Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21
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0:02 - 0:05[Financial District--Manhattan]
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0:08 - 0:13[New York Close Up]
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0:15 - 0:20[Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace Studios]
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0:25 - 0:32["Shana Moulton's Portable Performance"]
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0:35 - 0:38How did that look? Pretty good?
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0:39 - 0:41Did it seem like I was scrolling my iPad or iPhone?
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0:41 - 0:43[Shana Moulton--Artist]
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0:45 - 0:50So that’s...that’s the sort of part I need to coordinate before I go is getting that timing right.
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0:51 - 0:54OFF CAMERA: With obviously not your fingers but your full body? SHANA: Yeah, right.
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0:56 - 1:01This is my wig bag. It’s all wigs. Well, and some bags.
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1:06 - 1:15Okay, wig, book light, I think that’s it. Oh, I have a list.
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1:19 - 1:20I got it.
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1:22 - 1:27So I hadn’t been performing so much before I came to New York.
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1:29 - 1:38And then I also didn’t have a studio then. I was so broke when I moved here, so I decided to try to build the set with stuff that I could animate on my computer.
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1:40 - 1:47So that was like the first time I made this decision to scale down and make this portable performance.
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1:52 - 1:59It’s usually like me running around on the subway or maybe a car service if I’m feeling really glamorous.
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2:01 - 2:09With like all my props, you know on my arms, and uh, setting up half an hour before the performance starts.
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2:09 - 2:12[Bronx River Art Center--Mott Haven, Bronx]
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2:24 - 2:27[Tonight is the opening]
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2:29 - 2:35With these performances I don’t really know exactly how big this projection will be you know in relationship to my body.
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2:36 - 2:40You know if I’m like taller than this projection then that’s not going to really work.
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2:43 - 2:50The worst is like if I get there and I can’t test you know the...the DVD and the projection.
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2:52 - 2:56And I hate that feeling of not being totally prepared.
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3:05 - 3:17You know at an opening the attention span is you know at a certain level and something a lot longer than ten minutes is just like too long or....
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3:17 - 3:22I mean especially for my work it’s not about...it’s not really about that kind of challenge.
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3:23 - 3:25How’s the makeup looking?
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3:25 - 3:26OFF CAMERA: You’re getting there.
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3:26 - 3:28SHANA: Okay. [LAUGHS]
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3:29 - 3:34Sometimes people don’t realize that I’m in a costume. They just think I’m a...the wacky woman skulking in the back.
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3:34 - 3:34Are you starting?
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3:42 -[Erin Riley Lopez--Curator]
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Not SyncedERIN RILEY LOPEZ: Yeah...I wanted to...I didn’t realize you were out here.
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Not SyncedSHANA: I’ll be right behind you.
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Not Synced♪
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Not SyncedLeading up to the performance is totally nerve-wracking, but once I’ve started I love it. I’m like having a great time.
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Not Synced♪
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Not SyncedI eat pink.
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Not Synced[APPLAUSE]
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Not SyncedYeah, it was a nice response, wasn’t it? Yeah, yeah, I was happy. I mean people...
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Not SyncedPeople tend to respond positively for most performance, so I don’t know if I can really go off that as, you know a gauge for how successful it really was but....
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Not SyncedI felt...I felt alright about it. You know.
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Not SyncedYou know it’s...it’s a job.
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Not SyncedAs long as I’m prepared it works out fine.
- Title:
- Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21
- Description:
-
Is being a performance artist just another job? In this film, artist Shana Moulton rehearses and performs "Whispering Pines 7" in the exhibition "Acting Out" at the Bronx River Art Center. In her 14th floor studio at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace, an artist residency program of repurposed offices located in the heart of Wall Street, Moulton gathers up the essential tools of her trade — costume, wig, makeup, DVD — and takes the long uptown subway trip to the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. Her first look at the venue, Moulton uses her limited rehearsal time to scale the video projection and adapt her movements to the confines of the space. The performance showcases, in a condensed and portable form, hallmarks of Moulton's recent work: playfully interacting with fantastical digital animations, unexpected changes in emotional tone, and performing in character as Cynthia — the central protagonist of the ongoing "Whispering Pines" series. Reflecting on the evening's performance, Moulton considers her aesthetic ambitions, audience expectations, and the pragmatics of being an artist in New York.
Shana Moulton (b. 1976, Oakhurst, California, USA) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
CREDITS | "New York Close Up" Created & Produced by: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Editor: Mary Ann Toman. Cinematography: Andrew David Watson. Sound: Nicholas Lindner & Nick Ravich. Associate Producer: Ian Forster. Production Assistant: Paulina V. Ahlstrom, Don Edler & Maren Miller. Design: Open. Artwork: Shana Moulton. Thanks: Bronx River Art Center, Sean Carroll, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Marisa Olsen, Erin Riley-Lopez & Chad Stayrook. An Art21 Workshop Production. © Art21, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.
"New York Close Up" is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Additional support provided by The 1896 Studios & Stages.
For more info: art21.org/newyorkcloseup
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Art21
- Project:
- "New York Close Up" series
- Duration:
- 05:56
JoeArt21 edited English subtitles for Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21 | ||
JoeArt21 edited English subtitles for Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21 | ||
JoeArt21 edited English subtitles for Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21 | ||
JoeArt21 edited English subtitles for Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21 | ||
JoeArt21 edited English subtitles for Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21 | ||
JoeArt21 edited English subtitles for Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21 | ||
JoeArt21 edited English subtitles for Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21 | ||
JoeArt21 edited English subtitles for Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21 |