WEBVTT 00:00:13.574 --> 00:00:18.160 [ MARY REID KELLEY ] It was a huge  change to film at EMPAC with any 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:22.023 sort of technological assist you could want. 00:00:22.023 --> 00:00:30.120 The film that we did before "You Make Me Iliad," we filmed partly in my parents’ basement and partly in our apartment. 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:33.068 - With a white undershirt and this shirt  you won’t be able to tell. 00:00:34.901 --> 00:00:37.760 - Fancy pants. - Totally. 00:00:42.037 --> 00:00:49.860 So for this film, I invited my sister Alice and Alice’s husband, Micah, and then my youngest sister, Juliet. 00:00:50.777 --> 00:00:53.000 - Brainy McBrainyton, Maximilian.... 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:54.223 - Max-milian. 00:00:54.223 --> 00:00:58.677 - Maximilian Robespierre perfectly  memorized Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 00:00:58.677 --> 00:01:04.872 Citizens bored by his hyper-verbosity, shouted  in unison, merde, sans chapeau! 00:01:04.872 --> 00:01:07.958 - Okay, you know Jean-Jacques  Rousseau was an important music theorist? 00:01:07.958 --> 00:01:09.040 - Yes, I know. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:10.780 - I feel like I should sing this one. 00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:12.681 - And you know what, what he did? 00:01:12.681 --> 00:01:17.776 Oh yes, yes, please, please sing it.  Just sing, improvise right now. 00:01:17.776 --> 00:01:20.416 - [ laughs ] Sorry. 00:01:23.210 --> 00:01:27.320 [ ALICE REID PRUISNER ] We were always very creative  growing up. And a lot of what we did, 00:01:27.320 --> 00:01:33.840 growing up, I kind of see in her art  now. We would create these elaborate 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:40.533 plays that we would put on that Mary, as the  oldest of course was always the instigator. 00:01:40.860 --> 00:01:47.000 - So try singing your awesome  little tune with like perfectly 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.464 memorized Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Citizens bored..... 00:01:49.464 --> 00:01:52.745 - So like there’s a change in tone. - Okay. 00:01:54.360 --> 00:01:57.646 ♪ Brainy McBrainy to Maximilian  Robespierre ♪ 00:01:57.646 --> 00:02:00.463 ♪ perfectly memorized Jean-Jacques Rousseau ♪ 00:02:00.463 --> 00:02:04.993 ♪ Citizens bored by his hyper-verbosity  shouted in unison, ♪ 00:02:04.993 --> 00:02:07.662 [ ALL ] Merde! Sans chapeau. 00:02:10.826 --> 00:02:14.177 - Alice, show us your  throat-slashing gesture. 00:02:14.177 --> 00:02:15.889 [ grunts ] - Yeah. 00:02:15.889 --> 00:02:20.834 - If I start out higher and circle below. - There, that’s totally clear. 00:02:20.834 --> 00:02:22.778 - Should I bare my teeth? Arrggh. 00:02:22.778 --> 00:02:23.360 - Do whatever you want 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:25.657 - While I’m saying, "merde, sans chapeau.' 00:02:28.952 --> 00:02:30.929 - That’s good. That looks really  good. 00:02:30.929 --> 00:02:33.920 - I think Alice should go like this. - Like what? 00:02:33.920 --> 00:02:38.200 - Can’t see the actual like throat-cutting,  it’s just the hand, like this. 00:02:38.200 --> 00:02:39.300 - Yeah. 00:02:39.816 --> 00:02:43.016 - You think I should  use my left hand instead? 00:02:45.716 --> 00:02:47.207 - One More? - Yeah. 00:02:48.334 --> 00:02:54.167 [ MICAH PRUISNER ] Brainy McBrainyton, Maximilian  Robespierre perfectly memorized Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 00:02:54.167 --> 00:02:58.499 Citizens bored by his  hyper-verbosity shouted in unison... 00:02:58.499 --> 00:03:00.935 [ ALL ] Merde! Sans chapeau. 00:03:00.935 --> 00:03:10.009 [ JULIET REID ] She has always had an  interesting part to play in the entire family’s perspectives on life. 00:03:10.619 --> 00:03:13.457 When I was in  junior high, she was bringing home feminist 00:03:13.457 --> 00:03:19.140 literature for me to read from college. And  just giving me new things to think about. 