‘70s,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.44,0:06:36.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it was a completely\Nabandoned thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.68,0:06:40.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I was kind of thrilled that it was abandoned.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.16,0:06:43.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I maybe had a chance to fix it up.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.88,0:06:52.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The impetus for this painting\Nreally comes from Mexican retablo
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.64,0:06:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is a devotional painting on tin
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.72,0:07:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think it dates roughly \Nfrom mid to late 19th Century.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.28,0:07:05.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m an avid collector of these anonymous painters—
Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.32,0:07:09.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of these retablos that were \Nused as devotional imagery.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.08,0:07:13.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m attracted to them ironically as an atheist.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.24,0:07:14.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m attracted to religious art
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.96,0:07:19.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,simply because it usually \Nshows a hyperbolic moment
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.52,0:07:23.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like the suffering or martyrdom of the saint—
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.12,0:07:29.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or, in this case, a very dramatic moment\Nin the life of Christ.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.96,0:07:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I do look at this religious image\Nthrough a secular lens.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.48,0:07:37.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, actually,\Nthis little painting was able to
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.84,0:07:42.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,give me the cues for the color \Npalette in the painting itself.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.60,0:07:47.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although now I need to have a more \Ndestabilizing color introduced in it.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.16,0:07:53.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’ve always taken from the retablos,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.76,0:07:57.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it’s more about a type of painting technique—
Dialogue: 0,0:07:57.72,0:08:01.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a kind of decorative, applied arts technique
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.52,0:08:04.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by which they embellish the \Nsurface of the retablos.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.92,0:08:08.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that I’ve been doing for over twenty years.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.04,0:08:12.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But this was the first time I sampled so directly.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.08,0:08:14.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it was because it was about figuration.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.76,0:08:27.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every morning, I have a walk about,\Nlooking at all the cactuses that we’ve planted.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.12,0:08:29.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Really studying them.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.16,0:08:35.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the first time that instead of inventing\Nor fabricating a painting,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.76,0:08:38.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I’m actually referring to\Nsomething very specifically
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.84,0:08:41.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I’ve been looking at every morning.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.40,0:08:45.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What I think still has to happen\Nin a painting like this is that
Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.96,0:08:50.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we’re seeing the setting and \Nwe’re seeing a list of nouns.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.20,0:08:52.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there are a list of adjectives.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.16,0:08:55.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the nouns are all being modified.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.76,0:09:01.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, linguistically, what isn’t happening \Nin this painting is the verb yet.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.64,0:09:03.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In all of the paintings—
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.80,0:09:09.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and especially in the ones that I showed\Nin New York at the end of last year—
Dialogue: 0,0:09:09.48,0:09:15.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it really is a form of poltergeist or \Nanimism that’s inhabiting the scene.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.44,0:09:16.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The tableau.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.96,0:09:21.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Clearly, something is occurring \Nin this area of the painting.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.36,0:09:26.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some sort of shift of identity of a space,\Nbut we can’t name it.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.12,0:09:29.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, then, a way for me to \Nsomewhat sublimate it back down
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.52,0:09:32.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and for it not to seem too spectacular,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.32,0:09:39.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’ve placed a spider web over it to somewhat...\Nlike a net, to somehow corral the effect a bit.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:39.08,0:09:43.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s a central part of the painting,\Nbut again it’s still not enough
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.04,0:09:45.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for it to be the verb of the painting.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:45.20,0:09:51.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And somehow I think the verb of the \Npainting has to occur somewhere in here,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.08,0:09:56.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,somehow to activate the branches of the cactus
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.20,0:09:59.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even at the expense of it being \Na little bit more allegorical.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.40,0:10:01.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That I wouldn’t mind.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.20,0:10:19.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m not resisting the invasion of\Nthat aspect of my private life,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:19.76,0:10:25.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is the garden really clearly\Nfinding its place in the work.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.20,0:10:30.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don’t respond to the idea of nature at large.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.48,0:10:32.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I prefer landscaping.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:32.60,0:10:37.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And landscaping as a way to\Npush back a little bit the chaos of nature,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:37.76,0:10:40.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the kind of violence of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:41.08,0:10:46.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it’s imposing a type of \Nrational gardening structure
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.44,0:10:50.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over these cactus and succulents.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.40,0:11:01.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We’re not as keen on a type of naturalism\Nso the garden has a very decided mannerism to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.88,0:11:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The cactus are the surrogate structure.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.00,0:11:10.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the garden is one elaborate metaphor.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:12.56,0:11:17.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the things that gardening \Ninduces in the gardener,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:17.24,0:11:21.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for good or for bad,\Nis a rumination on mortality.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.72,0:11:25.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because you have a concentrated and
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.40,0:11:30.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very compressed relationship to \Nthe life and death of plants.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:32.88,0:11:37.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You think about that a little bit more\Nthan if you didn’t garden.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:37.08,0:11:42.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It becomes a heightened \Nsynopsized life and death cycle
Dialogue: 0,0:11:42.48,0:11:44.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over and over and over again.