0:00:16.038,0:00:17.638
MIKE KELLEY: Right now I'm working on about the

0:00:17.672,0:00:21.682
30th tape in a projected series of 365.

0:00:22.480,0:00:24.650
And so, it's supposed to be one tape

0:00:24.694,0:00:26.114
for every day of the year.

0:00:26.292,0:00:43.362
[rhythmic drumming and clapping]

0:00:44.158,0:00:50.438
[women screaming]

0:00:50.438,0:00:58.086
[rhythmic drumming and clapping]

0:00:58.371,0:01:01.091
I knew by the time I was a teenager

0:01:01.091,0:01:03.159
that I was going to be an artist.

0:01:03.488,0:01:04.918
There was no doubt about that.

0:01:04.964,0:01:06.714
There was nothing else for me to be.

0:01:07.460,0:01:10.473
I think coming out of Catholicism,

0:01:11.351,0:01:13.529
I have a real interest in ritual.

0:01:13.643,0:01:15.183
I mean, ritual is beautiful,

0:01:15.631,0:01:18.531
but I never was a believer.

0:01:25.842,0:01:26.552
Yet...

0:01:26.981,0:01:29.561
I think my interest in art all along

0:01:29.592,0:01:31.612
has been in trying to develop a kind of

0:01:31.612,0:01:32.936
materialist ritual.

0:01:33.685,0:01:35.255
And I see all art as being

0:01:35.281,0:01:37.571
a kind of materialist ritual.

0:01:45.256,0:01:46.606
When I first started working

0:01:46.606,0:01:47.659
with stuffed animals,

0:01:47.659,0:01:49.345
I was responding to a lot of the

0:01:49.347,0:01:50.967
dialogue in the '80s about

0:01:50.967,0:01:52.827
commodity culture.

0:01:55.218,0:01:57.358
But I was really surprised that

0:01:57.358,0:01:59.448
when everybody looked [br]at these works I made

0:01:59.448,0:02:01.760
they all thought it was about[br]child abuse

0:02:02.175,0:02:04.565
Now, that wasn't anything I expected

0:02:04.565,0:02:07.179
and not only did they think, [br]it was about child abuse,

0:02:07.179,0:02:09.329
they thought it was about my abuse.

0:02:10.780,0:02:12.790
So I said, well that's really interesting,

0:02:12.790,0:02:14.261
I have to go with that.

0:02:15.200,0:02:18.184
I have to make all my work about my abuse,

0:02:20.089,0:02:21.117
and not only that,

0:02:21.401,0:02:23.371
about everybody's abuse,

0:02:23.483,0:02:26.213
like that this is our shared culture.

0:02:30.488,0:02:32.065
This is the presumption

0:02:32.386,0:02:35.396
that all motivation is based

0:02:35.396,0:02:37.599
on some kind of repressed trauma.

0:02:38.941,0:02:40.641
My work is very reactive.

0:02:40.657,0:02:42.205
I'd make something,

0:02:42.576,0:02:44.244
I get a response that I'm not...

0:02:44.383,0:02:46.646
...I had no idea I was going to get,

0:02:46.787,0:02:49.074
I don't reject it; I embrace it.

0:02:49.358,0:02:51.758
I run with it, y'know?

0:02:51.974,0:02:53.784
That tells me what to do.

0:02:54.162,0:02:56.012
I decided to go back to

0:02:56.066,0:02:57.721
my originating trauma, which was

0:02:57.721,0:02:59.121
my student training,

0:02:59.121,0:03:01.425
and so I took all these drawings

0:03:01.913,0:03:04.043
that I did in college

0:03:04.220,0:03:07.320
as an undergraduate, which are perversions

0:03:07.459,0:03:10.559
of Hoffmanesque compositional principles,

0:03:11.333,0:03:13.943
and I relearned to paint that way.

0:03:20.211,0:03:21.281
And I did this series,

0:03:21.281,0:03:23.325
this is the first series [br]of paintings I did

0:03:23.325,0:03:25.132
in this regressive manner.

0:03:26.485,0:03:28.665
They're called "The Thirteen Seasons."

0:03:28.754,0:03:30.944
They're oval-[br]I broke from the rectangular form

0:03:30.944,0:03:33.439
because the oval, again, has no end.