00:03:19.750 --> 00:03:23.920 - And I kind of want the  snow shakers to be up high. 00:03:23.920 --> 00:03:25.149 - High? Like this? 00:03:25.149 --> 00:03:27.939 - Like still on the  screen, but high. 00:03:27.939 --> 00:03:30.301 - Are we recording? - Yeah. 00:03:30.935 --> 00:03:34.090 - Jelly tart, jelly tart, General Bonaparte. 00:03:34.090 --> 00:03:36.545 Sentimentality worried all France. 00:03:36.545 --> 00:03:43.968 He cried, saccharine tears on the banks of the Volga  while Waterloo waterworks spotted his pants. 00:03:48.165 --> 00:03:50.269 - This is going to be a tricky  time for you guys 00:03:50.269 --> 00:03:54.528 cause you’re going to have to put it together and yell, "100 Voltaires." 00:03:55.725 --> 00:03:57.712 We'll get you to scoot... 00:04:00.826 --> 00:04:03.680 - And actually I suggest that we need to  start bringing our hands together to do the 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:08.770 Jacob’s Ladder before, so that when they, when it  comes together, it’s, bing "100 Voltaires." 00:04:08.770 --> 00:04:16.386 [ MICAH ] I’m an engineer. So  I have little to no background in art. 00:04:17.231 --> 00:04:23.833 And therefore when I see Mary’s artwork, it, it is always so different from what I normally encounter 00:04:23.833 --> 00:04:26.280 that it  makes me think a lot harder about it. 00:04:27.125 --> 00:04:28.921 - I think we'll be okay. 00:04:30.177 --> 00:04:33.020 - So we’re not using  audio for this. So just... 00:04:33.654 --> 00:04:34.340 - Ready to go? 00:04:34.340 --> 00:04:36.533 - Yeah, I think, I think I am. 00:04:36.533 --> 00:04:40.000 - Mary, could...since we’re not  doing audio, can you be like "and stop"? 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:41.933 - Yeah. - Okay. 00:04:41.933 --> 00:04:45.133 - Okay, I'll just - Just hiss or something so you don't have to move your mouth. 00:04:45.133 --> 00:04:47.938 [ crosstalk ] - Okay, yeah. Okay. 00:04:54.393 --> 00:05:00.680 [ ALL ] Twinkle toe, twinkle toe, Dennis P. Diderot.  Dreamed of a government led by his heirs. 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:08.101 Nightmares so ghastly, so anti-Enlightenment  gave him the shock of 100 Voltaires. 00:05:08.744 --> 00:05:15.040 [ PATRICK KELLEY ] Mary came across this map.  It’s this old map of Paris, pre-Haussmann 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:22.716 renovation of Paris. The design of this map is an  inspiration for making some of the buildings. 00:05:22.716 --> 00:05:28.760 What we thought we would do is try to recreate some  of the architecture that you see in this map, 00:05:28.760 --> 00:05:36.834 this sort of cartoon-like etching hatch-marking  architecture as three-dimensional models 00:05:36.834 --> 00:05:42.040 so that we would have these objects  as possible virtual set elements. 00:05:43.754 --> 00:05:46.921 [ REID KELLEY ] It’s so wild that they  had electricity to do this. 00:05:46.921 --> 00:05:48.801 - That's the actual Haussmann time? 00:05:48.801 --> 00:05:50.546 - Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 00:05:52.067 --> 00:05:56.346 He wouldn’t put electricity  on the streets, he wanted gas on the streets, 00:05:56.346 --> 00:05:59.263 cause he thought it was more  aesthetic. 00:05:59.263 --> 00:06:01.858 But here, you want to see it? 00:06:04.064 --> 00:06:09.361 And here you can see the texture of  the street. It’s like a cobblestone. 00:06:09.361 --> 00:06:12.249 - Well yeah, we have that... 00:06:12.718 --> 00:06:18.360 [ REID KELLEY ] I think that one of the reasons that  I’m motivated to do research and to do all the 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:25.640 reading is that it’s very much a set of values  that learning is good. Books are good. 00:06:25.640 --> 00:06:27.568 Things in books will help you. 00:06:28.343 --> 00:06:32.871 Who knows where it came  from? Probably in large part from my parents. 00:06:34.068 --> 00:06:38.995 I grew up in South Carolina. I’m the eldest  of four children. 00:06:38.995 --> 00:06:45.147 My next sister is Alice, and then my brother Dan. And  then my youngest sister, Juliet. 