WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:29.960 ♪ethereal ambient music♪ 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:31.705 [bells jingling] 00:00:31.705 --> 00:00:33.280 - [Cannupa VO] I think we all struggle 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:39.720 with what it means to belong to a place. 00:00:39.720 --> 00:00:43.240 As an Indigenous person in North America, 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:48.640 there are complex identities that are at play. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:53.720 I am a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes. 00:00:53.720 --> 00:00:54.440 So I was born 00:00:54.440 --> 00:00:58.760 in Standing Rock Reservation right on the Missouri River. 00:00:58.760 --> 00:01:02.520 I think in its most honest form, I'm river people, 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:06.480 and I'm living up here in the mountains in New Mexico. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:12.640 So I feel a little displaced. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.040 After my family moved us off of the reservation, 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:19.400 it felt as though my existence in both 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:27.400 of these worlds was in a liminal space between the two. 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:29.060 [man] Okay, Cannupa, you ready? 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:29.840 [Cannupa] Yeah, hold on. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:35.347 [indistinct chatter] 00:01:35.347 --> 00:01:43.920 [Cannupa VO] So I exist in  the world between places. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:47.600 What I'm trying to do is remove the idea 00:01:47.600 --> 00:01:49.880 of art as an object and think 00:01:49.880 --> 00:01:53.720 of art as a process. 00:01:53.720 --> 00:01:59.800 Something in action, something living. 00:01:59.800 --> 00:02:03.000 [bells jingling] -♪sparse curious synths♪ 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:04.800 I am building things. 00:02:04.800 --> 00:02:07.440 I'm building things that aren't these objects, 00:02:07.440 --> 00:02:29.760 but conduits to share information from culture to culture. 00:02:29.760 --> 00:02:30.260 ♪♪♪ 00:02:30.920 --> 00:02:34.720 There's a tendency to perpetuate this Romantic 00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:39.000 historical narrative of native people, 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:42.680 which is, "This is primitive, this is ancient, 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:46.080 this is not present." 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:47.480 And so I started a whole series 00:02:47.480 --> 00:02:49.320 of projects that were called, 00:02:49.320 --> 00:02:51.160 and it's kind of an ongoing set of ideas, 00:02:51.160 --> 00:02:55.240 but it's called Future Ancestral Technology. 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:58.440 It's science fiction, it's speculative fiction. 00:02:58.440 --> 00:03:02.320 It's imagining what and how our culture shifts 00:03:02.320 --> 00:03:15.015 and changes into the future. 00:03:15.015 --> 00:03:18.720 ♪airy ethereal music♪ And if it's hard to express what it means 00:03:18.720 --> 00:03:22.320 to be Indigenous today, what does it look 00:03:22.320 --> 00:03:25.040 like if I bypass today, 00:03:25.040 --> 00:03:29.680 and consider what it means to be in a distant future? 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:30.180 ♪♪♪ 00:03:50.720 --> 00:03:54.320 So like all of the stuff that we're using right now 00:03:54.320 --> 00:03:58.520 is gonna be around for a while, sitting in landfills, 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:00.120 and rather than recycling it 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:01.400 and turning it into new products, 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:05.620 I'm like, "What do we do if we just transform this material?" 00:04:05.620 --> 00:04:09.640 [Cannupa] These are hockey gloves. 00:04:09.640 --> 00:04:14.280 This is an old crochet blanket. 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:17.440 I maintain a hunter-gatherer of practice 00:04:17.440 --> 00:04:21.040 in the 21st century, but the fields that I navigate 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:23.040 are different. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:25.880 All of the wool that I get secondhand, it's leftover. 00:04:25.880 --> 00:04:29.040 So there's very few things in the making 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:31.720 of any of this work that is dependent 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:34.640 on firsthand manufacturing. 