0:03:34.222,0:03:35.494
And so it's eternal.

0:03:35.778,0:03:38.091
It's eternally recurring abuse.

0:03:43.265,0:03:45.061
In this kind of trauma literature,

0:03:45.361,0:03:47.891
the parts you can't remember is called

0:03:47.937,0:03:49.903
"missing time" and then you recover it.

0:03:53.676,0:03:55.032
Because I work so much

0:03:55.032,0:03:57.964
with various kinds of tropes-

0:03:58.277,0:04:00.425
and they're image tropes or music tropes

0:04:00.425,0:04:01.632
or performative tropes,

0:04:03.098,0:04:05.088
it interests me to try to

0:04:05.088,0:04:06.971
bring them into my system

0:04:07.542,0:04:10.792
in certain ways, y'know, incorporate them.

0:04:12.584,0:04:14.344
It's part of this whole process

0:04:14.344,0:04:16.213
of working through things.

0:04:21.056,0:04:23.776
Things start simple and get more complex.

0:04:26.573,0:04:28.823
Sense always comes after the fact

0:04:29.004,0:04:30.204
in my work-

0:04:31.142,0:04:33.744
to make it, at first glance, acceptable,

0:04:33.744,0:04:36.619
like I've seen some of that before [br]or I understand that.

0:04:37.601,0:04:40.191
So it has to operate on multiple levels.

0:04:40.191,0:04:41.500
It has to be

0:04:41.591,0:04:44.050
available to the laziest viewer

0:04:44.436,0:04:45.710
on a certain level...

0:04:48.383,0:04:50.446
and then on a more sophisticated

0:04:50.758,0:04:52.102
viewer as well.

0:05:00.096,0:05:02.126
I think what I make is beautiful.

0:05:03.135,0:05:04.935
I think it's beautiful because

0:05:05.014,0:05:07.214
terms are confused and divisions between

0:05:07.251,0:05:08.851
categories start to slip.

0:05:10.075,0:05:11.380
And that produces,

0:05:12.079,0:05:13.769
what I think is a sublime effect,

0:05:13.807,0:05:15.287
or it produces humor,

0:05:16.030,0:05:17.700
and both things interest me.

0:05:19.227,0:05:20.587
And I...

0:05:20.779,0:05:23.591
I guess I'm interested in a kind of

0:05:23.641,0:05:25.935
sublime play or sublime humor.

0:05:26.011,0:05:27.061
-- Well, behind-

0:05:27.061,0:05:29.951
Behind the mule is a man,

0:05:30.237,0:05:32.367
and then the fake horse.

0:05:32.642,0:05:33.632
- Oh, that's better.

0:05:33.952,0:05:35.672
- That's even better.[br]- Kelley: Yeah.

0:05:35.676,0:05:38.436
- You got a man in there to fill up the[br]gap, that's better.

0:05:38.436,0:05:41.573
- The man is the pitchfork demon?[br]- Kelley: It's the pitchfork guy.

0:05:41.573,0:05:43.481
- Stan? It's Stan, if you could get him.

0:05:43.481,0:05:45.766
- And tell him not to swing his pitchfork[br]around.

0:05:45.766,0:05:48.577
- Kelley: Yeah, do something like that.[br]Stomp, stomp, stomp.

0:05:48.577,0:05:51.170
[whinnies][br]And then go.

0:05:51.170,0:05:53.698
"Day Is Done"--[br]the project I'm working on right now,

0:05:53.963,0:05:55.568
is kind of built around a mythos

0:05:55.568,0:05:57.631
that relates to an earlier sculpture I did

0:05:57.632,0:05:59.792
called "The Educational Complex," which is

0:06:00.540,0:06:03.340
a model of every school I ever went to,

0:06:03.602,0:06:05.302
plus the home I grew up in,

0:06:06.287,0:06:08.750
with all the parts [br]I can't remember left blank.

0:06:13.809,0:06:17.228
- I think I want to try it[br]when these cheerleaders get to about here,

0:06:17.300,0:06:19.520
to give me a big scream,

0:06:19.676,0:06:21.796
you know like, "Whoa!"

0:06:21.884,0:06:24.434
Like that's the most wonderful thing[br]you've ever seen.

0:06:24.434,0:06:26.307
- The audience should do a big scream?