00:06:48.316 --> 00:06:52.193 My parents met doing their master’s in  history. 00:06:53.109 --> 00:07:00.445 My mom and dad or notorious for never just driving by a historical marker, we always pull over to see what it is. 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:10.460 In the South, at least in terms of the Civil  War, there’s this historical burden. 00:07:11.822 --> 00:07:16.833 You’re aware pretty early on that there isn’t just one version  that’s accepted, 00:07:16.833 --> 00:07:23.731 that people are kind of tugging at this historical record, 00:07:23.731 --> 00:07:28.921 you know wanting  to manipulate the history, one way or another. 00:07:30.640 --> 00:07:35.129 - Okay, that’s good. This shot is really quick.  It’s just a couple seconds. 00:07:35.129 --> 00:07:40.000 So run out, put the chairs down. I’ll put the board  on. Hop on it, start doing this and kind 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:46.320 of kicking my heels. And then I want both  of you to kind of like lean over the chair. 00:07:46.320 --> 00:07:51.475 [ REID KELLEY ] The director role is not something  that comes super naturally. 00:07:52.320 --> 00:07:57.120 I think that’s one of the reasons I really  value getting to work with my family members, 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:01.135 it makes it easier for me to ask for what I want. 00:08:01.440 --> 00:08:06.200 - Okay, good. Now, now when you do  that, like jostle each other like..... 00:08:06.200 --> 00:08:10.125 - Yeah, like, here, I want the better view, [ laughs ] - I want the better view. 00:08:10.125 --> 00:08:11.937 - No, no, I want to get it. - Okay. 00:08:11.937 --> 00:08:13.726 [ laughs ] 00:08:18.492 --> 00:08:20.490 - Excellent, we got it. Yep. 00:08:23.964 --> 00:08:26.920 - Step back and  lay back down so I should see when... 00:08:28.117 --> 00:08:32.620 [ REID KELLEY ] The entire concept comes out  of the research and out of the reading. 00:08:33.606 --> 00:08:37.248 - See, 'cause I don't have a pillow, it’s  going to make it a lot harder. - Yeah. 00:08:37.248 --> 00:08:39.887 [ REID KELLEY ] And it’s my choice of what we do. 00:08:39.887 --> 00:08:42.720 - So I think you’re going to  have to bring it around to the side. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.811 [ REID KELLEY ] And then once we’re kind of on the way..... 00:08:46.280 --> 00:08:52.520 My husband Pat, is very enthusiastic to just  pick up whatever is happening and run with it. 00:08:53.013 --> 00:08:55.100 - Do we want to be straight down? 00:08:55.701 --> 00:08:57.601 - Uh, yeah. 00:08:57.601 --> 00:09:05.880 - Is that about like this? Eric would it be  crazy for me to shoot from that gap right there? 00:09:06.561 --> 00:09:09.040 - No, not at all. 00:09:09.697 --> 00:09:16.880 [ REID KELLEY ] I never would have made that big  leap from being a painter to something as, 00:09:16.880 --> 00:09:22.568 as complicated and as technically  involved as, as this work without Pat. 00:09:22.834 --> 00:09:28.521 - Secretly, secretly Queen Marie Antoinette  studied her algebra all night in bed. 00:09:28.521 --> 00:09:34.233 Scholars remarked that the mathematician her beauty  resolved to make knowledge widespread. 00:09:38.646 --> 00:09:41.064 - That was it, yeah. That was great. - Okay. 00:09:41.064 --> 00:09:43.064 - Awesome. 00:09:43.792 --> 00:09:44.823 - Okay. 00:09:46.865 --> 00:09:52.376 Secretly, secretly Queen Marie Antoinette  studied her algebra all night in bed. 00:09:52.376 --> 00:09:58.461 Scholars remarked that the mathematician her beauty  resolved to make knowledge widespread. 00:10:00.267 --> 00:10:04.160 - After we shoot this and we’ll  shoot that. And then we have a break. 00:10:04.160 --> 00:10:08.036 Then you guys are just going to have to hang  out, maybe eat another piece of pizza 00:10:08.036 --> 00:10:09.866 while I get into Sisyphus. 00:10:09.866 --> 00:10:12.885 And then we’ve got a  couple more larger, wider shots. So..... 00:10:12.885 --> 00:10:15.654 - We have the baguettes, right? [ overlapping chatter ] - Oh, yes, and the baguettes. 