WEBVTT 00:01.966 --> 00:04.433 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% - Good evening. 00:04.466 --> 00:06.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I'm Sheri Castelnuovo, the Curator of Education, 00:06.466 --> 00:10.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and on behalf of MMoCA's staff and board of trustees, 00:10.133 --> 00:11.766 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% it's my pleasure to welcome you 00:11.800 --> 00:13.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to the Steven Fleischmann Lectureship, 00:13.666 --> 00:15.733 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% featuring Sonya Clark. 00:15.766 --> 00:18.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% The lectureship honors the 25th anniversary 00:18.733 --> 00:21.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of Steven Fleischmann's tenure as Museum Director. 00:21.933 --> 00:23.700 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% Members of MMoCA's Board of Trustees 00:23.733 --> 00:25.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% who served during that time, 00:25.666 --> 00:28.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% funded an endowment to provide for an annual lecture 00:28.866 --> 00:32.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% by individuals who have made exceptional contributions 00:32.200 --> 00:34.066 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% to art and culture. 00:34.100 --> 00:35.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Talks organized for the lectureship 00:35.866 --> 00:38.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% are held each year in April, and have free admission, 00:38.633 --> 00:40.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in recognition of the museum's dedication 00:40.566 --> 00:42.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to providing access to opportunities 00:42.366 --> 00:43.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% for learning and enrichment. 00:44.966 --> 00:46.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We're very fortunate to have, 00:46.266 --> 00:49.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% as our distinguished guest, Sonya Clark. 00:49.166 --> 00:50.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Originally from Washington D.C., 00:50.833 --> 00:53.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and now residing in Amherst, Massachusetts, 00:53.333 --> 00:55.533 align:left position:12.5% line:5% size:77.5% Sonya Clark is internationally celebrated for 00:55.566 --> 00:58.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% conceptually sophisticated, finely crafted work, 00:58.566 --> 01:00.866 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% that builds upon familiar objects: 01:00.900 --> 01:05.000 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% a comb, beads, a dollar bill, a flag. 01:05.033 --> 01:06.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% As she has said, "Objects have personal 01:06.966 --> 01:09.933 align:left position:12.5% line:5% size:77.5% "and cultural meaning, because they absorb our stories, 01:09.966 --> 01:12.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and reflect our humanity back to us." 01:12.933 --> 01:14.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Prior to her current appointment 01:14.266 --> 01:16.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% a Professor of Art at Amherst College, 01:16.500 --> 01:18.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Sonya was a distinguished research fellow 01:18.333 --> 01:19.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in the School of the Arts, 01:19.600 --> 01:21.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% at Virginia Commonwealth University 01:21.733 --> 01:24.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% where from 2006 into 2017, 01:24.566 --> 01:25.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% she served as chair 01:25.833 --> 01:28.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% for the Craft Material Studies Department. 01:28.533 --> 01:31.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% She also was a Baldwin Baskin Professor of Creative Arts 01:31.500 --> 01:33.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% at the University of Wisconsin-Madison 01:33.433 --> 01:36.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% from 2004 to 2006, 01:36.133 --> 01:38.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and was on the Design Studies faculty 01:38.500 --> 01:42.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in the School of Human Ecology from 1997 to 2005. 01:43.000 --> 01:44.633 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% Among the honors she has received 01:44.666 --> 01:47.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% are the 2016 Virginia Commonwealth University's 01:47.666 --> 01:49.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Distinguished Scholars Award, 01:50.000 --> 01:53.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% an honorary doctorate of arts from Amherst College in 2015, 01:53.466 --> 01:55.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and a Distinguished Alumni Award 01:55.666 --> 01:58.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2011. 01:58.533 --> 02:00.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% She is the recipient of a United States 02:00.433 --> 02:03.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Artist's Fellowship, a Pollock Krasner Award, 02:03.733 --> 02:06.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and an Anonymous Was A Woman Award among others, 02:06.133 --> 02:08.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and has held residencies in China, France, 02:09.000 --> 02:11.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Italy, and the United States. 02:11.333 --> 02:13.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Her work has been exhibited in over 350 02:13.866 --> 02:15.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% museums and galleries in the Americas, 02:16.000 --> 02:18.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia, 02:18.800 --> 02:20.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and appears in major public collections, 02:20.566 --> 02:23.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% including the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 02:23.300 --> 02:25.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Quebec, 02:25.800 --> 02:27.333 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 02:27.366 --> 02:30.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Richmond. 02:30.300 --> 02:32.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Sonya also holds a special place in MMoCA's 02:32.466 --> 02:33.566 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% institutional history. 02:33.600 --> 02:36.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% She served on the museum's board of trustees 02:36.300 --> 02:38.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% from 2000 to 2003, 02:38.666 --> 02:40.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and five of her sculptures from the wig series, 02:40.700 --> 02:43.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% are included in MMoCA's permanent collection. 02:43.366 --> 02:46.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% These works reimagine the Fibonacci mathematical series 02:46.533 --> 02:48.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% through the rituals and traditions of African 02:48.666 --> 02:50.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and African American hairstyling, 02:50.566 --> 02:53.233 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% and embody Sonya's exploration of race and identity 02:53.266 --> 02:56.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% through the interplay of material and process. 02:56.533 --> 02:57.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So it's with great pleasure 02:57.966 --> 03:00.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that we welcome Sonya Clark back to MMoCA. 03:00.066 --> 03:03.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Please offer her a warm welcome. 03:03.066 --> 03:06.133 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience applauds) 03:09.733 --> 03:11.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% - Thank you Sheri. 03:11.133 --> 03:15.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience applauds) 03:15.266 --> 03:16.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Hi, good evening. 03:16.533 --> 03:17.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It's so lovely to be here 03:17.866 --> 03:19.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and to see so many familiar faces, 03:19.933 --> 03:21.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% so thank you for coming out. 03:21.466 --> 03:23.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's always nice to have a little bit of a homecoming. 03:23.933 --> 03:29.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This evening I'm going to be jumping all over the map, 03:31.333 --> 03:36.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% in terms of, there won't be any linear trajection. 03:36.033 --> 03:39.466 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% So, and there are no dates on the work, 03:39.500 --> 03:41.500 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% so you'll just have to follow along. 03:41.533 --> 03:43.100 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% (audience laughs) 03:43.133 --> 03:47.