0:06:26.307,0:06:28.271
- Should they raise their arms like that?

0:06:28.271,0:06:30.505
- Kelley: No, no, just, just...[br]well, let see it

0:06:30.505,0:06:31.605
Let's hear a big "Wha!"

0:06:31.605,0:06:33.428
ALL: Whoooo!

0:06:33.428,0:06:35.763
- Kelley: Yeah, arms is good. [br]Lift the arms up.

0:06:35.763,0:06:37.040
Whoa!

0:06:37.040,0:06:38.619
ALL: Whoa!

0:06:40.547,0:06:41.317
- Action!

0:06:41.317,0:06:44.610
[drum cadence playing]

0:06:44.614,0:06:48.424
- Kelley: All these videos are based[br]on high school yearbooks.

0:06:48.893,0:06:50.623
It's not because I have any interest

0:06:50.623,0:06:52.432
in high school or high school culture,

0:06:52.432,0:06:53.866
but it's one of the few places

0:06:53.866,0:06:57.097
where you can find photographs[br]of these kinds of rituals.

0:06:58.100,0:07:02.067
- Kelley: Stand this way, a little bit.[br]Yeah, let's go for it.

0:07:03.197,0:07:04.567
- Kelley: It's really close.

0:07:04.645,0:07:07.155
- Man: It won't be the same.[br]- Kelley: OK, it's fine.

0:07:07.170,0:07:08.760
The-, the image is the same.

0:07:08.760,0:07:11.899
- Man: The image is...[br]- Kelley: The relationships are the same.

0:07:13.067,0:07:15.177
Almost all of this comes from writing,

0:07:15.341,0:07:16.141
and...

0:07:16.415,0:07:18.635
and then later I tried to say, well,

0:07:19.066,0:07:21.346
how can it be visually interesting?

0:07:21.484,0:07:23.598
It has narrative elements, but it's...

0:07:23.598,0:07:25.348
not straight narrative.

0:07:29.570,0:07:30.460
- Kelley: Cut!

0:07:30.460,0:07:33.938
[laughs]

0:07:34.047,0:07:35.367
- Woman: Good job, Stan!

0:07:37.612,0:07:39.882
All the writing is...[br]is associative,

0:07:39.882,0:07:42.273
and it comes from my own experience, but

0:07:42.814,0:07:45.504
it's very hard to, [br]say, to disentangle memories

0:07:45.504,0:07:50.131
of films or books or cartoons or plays

0:07:50.239,0:07:52.899
from "real experience."

0:07:52.899,0:07:54.909
It all gets mixed up.

0:07:54.909,0:07:57.699
So in a way I don't make [br]such distinctions.

0:07:58.061,0:08:00.160
And I see it all as a kind of fiction.

0:08:00.565,0:08:05.655
- I can't walk by myself![br]I'm not responsible!

0:08:05.655,0:08:07.035
- Kelley: When I was younger,

0:08:07.035,0:08:10.011
all my writing was generated for[br]performance work.

0:08:10.271,0:08:17.681
- I'm the sailor, but I don't have[br]sea legs, sea legs.

0:08:17.789,0:08:22.499
But I don't walk and I don't talk.

0:08:24.068,0:08:26.938
[whistles]

0:08:26.938,0:08:28.708
So this project is very much

0:08:29.074,0:08:32.524
a way for me to get back into writing and-

0:08:32.546,0:08:34.596
because I don't have the time[br]just to do it.

0:08:34.596,0:08:36.596
I have to work it into my work somehow.

0:08:36.596,0:08:37.506
It's like music.[br]I-

0:08:37.506,0:08:39.467
I didn't have time to play music anymore,

0:08:39.467,0:08:40.771
so I had to make a project

0:08:40.771,0:08:43.029
that had to have music in it, so

0:08:43.081,0:08:45.105
I forced myself to make music.

0:08:45.105,0:08:52.432
[Kelley playing on electric organ]

0:08:54.469,0:08:56.509
- Kelley: Never had any musical training.

0:08:57.437,0:09:00.010
I grew up in a household [br]where there was really,

0:09:00.762,0:09:02.672
very little interest in music, and

0:09:02.932,0:09:05.362
they didn't teach music in school.