00:10:15.654 --> 00:10:17.381 - I baguette you. 00:10:17.381 --> 00:10:22.923 - Yes, the dandy outfits,  yeah. So we’re doing good, but we got a lot more to go. 00:10:22.923 --> 00:10:26.763 So... [ sighs ] So stay down. 00:10:31.693 --> 00:10:36.840 [ REID KELLEY ] I love to put on makeup.  That’s one of my favorite parts of, 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:40.998 of making the work, is getting  to, to draw the face on. 00:10:42.243 --> 00:10:47.275 My mother never wore makeup and  I was always obsessed with it. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.699 The eyes block out everything. 00:10:51.699 --> 00:10:58.958 When I look out of the eyes, I see very little, which is great. 00:10:58.958 --> 00:11:07.040 And it’s, it’s helped me do the performance. And I don’t think I could have started performing without them. 00:11:07.760 --> 00:11:10.235 - About in the right spot? - Mm-hmm, looks great. 00:11:12.465 --> 00:11:13.364 - Okay. 00:11:13.364 --> 00:11:18.434 [JULIET ] What exactly is the  title? This syph.... 00:11:18.927 --> 00:11:21.801 [ ALICE ] Okay, I always...Sis 00:11:21.801 --> 00:11:25.501 [JULIET ] Sisyphus, that’s right? Sisyphus. 00:11:25.501 --> 00:11:28.637 [ MICAH ] I’m guessing partially because  it actually rhymes with syphilis. 00:11:28.637 --> 00:11:30.267 - Syph...Syph... 00:11:30.267 --> 00:11:31.986 - The Syphilis of  Sisyphus. 00:11:31.986 --> 00:11:34.532 - No, is that right? [ chuckles ] 00:11:34.532 --> 00:11:39.128 [ REID KELLEY ] The title of the new  film is "The Syphilis of Sisyphus." 00:11:39.128 --> 00:11:46.198 Most of the, the text from this film is just kind of the extended polemical musings of this woman, 00:11:46.198 --> 00:11:51.101 this female character, Sisyphus. She’s a prostitute. 00:11:51.101 --> 00:11:53.788 At the beginning we  kind of see her getting ready to go out 00:11:53.788 --> 00:11:56.877 and she’s doing her toilet  and putting on her makeup. 00:11:57.674 --> 00:12:02.862 - So now remember when she starts, she’s like not mad. 00:12:02.862 --> 00:12:05.866 - Right. - She’s, she’s almost sad. 00:12:05.866 --> 00:12:12.711 But she’s bitter. She’s not like sweetly sad. She’s  not like resigned sad, she’s bitter sad. 00:12:17.054 --> 00:12:20.193 - Pouting sad. - Face right. 00:12:20.193 --> 00:12:23.194 - I can actually see my reflection  in the camera, it’s kind of helpful. 00:12:23.194 --> 00:12:27.850 - Yeah. [ indistinct speech ] 00:12:27.850 --> 00:12:30.844 - That’s so Magritte. I didn’t even think of that till just now. 00:12:30.844 --> 00:12:32.950 - [ laughs ] It is. 00:12:33.443 --> 00:12:36.360 - It’s like Crazy Kat meets Magritte. 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:46.800 Nature sold me a lie. And I’ve kept the deceit  on my face to remind me, her falsehoods repeat 00:12:46.800 --> 00:12:55.524 like the seasons renew. Same advice every time  because nature can counsel me, nothing but crime. 00:12:56.040 --> 00:13:02.320 [ REID KELLEY ] One of the things that I love about encountering  paintings is looking at them over time and coming 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:11.760 back and, and viewing it again. So when I  make video works I love the idea of people 00:13:11.760 --> 00:13:15.640 coming back to them and seeing them over  and over. 00:13:15.640 --> 00:13:19.718 And always get something new. 00:13:20.305 --> 00:13:25.649 Her utopian swindles profess to be cures, but  in fact generations 00:13:25.649 --> 00:13:31.331 while smeared with manure as a young naïve milkmaid in apron and braids, 00:13:31.331 --> 00:13:38.638 I too was revolting on top of the barricades. Praising the rustic I fell to gourmet 00:13:38.638 --> 00:13:42.673 and my radical urges were lost due to negligee. 00:13:43.565 --> 00:13:50.405 Shamed by this lapse into luxuries error, I hid  my defections till this happy mirror 00:13:50.405 --> 00:13:58.924 revealed a new cause for which Sisyphus shoulders the  burdens of charm crying: Make Beauty Boulder.