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So I want to start by sharing with you 03:48.700 --> 03:52.633 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% this image, 03:52.666 --> 03:58.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and this quote, or this thought. 03:58.033 --> 04:00.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So James Baldwin referred to art 04:00.300 --> 04:03.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% as a kind of a confession. 04:03.200 --> 04:05.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And so actually what I'm going to be doing 04:05.400 --> 04:08.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in the next 45, 50 minutes is confessing to you. 04:10.600 --> 04:13.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% He describes art as a way of examining 04:13.166 --> 04:14.500 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% and facing one's life, 04:14.533 --> 04:19.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% so you can determine how you are connected to others' lives, 04:20.466 --> 04:25.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and then iteratively, those others can discover 04:25.100 --> 04:28.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% the terms by which they too are connected 04:28.333 --> 04:30.700 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% to yet another group of people, 04:30.733 --> 04:32.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and so on, and so on. 04:33.700 --> 04:35.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So kind of everything you need to know about me 04:35.700 --> 04:36.666 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% is in this picture. 04:36.700 --> 04:39.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% This awesome woman was my grandmother. 04:39.666 --> 04:42.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% She is rocking a beautiful white Afro, 04:42.333 --> 04:43.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% which I am waiting to grow. 04:43.766 --> 04:44.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 04:44.900 --> 04:47.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The Afro I have, the white, I don't have that. 04:47.900 --> 04:52.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And she was an itinerant grandmother. 04:52.933 --> 04:55.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% She visited her children in these places, 04:55.666 --> 04:57.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I want you to think about this. 04:57.266 --> 04:58.366 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% So she's from Jamaica, 04:58.400 --> 05:01.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and she visited her children and grandchildren 05:01.500 --> 05:02.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in the United States of America, 05:02.866 --> 05:05.266 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% in Ghana, in the U.K., 05:05.300 --> 05:07.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and of course in Jamaica, 05:07.433 --> 05:10.900 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% all sites of the transatlantic slave trade route. 05:10.933 --> 05:14.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So in my very family, first generation my cousins, 05:14.666 --> 05:16.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% you see resonance from that 05:16.466 --> 05:21.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% terrible part of our history. 05:23.433 --> 05:25.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The other thing that you see is that, 05:25.933 --> 05:27.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% first of all she would hate 05:27.233 --> 05:28.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that I'm showing you this photograph, 05:28.500 --> 05:30.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but she's been an ancestor for a long time, 05:30.600 --> 05:32.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% so she doesn't get to choose. 05:32.266 --> 05:33.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 05:33.733 --> 05:36.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Because she was actually quite an elegant woman, 05:36.066 --> 05:38.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and here she's, you know, in her overalls 05:38.433 --> 05:40.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and stitching at a Singer sewing machine. 05:41.633 --> 05:43.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And that stitching at a Singer sewing machine 05:43.400 --> 05:45.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is the other thing that you need to know about me. 05:45.900 --> 05:48.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So my grandmother when she would visit with us, 05:48.466 --> 05:50.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% she would say, "Come stitch with me 05:50.333 --> 05:53.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "and I'll tell you stories. 05:53.133 --> 05:55.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Come tell me your stories, 05:55.766 --> 05:57.966 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and we'll put it in a stitch." 05:58.000 --> 06:00.333 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% She breathed her stories into me, 06:00.366 --> 06:04.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and so this way of like, hair stories, 06:04.466 --> 06:08.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and textiles infused with cultural pride and social justice, 06:08.333 --> 06:10.666 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% is why I'm here with you today. 06:11.800 --> 06:16.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Now Chummy's last child that joined her as an ancestor 06:16.733 --> 06:18.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% was Lilith Clark. 06:18.566 --> 06:21.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Lilith Clark was my mother who became an ancestor 06:21.666 --> 06:24.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% on August 27th of last year. 06:24.933 --> 06:26.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And the thing about my mother is that 06:26.633 --> 06:27.966 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% she thought it was very strange 06:28.000 --> 06:30.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that she had this daughter who made work with hair, 06:31.000 --> 06:32.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% 'cause you're really not supposed to 06:32.533 --> 06:34.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% mess with your ancestors in that way, right? 06:34.766 --> 06:37.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You know, and your hair is your DNA, 06:37.200 --> 06:39.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and your DNA your ancestors, right? 06:39.566 --> 06:42.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So she was a little like, "I'm not sure about 06:42.100 --> 06:44.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% this work you're makin' with our people." 06:44.066 --> 06:47.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% But she conceded, 06:47.033 --> 06:50.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% where she would save her hair 06:50.900 --> 06:53.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% every time that she would brush her hair, 06:53.866 --> 06:55.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% she would save it in a little Ziploc bag 06:55.900 --> 06:57.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and she would give it to me. 06:57.400 --> 07:00.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And her hair was really salt and pepper. 07:00.633 --> 07:03.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So this piece that you're seeing here 07:03.766 --> 07:05.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% is my studio assistant and I 07:05.933 --> 07:09.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% separating her dark hair from her white hair. 07:09.300 --> 07:10.433 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 07:10.466 --> 07:12.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Which takes a long time, 07:12.100 --> 07:14.066 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% 'cause you have to have a white sheet of paper 07:14.100 --> 07:16.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and a dark sheet of paper, almost like the slide, 07:16.166 --> 07:18.400 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% so you could see where the white hair is. 07:18.433 --> 07:22.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This I'm going to also confess while I'm just in the 07:22.033 --> 07:24.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% realm of confessing, that my studio manager 07:24.366 --> 07:25.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% is much better than I am, 07:25.900 --> 07:28.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% because she would take a hair and cut it in half, 07:28.366 --> 07:30.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% if it was half black and half white, 07:30.100 --> 07:31.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 07:31.266 --> 07:34.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and my quality control is not at that level. 07:34.133 --> 07:36.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 07:36.833 --> 07:40.200 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% But the piece is calledMom's Wisdom or Cotton Candy, 07:40.233 --> 07:43.