9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I've always felt a strong[br]connection between sewing[br]thread and writing thread.[br](charcoal scraping)[br](sewing machine)[br]I grew up doing hand work,[br]needle work, sewing, knitting,[br]embroidery, all those textile[br]arts. The process is satisfying,[br]but cloth metaphors are beautiful.[br]Every cloth is made of threads,[br]whatever their weave. Each one[br]is visible, and the whole cloth[br]needs each one. It's a social[br]metaphor to me. It's beautiful.[br]My first graduate school piece:[br]a gray suit covered in toothpicks,[br]the cloth skin like a hide,[br]a porcupine. (music)[br](whispering) Find the linear[br]broken below a human.[br]For me, the thread, written line,[br]and drawn line are about making.[br](whispering) The line that makes[br]something relates to how we make[br]things with language. (whispering)[br]Certainty. I work with words[br]as materials, like others.[br]"Lineament" is from a Wallace[br]Stevens poem. The page becomes[br]three-dimensional. Each line[br]is lifted like a thread, run[br]through hands, creating a ball,[br]the page's body. I see the tie[br]of thread as line and writing.[br]Yeah. Now go that way. Right.[br](crinkling plastic) I'll set up[br]the pipes, then we'll bring[br]the fabric over. For me,[br]installation is working in[br]relation to a place. You're[br]animating the space. You don't[br]know what it will do to you,[br]or you to it. (laughs) You try[br]to be blank, pay attention,[br]what comes up, what you feel.[br]Your skin is a smart organ,[br]a membrane. You walk through[br]any threshold and smell, feel[br]temperature and light, all[br]influences. (birds chirping)[br]This building had people working[br]here. It's in a company town,[br]forgotten. It went out of[br]business three months ago.[br](whispering) I didn't visit it[br]in operation, as a textile[br]factory, now silenced. The[br]hollowness, emptiness, was[br]palpable. I'm all thumbs today.[br](indistinct) Grab this string?[br]I wanted one room for the writer,[br]one for the reader. They're[br]ghost-like silk organza, side[br]by side, identical, foot[br]square, suspended. (clanging)[br]Yeah. Hey Emmitt, carry this[br]over with the other pipes?[br]He can do it. Don't worry.[br]There you go. Each room has[br]a foot table, a spinning[br]projector. (clanging) With[br]Anne's work. She's not a[br]traditional artist, painting[br]or sculpture. People have to[br]reach, break expectations.[br]It says there's more here[br]than we saw. Someone else[br]sees that. Emmitt, help pull[br]the projector. Okay? This is[br]the video going backwards.[br]Pencils eating the line.[br](whooshing) Making work is[br]allowing things already there,[br]but not visible, to become[br]visible, experience-able.[br](whooshing) (crickets) (bells)[br](whispering) (birds) This[br]Jeffersonian building is an[br]emblem of American ideals.[br](women speaking code) I wanted[br]to engage it. How do we deal[br]with our history's stains?[br]Our social history, slavery,[br]is the largest. A democratic[br]country founded on slavery,[br]how to talk about that?[br]Abstractly, perhaps. Chromed[br]fusca powder sifted down,[br]catching on plaster dots,[br]spelling braille, edited from[br]Resnikoff's poems. Each room[br]had Lincoln's address, a healing[br]one, in phonetic alphabet.[br](Women whispering code)[br](birds) (door opening/closing)[br]Come on, Timmy. Let's go.[br](leash clanking) I live in Ohio,[br]moved back after teaching[br]seven years in Santa Barbara.[br]I want to be near family.[br]This is where I grew up.[br](geese) Comfort to come home.[br]My parents helped a lot. Mom[br]would fly out for projects,[br]Dad helped. Now they provide[br]backup, allowing my travel.[br]It would be harder without it.[br]Help change the film? You can't[br]be a mom with a kindergartner[br]without help. Emmitt, see your[br]picture? (clicking) My work[br]gives voice, but not my voice.[br]Mine is here and here. How do[br]I make where song and words[br]exit the body become my eye?[br]I made pinhole cameras, put one[br]in my mouth, unblock it, expose[br]the film. (footsteps) You're not[br]supposed to have your mouth open.[br](laughs) It's vulnerable, relaxed,[br]open. (laughs) Sorry. Ready?[br]Um-hm. Um. Interesting to[br]register stillness, face to[br]face, soul to soul, revealing[br]something not surface stuff.[br]Mouth and eye are the same.[br]The image is like the pupil.[br](bell) (barking) Good. Invert[br]senses. These slippages make[br]us see differently. (motor)[br]Looks like fire off your hand.[br]Wow. Magic. Flat water with[br]soap, of human hair's thickness.[br]Things that thin reflect light[br]depending on thickness. I[br]wondered if Ann could use it.[br]Which is the problem. Martin[br]said, "I'm doing this," showed[br]it. I don't know how or when,[br]but it's related to everything[br]I've done. The cloth's fluidity,[br]hands through its membrane.[br]I love the bubble, breath made[br]visible. Beautiful. I know[br]making work, I can't see it,[br]then there's a moment I can,[br]think it's beautiful. It bites,[br]you try to see it. (laughs)[br]Of course it's different.[br](music)