1
00:00:06,060 --> 00:00:10,334
[Carrie Mae Weems: "Roaming"]

2
00:00:19,721 --> 00:00:21,502
I think that architecture,

3
00:00:21,502 --> 00:00:23,581
in its essence--

4
00:00:24,351 --> 00:00:27,271
much of the fabric of it--

5
00:00:27,271 --> 00:00:29,702
is very much about power.

6
00:00:32,692 --> 00:00:35,026
If we think about a place like Rome--

7
00:00:35,026 --> 00:00:38,554
where I did a residency a few years ago--

8
00:00:38,931 --> 00:00:41,331
what one is made to feel

9
00:00:41,561 --> 00:00:43,398
is the power of the state

10
00:00:43,398 --> 00:00:47,615
in relationship to the lower subject.

11
00:00:48,336 --> 00:00:49,702
To the lower subject--

12
00:00:49,702 --> 00:00:51,270
to the general populace.

13
00:00:51,270 --> 00:00:54,333
You are always aware that you are, sort of,

14
00:00:54,333 --> 00:00:59,395
a minion in relationship to this enormous edifice--

15
00:00:59,395 --> 00:01:01,004
the edifice of power.

16
00:01:02,702 --> 00:01:05,670
What is this relationship of power to you?

17
00:01:06,028 --> 00:01:08,264
And what is your relationship to power?

18
00:01:08,264 --> 00:01:10,341
And how do you contest it?

19
00:01:11,596 --> 00:01:13,964
And how do you try to make

20
00:01:15,074 --> 00:01:17,502
someone aware of it?

21
00:01:17,902 --> 00:01:21,072
So, you crawl towards the church.

22
00:01:21,072 --> 00:01:22,456
[LAUGHS]

23
00:01:26,902 --> 00:01:28,102
And so I thought, then,

24
00:01:28,102 --> 00:01:31,396
perhaps if I could use my own skin

25
00:01:31,396 --> 00:01:33,902
in a sort of series of performances.

26
00:01:33,902 --> 00:01:36,596
That I could use my own body as a way

27
00:01:36,596 --> 00:01:39,964
of leading the viewer into those spaces--

28
00:01:39,964 --> 00:01:41,964
highly aware--

29
00:01:41,964 --> 00:01:44,457
and challenging those spaces.

30
00:01:44,457 --> 00:01:45,304
Challenging them,

31
00:01:45,304 --> 00:01:48,365
and marking them for really what they are.

32
00:01:48,502 --> 00:01:50,996
That they are, of course, monumental,

33
00:01:50,996 --> 00:01:52,056
and they're beautiful,

34
00:01:52,056 --> 00:01:55,133
and the edifices are extraordinary.

35
00:01:55,533 --> 00:01:59,994
But, I'm not confused about what they're supposed to mean,

36
00:01:59,994 --> 00:02:02,302
and what they're supposed to do.

37
00:02:05,597 --> 00:02:07,670
Maybe most people are sort of aware of them, too.

38
00:02:07,670 --> 00:02:09,425
They just sort of accept--

39
00:02:09,425 --> 00:02:11,301
they submit to them.

40
00:02:11,533 --> 00:02:14,103
And I'm, of course, more interested in challenging them,

41
00:02:14,103 --> 00:02:17,896
even when I think that they're sort of sublime in their way.