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because I felt like I was preserving her wisdom, 07:43.066 --> 07:45.066 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% that is to say her white hair. 07:46.600 --> 07:49.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% But also the reference to cotton candy, 07:49.300 --> 07:52.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% both being that the sugar cane fields 07:52.100 --> 07:56.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of her homeland Jamaica, and the sweetness of her wisdom 07:56.033 --> 07:59.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% tucked into her aging and fleeting memory. 08:01.300 --> 08:03.533 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% Now I grew up in Washington D.C., 08:03.566 --> 08:05.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% my parents migrated there, 08:05.233 --> 08:08.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% my mother from Jamaica, my father from Trinidad, 08:08.833 --> 08:11.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and we lived across the street of the, 08:11.266 --> 08:14.300 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% from this grand home, 08:14.333 --> 08:17.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and in that home lived a family of 14. 08:17.700 --> 08:20.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It was a home of Ambassador Ajibade, 08:21.300 --> 08:24.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Ambassador Ajibade was from what is now Benin, 08:24.600 --> 08:26.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in the West African nation of Benin, 08:27.400 --> 08:30.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and when we, when my sister and I would go over there, 08:30.733 --> 08:32.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% we would get our hair done 08:32.733 --> 08:34.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in these magnificent hairstyles, 08:36.166 --> 08:37.633 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% and so from a young age 08:37.666 --> 08:40.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I knew that I was walking with art on my head 08:40.933 --> 08:42.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% because people would stop me 08:42.800 --> 08:45.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and they would tell me how beautiful I was, 08:45.166 --> 08:46.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% but really only when I had 08:46.933 --> 08:48.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% one of these phenomenal hairstyles. 08:48.966 --> 08:50.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 08:50.133 --> 08:51.766 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% So I realized it might not be me, 08:51.800 --> 08:53.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% like I'd grown the material for the art, 08:53.600 --> 08:57.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% but the art was from the hands of these 08:57.166 --> 08:59.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% cool teenagers who were sort of like 08:59.433 --> 09:00.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% young aunties for us, 09:00.833 --> 09:03.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% who would do all these magnificent things 09:03.700 --> 09:04.833 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% on our hair. 09:04.866 --> 09:08.200 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% The Ajibade are Yoruba people, 09:08.233 --> 09:13.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and the Yoruba believed that the seat of the soul 09:13.566 --> 09:16.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% is actually in one's head, 09:16.766 --> 09:19.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% so in that sense, hairdressing is not like a 09:19.466 --> 09:26.066 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% issue of vanity, but really an issue of ritual practice. 09:31.000 --> 09:34.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So the pieces that are just outside in the gallery 09:34.500 --> 09:37.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% are my attempt to try and remember 09:37.133 --> 09:38.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% those fleeting hairstyles, 09:38.600 --> 09:40.900 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% remember the art that once lived on my head. 09:40.933 --> 09:47.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And I should also share with you that 09:47.900 --> 09:50.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% when I was an undergraduate student, 09:50.333 --> 09:54.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I went to a lecture 09:54.600 --> 09:59.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. 10:00.600 --> 10:02.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% At the time I was a student at Amherst College 10:02.700 --> 10:04.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% where I currently teach, 10:04.033 --> 10:06.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and so we knew that the great Jimmy Baldwin 10:06.533 --> 10:08.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% was coming to give a lecture. 10:08.433 --> 10:09.633 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% And years later, 10:09.666 --> 10:11.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% actually when I was a faculty member here, 10:11.766 --> 10:13.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I found this old notebook, 10:13.733 --> 10:18.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and in that notebook I found a quote from James Baldwin, 10:20.000 --> 10:22.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and it was the only quote, 10:22.166 --> 10:25.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in fact it was the only text that was on the paper, 10:25.766 --> 10:28.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% because the rest of it was doodles, 10:28.133 --> 10:30.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I didn't actually think of myself as 10:30.800 --> 10:32.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% being an artist at the time. 10:32.166 --> 10:34.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% I was studying psychology at the time, 10:34.066 --> 10:38.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but his quote was, "We must find our lost crowns 10:38.800 --> 10:40.500 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% and wear them." 10:40.533 --> 10:43.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And so many years later, I find myself here 10:43.500 --> 10:48.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 10:48.100 --> 10:53.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% befriending one of the top African arts historians, 10:54.366 --> 10:59.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Henry Drewal, and discussing Yoruba culture, 10:59.933 --> 11:02.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and making this work. 11:05.300 --> 11:08.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So fast forward to like 2013 or 14, 11:08.333 --> 11:14.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and this idea of thinking about hair and textiles. 11:14.233 --> 11:17.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% What's the connection between the two of them? 11:17.066 --> 11:19.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And I would say that one of the things that I think 11:19.766 --> 11:23.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is the connection is that hairdressing is, perhaps, 11:23.233 --> 11:25.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the first textile art form. 11:25.266 --> 11:27.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Now that's something that a friend of mine, 11:27.766 --> 11:30.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Bill Gaskins, who's a professor at Cornell 11:30.300 --> 11:34.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% once said about my work when he was critiquing, 11:34.800 --> 11:39.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% writing a review of a show that I had with those wigs, 11:39.666 --> 11:40.900 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% the wig series. 11:41.833 --> 11:44.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And I thought, "Oh that's beautiful." 11:44.566 --> 11:47.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Hairdressing as a primordial textile art form. 11:49.133 --> 11:54.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Now that must have been back in the late 90s 11:55.066 --> 11:59.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% that he wrote that, and in about 2013 or so, 11:59.866 --> 12:04.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I decided to put that supposition to work. 12:04.066 --> 12:07.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So I gave hairdressers my head of hair, 12:07.633 --> 12:10.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I also gave them these canvases 12:10.366 --> 12:12.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that were stitched with silk thread, 12:12.566 --> 12:14.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that you see on the right-hand side of the slide, 12:14.700 --> 12:19.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and I said, if there is language between hairdressing 12:19.100 --> 12:20.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and textile arts, 12:20.766 --> 12:24.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% then if I go to the fluent speakers of hairdressing, 12:24.133 --> 12:25.