0:09:05.938,0:09:08.188
And, um... I

0:09:08.384,0:09:10.784
grew up on rock and roll music, [br]and all the

0:09:10.784,0:09:12.782
musicians I knew were self-taught.

0:09:13.952,0:09:15.522
I've been playing noise music for

0:09:15.522,0:09:16.905
many, many years.

0:09:17.668,0:09:19.388
But this project's really different

0:09:19.388,0:09:21.827
because this is like no other music [br]I've ever done,

0:09:21.827,0:09:23.447
because it's all based on really,

0:09:23.520,0:09:25.730
typical forms, but

0:09:26.156,0:09:29.436
I know enough about that[br]where I can fake it.

0:09:29.664,0:09:33.466
And, I mean, I don't know what I'm doing. [br]Say, I can't say, oh that's this chord

0:09:33.466,0:09:35.946
or that's this note [br]but I know what it sounds like.

0:09:35.946,0:09:37.972
And so we can piece it all together

0:09:38.352,0:09:39.762
and it's believable.

0:09:41.343,0:09:43.133
- Am I gonna to hear the, uh...

0:09:43.705,0:09:46.305
the orchestra sample too?

0:09:46.305,0:09:49.124
- Man: Uh, yeah, you'll hear,[br]you'll hear what you just did.

0:09:49.124,0:09:50.704
- Kelley: OK.[br]- Man: Here we go.

0:09:51.886,0:09:53.456
- Kelley: With the computer,

0:09:53.710,0:09:55.440
we can do everything ourself.

0:09:55.518,0:09:57.441
We don't need to get an orchestra;

0:09:57.488,0:09:58.358
we can...

0:09:58.813,0:10:00.413
do all the editing here.

0:10:00.587,0:10:03.571
We can make films by ourselves.

0:10:09.622,0:10:14.732
[cymbals resonating]

0:10:14.732,0:10:19.392
[drum rolls playing]

0:10:19.691,0:10:23.421
[cheering]

0:10:23.421,0:10:26.982
[applause]

0:10:27.852,0:10:30.582
- Kelley: My dream is to perform it live.

0:10:31.982,0:10:35.212
- Man: Let the final procession begin.

0:10:35.974,0:10:38.204
- Kelley: So that [br]the whole thing is performed

0:10:38.204,0:10:40.194
like, say, in a 24-hour period,

0:10:40.194,0:10:42.940
so the day stands for the year.

0:10:48.518,0:10:50.878
It's very much like a passion play.

0:10:51.076,0:10:54.946
Though a somewhat formalized[br]and ridiculous passion play,

0:10:54.946,0:10:57.979
though its ridiculousness is purposeful.

0:10:57.979,0:11:03.060
- CAST (harmonizing): ♪ Mary...♪♪ Mary...♪

0:11:04.646,0:11:08.956
♪ Mary...♪

0:11:10.221,0:11:14.611
♪ Mary...♪

0:11:14.916,0:11:20.146
♪ Mary...♪

0:11:20.594,0:11:24.964
♪ Mary...♪

0:11:25.143,0:11:30.053
♪ Mary...♪

0:11:30.581,0:11:32.501
- Kelley: I think that's

0:11:32.673,0:11:35.093
the joyfulness of it.

0:11:37.328,0:11:40.248
But then it's a black humor; [br]it's a mean humor,

0:11:40.822,0:11:42.802
so it's a critical joy.

0:11:43.716,0:11:44.906
It's, y'know...

0:11:45.342,0:11:46.782
it's negative joy.

0:11:46.790,0:11:48.860
[laughs]

0:11:49.604,0:11:51.714
But that's art, I think,

0:11:51.767,0:11:53.197
y'know, for me at least.

0:11:53.197,0:11:54.494
That's what separates it

0:11:54.494,0:11:56.235
from the folk art that I'm going to,

0:11:56.271,0:11:59.141
that I still think [br]the social function of art

0:11:59.193,0:12:00.343
is that kind of,

0:12:01.314,0:12:02.624
negative aesthetic.

0:12:03.438,0:12:04.908
Otherwise there's no

0:12:05.000,0:12:06.320
social function for it.

0:12:06.464,0:12:23.734
[women screaming][br][upbeat funky music playing]

0:12:23.775,0:12:33.915
[clapping in rhythm]

0:12:35.513,0:12:49.883
[applause]