00:04:34.640 --> 00:04:37.320 Anytime I go to a thrift store, if they've got an Afghan 00:04:37.320 --> 00:04:41.400 and I like its color story, I will dive in... 00:04:41.400 --> 00:04:47.480 and it's like navigating the detritus of America. 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:49.480 And it's important to tell these stories 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:53.120 for future generations because a lot of Indigenous cosmology 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:55.360 is based on sustainability. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:58.520 Like, "You are an extension of the land, 00:04:58.520 --> 00:04:59.560 you belong to the land." 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:01.280 Could I imagine a future 00:05:01.280 --> 00:05:05.065 where we all understood that collectively? 00:05:05.065 --> 00:05:09.160 - [newscaster] A protest in North Dakota against a major oil pipeline 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:10.640 continues to grow. 00:05:10.640 --> 00:05:14.520 Over 100 Native American tribes have joined the fight 00:05:14.520 --> 00:05:15.760 against the project, 00:05:15.760 --> 00:05:18.960 saying that it threatens one tribe's water supply 00:05:18.960 --> 00:05:21.265 and its sacred land. 00:05:21.265 --> 00:05:24.720 - [Cannupa VO] In Standing Rock, that was described as protest. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:25.480 But the reality 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:29.120 of that situation was everybody who came there 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:34.760 was standing to protect water more than against oil. 00:05:34.760 --> 00:05:38.320 Seeing a riot police line, 00:05:38.320 --> 00:05:43.560 the gear that they wear is just completely dehumanizing. 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:48.440 And so I was inspired by civil unrest that unfolded 00:05:48.440 --> 00:05:51.880 in Ukraine where people were bringing mirrors 00:05:51.880 --> 00:05:56.520 to the front line so that the police could see themselves. 00:05:56.520 --> 00:06:00.000 I went to a hardware store and designed 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.720 and made these mirrored shields in the parking lot, 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:10.289 and made a video to show how to make them. 00:06:10.289 --> 00:06:10.320 ♪energetic inspiring music♪ 00:06:10.320 --> 00:06:13.120 The main thing is that it's an empathetic response 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:17.040 to violence. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:20.320 ♪♪♪ 00:06:20.320 --> 00:06:22.080 At the time that we were bringing 00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:25.920 500 shields into Standing Rock, the police 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:28.320 and these private security forces, 00:06:28.320 --> 00:06:30.400 they were confiscating anything 00:06:30.400 --> 00:06:34.240 that could be considered a weapon. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:35.600 And we decided 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:39.360 that the best way to hide these pieces 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:44.220 was to utilize my privilege as an artist. 00:06:44.220 --> 00:06:45.760 ♪♪♪ 00:06:45.760 --> 00:06:48.240 And we were like, "No, these aren't shields. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:59.360 It's just an art piece." 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:09.795 [footsteps in gravel] 00:07:09.795 --> 00:07:13.560 - Mm. There were antelope horns on this piece, 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:18.400 and I think I locked moisture in and they exploded. 00:07:18.400 --> 00:07:23.960 The unfortunate thing is they fell on some of my son's work. 00:07:23.960 --> 00:07:28.520 My oldest boy, EO, made this little guy, he says 00:07:28.520 --> 00:07:36.080 it's a monkey, and my youngest, we've got this, 00:07:36.080 --> 00:07:36.400 I don't know, 00:07:36.400 --> 00:07:40.640 it looks like a Texas toast hamburger with a face on it? 00:07:40.640 --> 00:07:54.773 And here's my spider head. 00:07:54.773 --> 00:07:57.920 ♪sparse ethereal music♪ Oh, here's the fam. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:07:59.320 Hey boys. 00:07:59.320 --> 00:08:05.000 [Ginger VO] During the  pandemic, everything shut down. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:07.680 Before that, Cannupa was traveling 80, 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:10.360 80, 90 percent of the time, of the time, 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:13.720 and it wasn't sustainable. 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:17.400 - Thanks guys. 00:08:17.400 --> 00:08:21.880 I don't know where my art practice is different than my life 00:08:21.880 --> 00:08:24.440 and they're a part of my life. 00:08:24.440 --> 00:08:27.080 Hey, if you guys want to make something alongside me 00:08:27.080 --> 00:08:29.240 you can go grab some clay outta my studio. 