Shana Moulton's Portable Performance | "New York Close Up" | Art21
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0:35 - 0:36How did that look?
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0:37 - 0:37Pretty good?
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0:39 - 0:42Did it seem like I was scrolling my IPad or IPhone?
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0:45 - 0:48So that's the sort of part I need to coordinate
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0:48 - 0:51before I go - is getting that timing right.
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0:51 - 0:54With obviously not your fingers but you whole body.
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0:54 - 0:55Right. Yeah. Right
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0:56 - 0:58This is my wig bag - all wigs.
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1:00 - 1:01Well, and some bags.
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1:06 - 1:12Okay - wig, book light, I think that's it.
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1:12 - 1:13Oh, I have a list.
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1:18 - 1:20I got it!
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1:22 - 1:26So I hadn't been performing so much before I came
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1:26 - 1:30to New York and then I also didn't have a studio then,
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1:30 - 1:32I was so broke when I moved here.
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1:32 - 1:35So, I decided to try to build the set with stuff
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1:35 - 1:38that I could animate on my computer.
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1:40 - 1:44So that was like the first time I made this decision
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1:44 - 1:46to scale down and make this portable performance.
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1:52 - 1:55Um, it's usually like me running around on the
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1:55 - 1:58subway or maybe a car service if I'm feeling
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1:58 - 2:00really glamorous -
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2:00 - 2:04with all my props, you know, on my arms
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2:04 - 2:07and setting up half an hour before
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2:07 - 2:09the performance starts.
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2:29 - 2:31With these performances I don't really know
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2:31 - 2:33exactly how big this projection will be,
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2:33 - 2:35you know, in relationship to my body.
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2:36 - 2:39You know, if I'm like, taller than this projection
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2:39 - 2:40then that's not really going to work.
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2:43 - 2:46The worst is like if I get there and I can't
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2:46 - 2:51test, you know, the DVD in the projection.
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2:52 - 2:53And I hate that feeling
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2:53 - 2:55of not being totally prepared.
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2:56 - 2:57Yeah?
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2:57 - 2:57Yeah.
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2:57 - 2:59Cool!
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3:05 - 3:08You know, at an opening, the attention span is
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3:08 - 3:12you know, at a certain level and something
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3:12 - 3:16a lot longer than ten minutes is just like too long
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3:16 - 3:19or - I mean especially for my work - it's not about -
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3:19 - 3:22it's not really about that kind of challenge.
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3:22 - 3:24How's the makeup looking?
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3:24 - 3:25Gettin' there.
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3:25 - 3:26Okay.
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3:31 - 3:33Sometimes people don't realize that I'm
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3:33 - 3:37in a costume - they just think I'm the wacky woman
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3:39 - 3:40skulking in the back!
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3:41 - 3:42Are you starting?
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3:42 - 3:43Yeah.
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3:43 - 3:44Oh, okay.
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3:44 - 3:46I wanted - I didn't realize you were out here.
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3:46 - 3:47Oh, I'll be right behind you.
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3:47 - 3:48Okay.
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4:17 - 4:19Leading up to the performance is totally
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4:19 - 4:22nerve-wracking but once I've started I love it.
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4:22 - 4:24I'm like having a great time.
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4:41 - 4:43I eat pink!
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4:47 - 4:50[Applause]
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5:00 - 5:04Yeah, it was a nice response, wasn't it?
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5:04 - 5:07Yeah, yeah, it was happy.
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5:07 - 5:09I mean people tend to respond positively,
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5:09 - 5:12you know, for most performance -
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5:12 - 5:17so, I don't know if I can really go off that as,
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5:17 - 5:21you know, a gauge for how successful it really was
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5:21 - 5:24but, I felt all right about it, ya know?
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5:28 - 5:30You know, it's a job.
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5:33 - 5:37As 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 |