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% then we'll see how fluent they are 12:25.833 --> 12:28.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in the language of textiles. 12:28.566 --> 12:30.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And the Hair Craft Project was born. 12:32.233 --> 12:35.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% I wanted to amplify the voices of hairdressers. 12:35.033 --> 12:36.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% You know there's, 12:36.100 --> 12:39.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the word plait is related to the word plex, 12:39.766 --> 12:42.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% as in complex and having many parts, 12:42.766 --> 12:45.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and this project itself had many parts. 12:45.866 --> 12:48.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It was first shown at a gallery in Richmond, Virginia 12:48.566 --> 12:51.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% where I lived at the time, situated in Old Downtown 12:51.566 --> 12:53.466 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% which had become a new arts district, 12:53.500 --> 12:58.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and the old black salons and barbers 12:58.066 --> 12:59.666 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% were still hanging on. 12:59.700 --> 13:02.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The gentrification was happening. 13:02.766 --> 13:04.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% So in this place of art, 13:04.966 --> 13:06.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I decided to bring this nexus 13:06.633 --> 13:08.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of these two communities. 13:08.233 --> 13:10.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Unfortunately, art community in Richmond, 13:10.933 --> 13:13.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% skewed European American, 13:13.500 --> 13:15.500 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and certainly the hairdressers 13:15.533 --> 13:20.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that I was working with were in African American salons, 13:20.600 --> 13:24.433 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% so they were bringing their clients to the show, 13:24.466 --> 13:27.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% people from the art community 13:27.033 --> 13:29.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% were bringing friends to the show. 13:29.500 --> 13:31.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I belong to both of these communities, 13:31.733 --> 13:35.466 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and people were asked to choose 13:35.500 --> 13:39.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% which canvases and the photographs 13:39.833 --> 13:42.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% from the hairstyles that I was given, 13:42.700 --> 13:44.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% which ones they thought were best. 13:44.833 --> 13:46.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And then we had two jurors, 13:46.766 --> 13:49.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% A'Lelia Bundles who was a great granddaughter 13:49.400 --> 13:50.733 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% of Madame C.J. Walker, 13:50.766 --> 13:53.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% who is famously known for being one of the first 13:53.600 --> 13:56.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% self-made women millionaires. 13:56.600 --> 13:59.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% She also happened to be African American. 13:59.533 --> 14:01.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% She made her millions before she died, 14:01.900 --> 14:05.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% made her million before she died in 1919, 14:05.133 --> 14:09.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% so quite a while ago, 100 years ago. 14:09.800 --> 14:12.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And then the other. 14:14.000 --> 14:17.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And A'Lelia Bundles had also written an autobiography, 14:17.633 --> 14:19.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% not an autobiography, but a biography 14:19.633 --> 14:20.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of her great-grandmother. 14:23.066 --> 14:25.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So she came, and she juried what she thought 14:25.666 --> 14:29.000 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% were the best hairstyles as depicted in the photographs. 14:29.033 --> 14:31.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And then Lowery Sims who was a chief curator 14:31.400 --> 14:33.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City 14:33.866 --> 14:35.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% at that time, juried what she thought 14:35.500 --> 14:37.766 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% were the best canvases. 14:37.800 --> 14:41.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And the popular vote and the jury's vote lined up. 14:43.533 --> 14:45.400 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Just to give you a sense of the show 14:45.433 --> 14:48.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% when it went to Art Prize, 14:48.433 --> 14:52.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and then it won Art Prize, 14:52.966 --> 14:54.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% which surprised everybody 14:54.300 --> 14:58.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and made all of the hairdressers very happy. 14:58.600 --> 15:00.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 15:00.300 --> 15:01.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Because I was writing checks. 15:01.533 --> 15:03.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Of course they all got paid for participating 15:03.533 --> 15:04.966 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% in the show in the first place, 15:05.000 --> 15:06.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and then they got paid again, 15:06.300 --> 15:08.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and then the whole project 15:09.000 --> 15:11.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% was purchased by the MFA in Boston, 15:11.900 --> 15:13.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, 15:13.433 --> 15:15.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and then they got paid again (audience laughs), 15:15.966 --> 15:17.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and then they started saying, 15:17.366 --> 15:18.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "I should give up hairdressing," 15:18.833 --> 15:20.433 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and I said "Don't you do that!" 15:20.466 --> 15:21.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 15:21.866 --> 15:24.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% I said "Let me show you into my art collection. 15:24.866 --> 15:26.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I am the biggest collector of it." 15:26.800 --> 15:29.900 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 15:29.933 --> 15:31.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And you know, I reminded them 15:31.700 --> 15:33.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% that they work on a commissioned art form. 15:33.966 --> 15:37.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% When someone, when they do your hair, 15:37.066 --> 15:39.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% you pay them, that's it. 15:39.266 --> 15:42.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Next, next head, next art. 15:43.233 --> 15:45.700 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% Next exchange. 15:45.733 --> 15:47.566 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% This is a sort of phenomenal work 15:47.600 --> 15:48.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that was done on my head. 15:48.800 --> 15:51.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I apologize to you all right now 15:51.066 --> 15:52.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that I have such boring hair. 15:52.433 --> 15:54.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 15:54.500 --> 15:56.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I no longer live in Richmond, Virginia 15:56.166 --> 15:57.466 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% where I get myself in trouble, 15:57.500 --> 15:59.700 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% 'cause I come to town and people get jealous 15:59.733 --> 16:01.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% as to whose chair I'm going to sit in. 16:03.000 --> 16:04.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But this is Jamila Williams' work, 16:05.000 --> 16:07.800 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% and you can see, there's no doubt 16:07.833 --> 16:11.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that this is a master craftsperson, 16:11.033 --> 16:14.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and that the fluency between textiles 16:14.266 --> 16:16.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and hairdressing is clear. 16:18.133 --> 16:23.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Now this idea of using thread in the place of hair, 16:24.700 --> 16:28.