[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.60,0:00:46.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[energetic electronic music]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.00,0:00:55.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Barbara Kasten: I think being an artist was\Na determination I made just because I like
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.72,0:00:57.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,making things.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.74,0:00:59.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,♪ ♪
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.97,0:01:10.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was really this need to express myself,\Nto make a mark that was my own.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.56,0:01:13.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I never consciously did that.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.59,0:01:16.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It just seemed to be part of my DNA.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.98,0:01:19.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I just kept going and going and going.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.57,0:01:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if you want to be who you are, you just\Nhave to believe in what's inside of you.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.39,0:01:32.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My father was a policeman in Chicago.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.55,0:01:35.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother was a sales clerk.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.59,0:01:39.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had a really great childhood.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.14,0:01:43.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was in a Catholic parochial grammar school.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.27,0:01:49.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And one of the nuns, who was a painter herself,\Nsaw some talent in what I was doing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.62,0:01:55.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think her ultimate goal was to make me another\Nnun, but... [chuckles] that was probably part
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.80,0:01:57.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the plan.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.21,0:02:05.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But she encouraged me to paint and gave me\Nsome lessons herself and also took me to the
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.37,0:02:08.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Art Institute in Chicago.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.17,0:02:14.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so from that time on, I\Nthought of myself as being an artist.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.81,0:02:23.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't get interested in photography until\NI was enrolled at the California College of
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.11,0:02:30.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Arts and Crafts in grad school, and experimented\Nthere with some photographic techniques but
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.27,0:02:31.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on textiles.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.27,0:02:34.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They were like photo silk-screening.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.97,0:02:41.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I played around with photography but never\Nresulting in a photograph, always resulting
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.72,0:02:43.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in an object.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.53,0:02:53.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I never think of photography as recording\Nlife in general.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.40,0:02:59.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, photography was an experimental medium.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.79,0:03:03.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this was done in 1975.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.93,0:03:07.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is my first attempt at photography.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.66,0:03:12.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Um, and it's a basic\Nphotographic process.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.18,0:03:14.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's called cyanotype.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.14,0:03:17.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I've used this process over and over again.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.06,0:03:20.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's no camera involved.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.66,0:03:25.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When it's exposed and when it's washed, it\Nturns blue.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.95,0:03:33.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is material placed directly onto paper\Nand then exposed to light.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.16,0:03:43.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The material which looks like very filmy netting\Nis actually industrial window screening.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.98,0:03:51.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there was a lot of material experimentation\Nand a lot of mix of media between painting
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.55,0:03:55.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and drawing and photographic techniques.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.32,0:04:05.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not until several years later did I pick up\Na camera.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.93,0:04:09.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The camera records something.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.26,0:04:11.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has to have an object.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.07,0:04:23.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Um, and yet my direction is to question the reality\Nof that object, to make that object appear
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.03,0:04:24.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,elusive.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.56,0:04:27.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that happens with the use of light.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.47,0:04:36.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A lot of my work is based on the idea of translating\N3-D into 2-D.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.19,0:04:40.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I haven't used digital manipulation.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.84,0:04:43.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's no changing of the image.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.95,0:04:46.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's no moving of forms.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.84,0:04:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's no reverse coloring.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.38,0:04:54.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What you see in the back of the camera is\Nwhat's recorded on the film.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.28,0:04:58.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that is the image that I\Nproduce.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.87,0:05:08.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The physicality of the transparent sheet of\NPlexiglas has no representational value.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.02,0:05:10.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's just something you look through.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.94,0:05:12.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's transparent.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.74,0:05:19.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Um, but when you hit it with\Nlight, the physicality of it is manifest.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.24,0:05:21.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so you see the shadows.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.39,0:05:26.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I select a position for the camera.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.66,0:05:30.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then I usually leave the camera in that\Nposition.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.35,0:05:37.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I put together the pieces and find a point\Nat which they stand on their own so that there's
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.32,0:05:42.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a little bit of tension there but enough that\Nthey will stand.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.71,0:05:48.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if it's one fraction of an\Ninch one way or another, the whole thing will collapse,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.40,0:05:51.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which it has done on me many times, actually.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.48,0:05:53.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I start all over again.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.78,0:06:02.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's a constant process of being in the\Nset, moving the lights, going behind the camera,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.42,0:06:04.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,looking at the image that's resulting.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.75,0:06:07.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, that could take hours, actually.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.35,0:06:16.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when I get to a point where I think it's\Nlooking pretty interesting, then I'll make
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.20,0:06:19.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an exposure on a piece of film.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.90,0:06:29.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[light electronic music]
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.79,0:06:36.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I always think of myself as actually photographing\Nthe shadows, not the light.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.22,0:06:43.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,♪ ♪
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.51,0:07:17.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[indistinct chatter]
