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[Carrie Mae Weems: "Roaming"]

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I think that architecture,

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in its essence--

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much of the fabric of it--

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is very much about power.

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If we think about a place like Rome--

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where I did a residency a few years ago--

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what one is made to feel

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is the power of the state

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in relationship to the lower subject.

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To the lower subject--

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to the general populace.

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You are always aware that you are, sort of,

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a minion in relationship to this enormous edifice--

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the edifice of power.

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What is this relationship of power to you?

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And what is your relationship to power?

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And how do you contest it?

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And how do you try to make

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someone aware of it?

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So, you crawl towards the church.

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[LAUGHS]

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And so I thought, then,

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perhaps if I could use my own skin

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in a sort of series of performances.

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That I could use my own body as a way

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of leading the viewer into those spaces--

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highly aware--

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and challenging those spaces.

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Challenging them,

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and marking them for really what they are.

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That they are, of course, monumental,

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and they're beautiful,

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and the edifices are extraordinary.

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But, I'm not confused about what they're supposed to mean,

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and what they're supposed to do.

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Maybe most people are sort of aware of them, too.

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They just sort of accept--

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they submit to them.

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And I'm, of course, more interested in challenging them,

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even when I think that they're sort of sublime in their way.