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is something that you saw in those early works in wigs, 16:28.066 --> 16:30.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% in the wig series, that was cotton thread, 16:30.300 --> 16:33.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but also in works like this  16:30.300 --> 16:33.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Ro  otedandUprooted. 16:34.400 --> 16:37.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This idea of the visceral pull of heritage, 16:37.166 --> 16:40.866 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% the sort of West African concept of knowing one's roots 16:40.900 --> 16:42.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% which is rooted in this ability of 16:42.633 --> 16:45.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% whether you can name someone in your family 16:45.933 --> 16:48.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% or trace your lineage back 10 generations. 16:48.833 --> 16:51.866 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% So I wonder how many of you feel like you could do that, 16:51.900 --> 16:53.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% like you could name your, 16:53.866 --> 16:55.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% certain your own generation, that's your name, 16:55.766 --> 16:59.166 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% and then you know, your parents and your grandparents, 16:59.200 --> 17:01.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and your great grands, and your great great grands, 17:01.166 --> 17:02.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and how far back can you go? 17:04.033 --> 17:06.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So the ironic thing is that in my lineage, 17:06.733 --> 17:11.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I can go back about now, 11 generations 17:13.300 --> 17:16.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% on the far less evident side of my heritage, 17:16.933 --> 17:21.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% that is to say my great-grandfather's side of my family 17:21.033 --> 17:22.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% as my great-grandfather was Scottish. 17:22.800 --> 17:24.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% He came from the Highlands of Scotland, 17:24.633 --> 17:27.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% so way back there in the Highlands of Scotland, 17:27.233 --> 17:29.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% knowing my people in the tartan and everything. 17:32.133 --> 17:36.600 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% But you know, I don't identify as a European person, 17:36.633 --> 17:39.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% so the African part of my heritage, 17:39.800 --> 17:41.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% it has been uprooted. 17:45.600 --> 17:47.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So I moved to Richmond, Virginia. 17:49.000 --> 17:52.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Seat of the Confederacy, (man laughs) 17:52.166 --> 17:54.966 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and I lived there for 12 years, 17:55.000 --> 17:57.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and if someone had told this black girl 17:57.066 --> 17:59.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% who grew up in D.C. that I was going to move 17:59.300 --> 18:01.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to Richmond, Virginia and like it, 18:01.766 --> 18:03.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I would have lost that bet, 18:03.266 --> 18:06.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but I really did like living in Richmond, Virginia. 18:06.400 --> 18:10.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% However, I did not like when the governor, 18:10.766 --> 18:15.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% in 2010, Bob McDonnell, decided to proclaim 18:17.733 --> 18:20.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% April as Confederate History Month 18:20.466 --> 18:24.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% without any acknowledgment to the contributions 18:25.866 --> 18:27.766 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% of African peoples, 18:27.800 --> 18:30.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% people of African descent 18:30.766 --> 18:33.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to the wealth of this nation, 18:33.566 --> 18:34.700 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% the wealth of Richmond, 18:34.733 --> 18:35.866 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% the wealth of Virginia, 18:35.900 --> 18:37.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% the wealth of the South, 18:37.433 --> 18:39.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the wealth of this entire nation, 18:39.700 --> 18:41.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and global wealth. 18:42.400 --> 18:46.866 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Nor did he make any acknowledgment of the native peoples 18:46.900 --> 18:48.233 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% and the mass genocide. 18:49.333 --> 18:51.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So I was a little pissy about that. 18:51.033 --> 18:52.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 18:52.233 --> 18:54.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But pissiness can lead to decent art, 18:54.866 --> 18:56.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% so I made this piece, 18:56.300 --> 18:57.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 18:57.366 --> 19:02.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in which I took a Confederate battle flag, 19:02.966 --> 19:05.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% actually I hand-painted this Confederate battle flag, 19:05.666 --> 19:07.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% stitched through it with that same technique 19:07.633 --> 19:09.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of thread through canvas, 19:09.766 --> 19:12.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and then using hairstyling techniques, 19:12.266 --> 19:14.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% very similar to the ones on wigs, 19:14.500 --> 19:17.833 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% that make up the American flag. 19:17.866 --> 19:20.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So you see cornrows, and then the stars 19:20.900 --> 19:24.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that make up the American flag are Bantu knots. 19:24.366 --> 19:26.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So the cornrows are referring to 19:26.600 --> 19:28.366 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% people working the land, right? 19:28.400 --> 19:31.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And the Bantu knots are referring to peoples 19:31.833 --> 19:34.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that have a language, and a culture, 19:34.333 --> 19:37.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and a civilization, 19:38.033 --> 19:39.866 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% and all of that. 19:39.900 --> 19:44.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Now, after making this piece, 19:44.500 --> 19:45.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% which I should also share with you 19:45.900 --> 19:51.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% was in part made because the Museum of Fine Arts 19:51.066 --> 19:53.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% in Richmond, Virginia, on its grounds, 19:53.200 --> 19:55.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% was hanging a Confederate battle flag, 19:55.900 --> 19:57.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and they had taken it down, 19:59.866 --> 20:01.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Governor Bob McDonnell makes a proclamation, 20:01.866 --> 20:04.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I make this piece, flag comes down, 20:04.333 --> 20:08.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and all these "heritage not hate" people 20:08.333 --> 20:09.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% start coming out. 20:09.500 --> 20:11.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "You've taken down our flag," et cetera, et cetera. 20:11.333 --> 20:13.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And then I get an invitation from 20:13.566 --> 20:16.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the Director of the Museum of the Confederacy 20:16.633 --> 20:18.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in Richmond, which I have to admit 20:18.433 --> 20:20.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I'd never been to before, 20:20.400 --> 20:22.166 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and he wanted to share with me 20:22.200 --> 20:24.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that I was, he wanted to educate me 20:24.600 --> 20:25.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% about a couple of things. 20:25.700 --> 20:27.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience chuckles) 20:27.100 --> 20:29.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So one of the things that he wanted to educate me about 20:29.500 --> 20:31.