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.06,0:07:23.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think the fact that I was experimenting\Nin photography--and I'd been doing it for
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.07,0:07:31.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so many years--against the mainstream of what\Nphotography has been about, has really appealed
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.38,0:07:38.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a lot of young women and men who are working\Nin the same manner.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.86,0:07:55.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Alex Klein] We are having a Barbara moment now.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.63,0:07:58.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think Barbara is something of an artist's\Nartist.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.54,0:08:04.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For a younger generation of artists working\Ntoday, I think that they've found a model
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.06,0:08:09.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Barbara, someone who's really working at\Nthe intersection of sculpture, photography,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.28,0:08:10.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,performance.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.67,0:08:13.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, um, they've also found a\Nnew peer.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.27,0:08:18.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[energetic music]
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.24,0:08:26.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Sheree Hovsepian] Really, she was the \Nfirst one that had me
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.70,0:08:33.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thinking about what a photograph could actually\Nbe, how it could push the boundaries between
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.21,0:08:37.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sculpture and space, and that it doesn't have\Nto necessarily
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.27,0:08:38.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,talk about a scene out of the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.76,0:08:40.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It could be something constructed.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.43,0:08:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that was really influential to my own\Npractice.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.59,0:08:53.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Barbara Kasten] I like the idea of questioning.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.84,0:08:57.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it relates to everything we do in\Nlife, actually.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.87,0:09:05.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We should be able to look at what's happening\Naround us and find other ways of looking at
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.41,0:09:09.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it and find other means of interpretation.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.98,0:09:18.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think the broadening part of the work is,\Nlike, for instance, now getting into video
Dialogue: 0,0:09:18.78,0:09:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and doing video installations.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.00,0:09:26.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's still the same vision, but it's translated\Nin a different way.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.51,0:09:29.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[synth music]
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.36,0:09:35.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Video actually was probably-uh,\Nresulted from the dance collaboration
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.38,0:09:38.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I did with Margaret Jenkins Dance Company.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.48,0:09:41.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I designed the set.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.93,0:09:43.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I designed the costumes.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.92,0:09:50.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the--the elements of the set were all\Nvery moveable, so the figure, the form was
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.34,0:09:54.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,moving these props around within space.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:54.66,0:09:59.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's what I can do now with the video.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.00,0:10:09.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the moment, I'm working with corners, um, and\Nactivating a very basic architectural element.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:09.94,0:10:13.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Kate Bowen] So now I can rotate through\Neach of these colors.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.42,0:10:16.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Um, and then I can bring that\Nback down.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.65,0:10:20.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Barbara Kasten] OK. Yeah, do each color, um, and rotate them.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.35,0:10:20.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— OK.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.60,0:10:27.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In my work, I try to find that \Nuniqueness of
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.94,0:10:31.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what's in the world and highlight it with\Nlight.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.23,0:10:36.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you turn on the projector, the light\Npenetrates the atmosphere, and, suddenly,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.50,0:10:38.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's dust, there's particles.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.23,0:10:42.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are things that live there that we don't\Nsee until the light hits it.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.31,0:10:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the kind of discovery I like making.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.00,0:10:49.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— This is as well as lined up with the \Ncorner as you can get it, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.65,0:10:52.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— I think so. I think if we get\Nit any closer, we're...
Dialogue: 0,0:10:52.78,0:10:57.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Barbara Kasten] As I continue to make \Nthe videos now, I'm adding
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.20,0:11:00.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,3-dimensional forms within the video.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.85,0:11:05.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So they're very much sculpture as well as\Nvideo.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.19,0:11:14.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[pulsing music]
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.61,0:11:26.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I grew up in Bridgeport, which is like 10\Nminutes away from downtown Chicago.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.30,0:11:29.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've always loved living in the city.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.67,0:11:35.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Chicago is a city of architecture, so it had\Nan influence on me.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:35.65,0:11:44.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think there's an identity with the urban\Nlandscape of skyscrapers to the kind of work
Dialogue: 0,0:11:44.02,0:11:49.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I do because, first of all, most of my\Nimages are vertical.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.13,0:11:55.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the geometry adds up to looking very architectural.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.20,0:11:58.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,♪ ♪
Dialogue: 0,0:11:58.43,0:12:00.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[indistinct chatter]
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.49,0:12:03.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,— It is such a pleasure to\Nwelcome you all here
Dialogue: 0,0:12:03.82,0:12:07.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the opening of \N"Barbara Kasten: Stages."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.33,0:12:08.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[indistinct chatter]
Dialogue: 0,0:12:08.70,0:12:13.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Barbara Kasten] It's amazing to see this kind of response\Nat this point in time.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.13,0:12:17.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm happy that there's inspiration in\Nwhat I do.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:17.31,0:12:23.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I think it's really the fact that I have\Nlasted this long, that I'm determined to be
Dialogue: 0,0:12:23.92,0:12:27.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an artist and just kept working at it and\Nworking at it.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.22,0:12:29.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's what my life has been about.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:30.90,0:12:36.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The most important part I keep going back\Nto is that it is the process.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:36.19,0:12:42.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is the actual living and doing and making\Nthat is the rewarding part.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:42.06,0:12:45.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, it's a, uh, pleasure.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.39,0:12:49.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's, um, frustrating. It's\Nfabulous.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.71,0:12:51.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's horrible.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:51.20,0:12:55.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's all of those emotions all wrapped into\None.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:55.59,0:12:57.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I couldn't do anything else.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:57.86,0:12:59.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[camera clicks]
Dialogue: 0,0:13:02.78,0:13:06.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[soft electronic music]