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:34.360 - [Ginger VO] This past year we've been traveling 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:35.905 with our whole family. 00:08:35.905 --> 00:08:37.320 - [Cannupa VO] We homeschool our children, 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:40.800 had been homeschooling 'em even prior to the pandemic. 00:08:40.800 --> 00:08:41.720 Bringing them along 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:46.520 on these trips is a important part of their education. 00:08:46.520 --> 00:08:50.320 - And we thought that doing 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:53.600 that would create a healthier bond 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:56.200 with all of us. 00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:59.040 [Cannupa] What do they say? 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:01.840 "You've got to get your own house in order... 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:08.360 [chuckling] before you start telling somebody else to clean up." 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:11.560 ♪♪♪ 00:09:11.560 --> 00:09:14.800 I have a hard time with the title of artist, 00:09:15.680 --> 00:09:17.040 that's what you do. 00:09:17.040 --> 00:09:17.680 That's who you are. 00:09:17.680 --> 00:09:18.440 You're an artist. 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.120 You are what you do, right? 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:23.560 So I'm an artist, because I make art. 00:09:23.560 --> 00:09:27.600 And I'm like, "Do I, though?" 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:31.520 I always like to think of myself as an engineer, 00:09:31.520 --> 00:09:35.400 and I talk about bridge-building as an artist. 00:09:35.400 --> 00:09:37.840 And the gap that I'm trying to span is the gap 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:39.800 between all of the different communities 00:09:39.800 --> 00:09:42.680 and cultures that I interact with. 00:09:42.680 --> 00:09:48.400 [Cannupa] So we're just rolling these cubes into spheres, 00:09:48.400 --> 00:09:50.360 and once they're spheres, you'll take one 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:52.480 of these little skewer sticks 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:57.800 and pierce the clay into a bead. 00:09:57.800 --> 00:10:02.560 The grasslands where I'm from are dependent on buffalo. 00:10:02.560 --> 00:10:05.760 And so the 20,000 that are living wild today, 00:10:05.760 --> 00:10:08.120 I thought it would be a great gesture 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:11.400 that we make a bead to represent each of them. 00:10:11.400 --> 00:10:14.560 Even just rolling that clay in your palm, 00:10:14.560 --> 00:10:17.400 there is no two that will be the same. 00:10:17.400 --> 00:10:28.479 And the idea is us in relationship with one another. 00:10:28.479 --> 00:10:30.320 ♪pensive ethereal music♪ [Cannupa VO] So the Bison Bead project is part 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:36.560 of this ongoing series called 'Counting Coup.' 00:10:36.560 --> 00:10:38.800 and the intentions were basically just trying 00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:44.320 to re-humanize data, you know? 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:47.200 The first work in that series is called 'Every One,' 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:49.360 and the number of beads represents missing 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:59.000 and murdered Indigenous relatives. 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:09.191 [bells jingling] 0:10:59.040,1193:02:47.295 00:11:09.191 --> 00:11:12.480 ♪♪♪ Indian and American history aren't told 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:13.600 in an honest format. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.960 They're told as a myth. 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:19.960 It is the myth of the individual 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:23.400 who had to raise themselves up out of nothing. 00:11:23.400 --> 00:11:27.440 - I like the shoulder pads with it. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:29.340 - All right, you got that pod? 00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:31.560 [Ginger] Yeah, I got it. 00:11:31.560 --> 00:11:36.080 I think it comes from a group of men who decided 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.840 that they were no longer gonna be a part of England. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:41.280 They were gonna remove their self 00:11:41.280 --> 00:11:46.480 from their ancestral place, 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:48.960 and the violence that that displacement inflicts 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.640 on everybody else around it, 00:11:51.640 --> 00:11:53.680 you have to have this myth 00:11:53.680 --> 00:11:58.960 in place that justifies the brutality of individualism. 00:12:01.280 --> 00:12:05.041 -Papa. -[Cannupa] Yeah? 00:12:05.041 --> 00:12:05.067 - Do this. [bells jingling] 00:12:05.067 --> 00:12:11.260 [Cannupa VO] But it's just a myth and it's just a story. 00:12:11.260 --> 00:12:15.878 - Okay, that's great. 00:12:15.878 --> 00:12:19.960 - When we do it again, spend a little more time going back 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:23.350 like featuring your back. 00:12:23.350 --> 00:12:24.949 - [sighs] Okay. 00:12:24.949 --> 00:12:30.560 - [Ginger] There is an entire ecosystem around successful artists. 00:12:30.560 --> 00:12:32.400 They're getting support from their partners, 00:12:32.400 --> 00:12:34.800 from their parents, from their friends. 00:12:34.800 --> 00:12:45.010 - Thank you, Ginger! 00:12:45.010 --> 00:12:45.038 ♪curious ethereal music♪ 00:12:45.038 --> 00:12:51.280 - I wanna be artist/game designer/YouTuber. 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:58.840 - All I wanna do when I grow up is figure out 00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:02.640 what I wanna do when I grow up. 00:13:02.640 --> 00:13:07.800 - I believe that when my children are my age, 00:13:07.800 --> 00:13:10.200 the definition and the exploration 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:15.720 of what art is hopefully is so much broader. 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:20.000 It's like, "Can you do whatever you do beautifully in your life? 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.600 Can you make your life beautiful?" 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:28.760 Today we celebrate individuals, we celebrate genius. 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:38.645 But it's not sustainable. 00:13:38.645 --> 00:13:41.626 ♪tender synth music♪ - [Ginger] Careful, buddy. 00:13:41.626 --> 00:13:43.640 - [Cnnupa VO] We are dependent  not just on each other, 00:13:43.640 --> 00:13:49.640 but our relationships to the environment and other species. 00:13:49.640 --> 00:13:51.880 ♪♪♪ 00:13:51.880 --> 00:13:55.480 The truth of our daily lived life is one 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.760 of integration, is one of integrity. 00:14:01.760 --> 00:14:03.960 That's how we survive the future. 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:09.434 ♪ethereal ambient music♪ ♪♪♪ 00:14:44.920 --> 00:14:47.880 Hello, my name is Azikiwe Mohammed. 00:14:47.880 --> 00:14:54.120 I am happy to have been featured by  Art21 in their series New York Close Up. 00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:58.720 As you may or may not have seen,  I do a lot of different stuff, 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:04.320 and trying to explain it to people  can be a little chewy sometimes. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:07.640 Now, I can say I make a lot  of stuff and then point them 00:15:07.640 --> 00:15:09.040 somewhere. 00:15:09.040 --> 00:15:12.320 That is all thanks to Art21. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:15.000 If you like watching people make some stuff, 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:22.680 Art21 is an unlimited 24/7 resource of all  kinds of stuff from all different people. 00:15:22.680 --> 00:15:26.720 There's educational resources,  engaging public programs, 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:31.800 and workshops for teachers that can  help bring art into the classroom, 00:15:31.800 --> 00:15:32.640 which, very often, 00:15:32.640 --> 00:15:35.240 is a burden left on the teachers. 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:39.360 But Art21 helps lift that burden by letting us, 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:41.560 the people who make some of the stuff, 00:15:41.560 --> 00:15:44.760 bring some of the stuff into the classroom 00:15:44.760 --> 00:15:48.960 via the films and resources that Art21 provides 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:50.560 free of charge. 00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:55.200 Art is limitless, and Art21 is for everyone. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:59.080 Please consider giving to Art21  to help make the stuff that 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:01.720 we make through Art21 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:07.000 available for free to everybody  for years and years to come. 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.376 Thank you.