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% was that I was, in short, 20:31.266 --> 20:32.900 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% calling that flag that you saw, 20:32.933 --> 20:36.300 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and that you all know so well, 20:36.333 --> 20:37.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% the Confederate flag. 20:37.566 --> 20:39.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And he said, "Well that's not the Confederate flag. 20:39.600 --> 20:41.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% "That's the Confederate battle flag. 20:41.133 --> 20:45.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "And in fact, there were several Confederate battle flags. 20:45.566 --> 20:47.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "The Confederate flag is square, 20:47.566 --> 20:50.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% "the Confederate battle flag is rectangular, 20:50.233 --> 20:53.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "and here are all these other Confederate flags as well. 20:54.466 --> 20:57.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% "People mistakenly call that one stars and bars. 20:57.866 --> 21:01.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That's not the stars and bars one, there's another one." 21:01.766 --> 21:04.666 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% On and on and on and on. 21:04.700 --> 21:07.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I will admit I learned some things, 21:07.533 --> 21:11.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I also got to encounter one of the 21:11.533 --> 21:16.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% first Confederate battle flags, this one here, 21:16.300 --> 21:18.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% just a portion of it, that you can see 21:18.500 --> 21:19.900 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% it was made out of silk, 21:19.933 --> 21:22.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% as many of those flags were at the time, or wool. 21:22.366 --> 21:27.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And this piece was behind, 21:27.766 --> 21:31.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% it was in a darkened room to protect the textile 21:31.266 --> 21:32.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and behind glass. 21:32.266 --> 21:34.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So the glass became like a mirror, 21:34.866 --> 21:36.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and if you look closely you can see 21:36.533 --> 21:38.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% sort of the top of my head, 21:38.200 --> 21:39.333 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% same shiny head there. 21:39.366 --> 21:41.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 21:41.133 --> 21:45.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And so I saw myself reflected in this tattered cloth. 21:45.500 --> 21:47.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% So when 2015 came about, 21:47.900 --> 21:51.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% which was 150th sesquicentennial 21:51.100 --> 21:53.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of the end of the Civil War, 21:53.100 --> 21:58.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% marked by the Battle at Appomattox, 21:58.700 --> 22:02.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I decided to take a purchased Confederate battle flag 22:02.866 --> 22:05.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% down to its threads, to completely unravel it. 22:05.500 --> 22:09.066 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% So my studio assistants and I did that. 22:09.100 --> 22:12.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% We went about taking it down to its threads, 22:12.800 --> 22:15.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to think about how far we had come as a nation. 22:15.500 --> 22:17.466 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65% If the Confederate-- 22:17.500 --> 22:20.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% If the Civil War had been lost 150 years ago, 22:22.333 --> 22:25.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to the South had lost it 150 years ago, 22:25.166 --> 22:29.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% then how was it that in 2015, 22:29.100 --> 22:31.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% with an African American president, 22:33.200 --> 22:35.733 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% but even with Obama in office, 22:35.766 --> 22:37.833 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% we were witnessing as a nation 22:37.866 --> 22:42.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the atrocities of policing, brutalizing, and murdering 22:42.533 --> 22:44.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of black and brown people, 22:45.800 --> 22:47.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% with our phones on social media. 22:48.800 --> 22:53.566 align:left position:22.5% line:77% size:67.5% So steps ahead and steps backwards, right, simultaneously. 22:54.500 --> 22:56.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Sort of cognitive dissonance of this nation. 22:56.900 --> 22:59.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And that's when I realized that this is the end game 22:59.900 --> 23:01.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% but we really have a lot of work to do. 23:01.966 --> 23:03.600 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% So one of the things that I did 23:03.633 --> 23:06.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% was invite people to join me in the process, 23:06.566 --> 23:10.233 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% in tandem, me only standing on the right side of the flag, 23:10.266 --> 23:12.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% someone else always joining me one at a time 23:12.900 --> 23:16.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in unraveling the Confederate battle flag. 23:17.700 --> 23:20.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I've done several of these performances. 23:20.433 --> 23:22.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% They usually last two or three hours. 23:22.533 --> 23:25.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I spend two or three minutes with each person 23:26.000 --> 23:27.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% who unravels with me. 23:27.033 --> 23:31.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The conversations are deep and interesting 23:31.100 --> 23:33.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and sometimes troubling. 23:33.500 --> 23:35.033 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% Sometimes people come to tears. 23:35.066 --> 23:39.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Sometimes I'm honestly, 'cause I'm confessing, 23:39.166 --> 23:40.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% standing with a friend who's done it before 23:40.966 --> 23:42.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and we're just jabbing about, you know, 23:42.700 --> 23:44.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% like we're having coffee, you know, 23:44.200 --> 23:45.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% just being about the work. 23:45.366 --> 23:49.400 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% And even in two or three hours, 23:49.433 --> 23:51.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% we get through at most, half an inch. 23:51.266 --> 23:53.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience murmuring) 23:53.966 --> 23:57.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So the thing about the Confederacy 23:57.066 --> 24:00.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% is that it lives on with us in this way 24:00.566 --> 24:04.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% that it's like drinking water or breathing air 24:04.033 --> 24:05.166 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% in this nation. 24:05.200 --> 24:08.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I mean, I question why we even know 24:08.966 --> 24:11.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% one of the Confederate battle flags so well. 24:11.833 --> 24:14.066 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% I think, I suspect you all know the answer. 24:14.100 --> 24:17.100 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% It's the Ku Klux Klan. 24:20.033 --> 24:22.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And then I think like 24:22.266 --> 24:25.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% what other ways has the Confederacy sort of 24:25.666 --> 24:29.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% gone into our every day? 24:29.900 --> 24:31.200 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% So here's a confession. 24:31.233 --> 24:36.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I rode this rollercoaster when I was a teenager. 24:38.100 --> 24:43.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And it was the rollercoaster we all wanted to ride. 24:43.666 --> 24:47.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So in between D.C. and Richmond, Virginia 24:47.500 --> 24:50.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% was this theme park called King's Dominion. 24:50.566 --> 24:53.900 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% And at King's Dominion, 24:53.933 --> 24:56.933 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% we all wanted to get on this fabulous wooden rollercoaster, 24:56.966 --> 25:02.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and a group of kids were in one car, 25:02.233 --> 25:04.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and another group of kids were in another car, 25:04.533 --> 25:07.400 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% and we were young enough that no one was old enough to drive 25:07.433 --> 25:09.300 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% so we're all going down, 25:09.333 --> 25:12.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and there was a boy I had a crush on, 25:12.366 --> 25:14.300 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and I got my first kiss. 25:14.333 --> 25:16.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I associated that first kiss 25:16.433 --> 25:18.166 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% with riding this rollercoaster. 25:18.200 --> 25:19.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 25:23.133 --> 25:26.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% This rollercoaster when we stand in a long line 25:26.366 --> 25:29.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% on a hot summer day, we finally get on it, 25:29.833 --> 25:32.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and the person who sort of buckles you in 25:32.833 --> 25:38.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% says, "Okay, now scream as loud as you can scream. 25:40.300 --> 25:41.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Give the rebel yell." 25:41.966 --> 25:43.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience sighs) 25:44.866 --> 25:47.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And so this kind of insidiousness is something that 25:47.933 --> 25:53.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% we have to see, contend with, and work against, 25:53.933 --> 25:55.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and resist every day. 25:56.800 --> 26:00.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I'm assuming that all of you, more or less, 26:01.000 --> 26:03.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% could draw a Confederate flag right now. 26:03.400 --> 26:04.366 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Is that true? 26:04.400 --> 26:06.200 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% I mean not that you'd want to, 26:06.233 --> 26:07.566 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% but you know it, right? 26:07.600 --> 26:09.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Like, when I showed it, you knew what it was. 26:09.766 --> 26:13.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% You weren't like "What flag is that?" right? 26:14.566 --> 26:16.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I'm wondering if any of you know what this is? 26:17.800 --> 26:20.566 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% This is the Confederate truce flag. 26:20.600 --> 26:24.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is the piece of cloth that ended the Civil War. 26:24.200 --> 26:26.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is the piece of cloth that we should all know, 26:26.466 --> 26:28.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% but we don't know it, right? 26:28.700 --> 26:30.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% We don't know it. 26:30.200 --> 26:32.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It's a simple, humble, dish cloth 26:32.433 --> 26:34.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that was woven in Richmond, Virginia, 26:34.833 --> 26:38.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and was used as a truce or surrender flag by Lee, 26:38.166 --> 26:40.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% at Appomattox because it was a white cloth. 26:40.700 --> 26:41.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% We can recognize it, 26:41.966 --> 26:45.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because it has these simple three little lines, right? 26:45.233 --> 26:46.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Without those three little red lines 26:46.933 --> 26:48.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% we might not recognize it. 26:48.533 --> 26:51.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But it's got this humble little design element. 26:51.200 --> 26:54.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% It was a cloth made to absorb things, right? 26:54.066 --> 26:56.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% It wasn't a cloth made to be a flag. 26:56.566 --> 26:59.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It was a cloth that moved from domestic space 26:59.233 --> 27:00.766 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to the battlefield. 27:00.800 --> 27:04.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But it, this humble cloth, ended the Civil War. 27:04.200 --> 27:08.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Now, you're only looking at half the cloth. 27:09.166 --> 27:11.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% This half lives at the Smithsonian 27:11.133 --> 27:12.366 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% in the American History Museum. 27:12.400 --> 27:14.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I didn't have to dig deep to find it. 27:14.200 --> 27:17.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% It was just on display, but we don't know it. 27:17.200 --> 27:18.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It was next to Lincoln's top hat. 27:18.700 --> 27:20.400 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% You all know Lincoln's top hat, right? 27:20.433 --> 27:23.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 27:23.900 --> 27:26.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Why isn't this the symbol that endured? 27:27.833 --> 27:31.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So it's half because in sort of truce surrender politics 27:31.800 --> 27:33.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% you cut the cloth in half, and this half 27:33.933 --> 27:38.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% actually was owned by Custer, and then Custer's wife 27:38.933 --> 27:40.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% gave it to the Smithsonian. 27:40.633 --> 27:42.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Someone in that family gave it to the Smithsonian. 27:42.466 --> 27:46.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So the flag that we could say brought the nation together 27:46.133 --> 27:47.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% has actually been divided in half. 27:49.266 --> 27:52.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So my first charge was to acknowledge that it 27:52.933 --> 27:55.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% should be thought of as a monument, 27:55.566 --> 27:57.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and to make this piece calledMonumental Cloth 27:57.566 --> 28:00.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% which is true-to-scale of the dish cloth, 28:00.500 --> 28:02.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% but to stitch the two halves together, 28:02.200 --> 28:04.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and to suture them to really think of it as 28:04.266 --> 28:07.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% like the body of the nation. 28:07.066 --> 28:08.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% But my most recent show, 28:08.666 --> 28:10.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% one that just opened a few weeks ago, 28:10.766 --> 28:12.866 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% which is called, again, 28:12.900 --> 28:15.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Monumental Cloth: The Flag We Should Know, 28:17.466 --> 28:19.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% is my push back at what would it be like 28:20.000 --> 28:23.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% if this really were the symbol that endured 28:23.033 --> 28:25.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in our consciousness as a nation? 28:27.633 --> 28:29.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So the Fabric Workshop and Museum 28:29.600 --> 28:31.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% who collaborated with me on this project 28:31.933 --> 28:35.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% went about hand weaving many of these 28:35.733 --> 28:38.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% true-to-scale dish cloths, 28:38.166 --> 28:41.400 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% so there are 100 of them in the exhibition. 28:41.433 --> 28:44.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And I also truly wanted to make one monumental, 28:44.266 --> 28:47.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% so this one is 15 by 30 feet, 28:47.900 --> 28:50.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% not quite as large as the Star Spangled Banner, 28:50.266 --> 28:52.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% but pretty damn big. 28:52.433 --> 28:54.033 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 28:54.066 --> 28:56.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Now you see that red wall in the back? 28:58.033 --> 29:00.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So you can't read it, but it says 29:00.933 --> 29:03.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Monumental Cloth: the Flag We Should Know. 29:03.066 --> 29:05.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% It's the title wall. 29:05.366 --> 29:07.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% The very final hours before the, 29:07.833 --> 29:09.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% couple days before the show opened, 29:09.800 --> 29:11.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% that wall was white, 29:11.533 --> 29:13.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and we know something was off in the space, 29:13.466 --> 29:14.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% so they brought me in, you know, 29:14.966 --> 29:16.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I'm there for the opening, 29:16.066 --> 29:17.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and they said, "What should we do?" 29:17.566 --> 29:19.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and I said "Well, color solves everything." 29:19.166 --> 29:21.766 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience chuckles) 29:21.800 --> 29:24.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I said let's take those three little red stripes, 29:24.666 --> 29:26.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% you know we've madder dyed them so they're 29:26.500 --> 29:31.566 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% true to the real color, madder root dyed them. 29:32.500 --> 29:34.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Let's take a little bit of that thread 29:34.166 --> 29:35.900 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% that we used for theMonumental 29:35.933 --> 29:40.800 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% and for theManypiece, and let's go to the paint store, 29:40.833 --> 29:42.433 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and paint this wall red. 29:42.466 --> 29:44.833 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% And I got a little bit of like, 29:44.866 --> 29:45.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Ah, you think red'll work?" 29:45.966 --> 29:47.333 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% I said "Red is the only color. 29:47.366 --> 29:48.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Can't be any other color, 29:48.566 --> 29:50.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "'cause if it's blue then then it's too patriotic. 29:50.366 --> 29:52.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "It's got to be red, it's got to be red, 29:52.400 --> 29:53.533 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% just go with the red." 29:53.566 --> 29:55.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So someone from the Fabric Workshop and Museum 29:55.233 --> 29:57.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% goes to Benjamin Moore, we all love Benjamin Moore. 29:57.566 --> 29:59.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You're not going to like them so much 29:59.233 --> 30:00.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% at the end of this story, sorry. 30:00.700 --> 30:01.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 30:01.866 --> 30:03.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Sorry, I'm just warning you. 30:04.733 --> 30:07.100 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% So Alec goes to Benjamin Moore, 30:10.600 --> 30:12.700 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% matching this linen that's red, 30:12.733 --> 30:17.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% this linen thread that's dyed in this madder root red, 30:17.733 --> 30:20.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and he texts us back at the museum, 30:20.066 --> 30:21.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and he says, "You're not going to believe this. 30:22.000 --> 30:23.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% "There are three colors that are close, 30:23.400 --> 30:25.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% "but the perfect color matches this red. 30:25.633 --> 30:27.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Guess what it's called." 30:27.633 --> 30:29.133 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% (audience chatters and laughs) 30:36.533 --> 30:38.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And this is how this lives on, right? 30:38.933 --> 30:41.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% So Alec couldn't believe it. 30:41.766 --> 30:43.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I mean first of all, then we had to paint 30:43.866 --> 30:45.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the wall this color, right? 30:45.033 --> 30:46.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 30:46.266 --> 30:48.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And then we had to put this at the base of the wall, 30:48.933 --> 30:50.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% 'cause now the wall is part of the piece, 30:50.766 --> 30:52.133 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% you know what I mean? 30:52.166 --> 30:53.366 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% That's part of, right? 30:53.400 --> 30:54.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - [Man In Audience] Right. 30:54.566 --> 30:56.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - So Alec is like "I cannot believe 30:56.200 --> 30:57.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "there's a Confederate red. 30:57.366 --> 30:58.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I just cannot believe it." 30:58.400 --> 30:59.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% So he goes online. 30:59.766 --> 31:01.033 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% So he had the paint chip 31:01.066 --> 31:03.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and the paint chip says Confederate Red, this color. 31:03.766 --> 31:06.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% He looks it up and it's been renamed 31:06.133 --> 31:08.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to Patriotic Red. 31:08.666 --> 31:11.133 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% Is that better? 31:11.166 --> 31:12.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience chuckles) 31:12.900 --> 31:15.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And back in 2014, and you can look this up, 31:15.533 --> 31:18.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% there's someone who worked for Benjamin Moore 31:18.600 --> 31:20.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that brought a lawsuit against them, 31:20.033 --> 31:23.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because he's a brown man, and they named a color after him, 31:23.866 --> 31:27.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% like if they named a color Chocolate Sonya 31:27.733 --> 31:29.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and they didn't talk to me about it. 31:29.400 --> 31:30.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 31:30.566 --> 31:31.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Like really problematic. 31:31.633 --> 31:34.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And in that lawsuit, in this article, 31:34.800 --> 31:38.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% it says that, you know, he said, 31:38.100 --> 31:42.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Just in case you all think that I'm being sensitive, 31:42.200 --> 31:45.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "Benjamin Moore has on their website 31:45.566 --> 31:47.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "this color called Confederate Red, 31:47.500 --> 31:49.966 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and they refer to it as an enduring classic." 31:53.033 --> 31:56.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So this is the propaganda that we're about, right? 31:56.133 --> 31:58.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Like this is what lives on in this nation, 31:58.700 --> 32:00.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% so I really wanted to dig at this, 32:00.866 --> 32:05.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% so also in the show, aligning with those three red stripes, 32:05.866 --> 32:08.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% we did some research to come up with 32:08.133 --> 32:10.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% all the merchandise that you can purchase online 32:10.366 --> 32:12.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% that has a Confederate battle flag. 32:12.366 --> 32:14.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience murmuring) 32:14.833 --> 32:16.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It is an exhaustive list. 32:16.466 --> 32:18.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I had to stop at 200. 32:19.000 --> 32:20.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I had to stop at 200. 32:20.200 --> 32:23.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In case you're wondering, you can buy a yoga mat 32:25.100 --> 32:26.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% with a Confederate battle flag on it, 32:27.000 --> 32:31.733 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% a baby onesie, bikini, 32:32.666 --> 32:36.766 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and also a dishcloth. 32:39.200 --> 32:41.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So I performed this piece calledReversals, 32:41.333 --> 32:42.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and this I the only place in which 32:42.966 --> 32:44.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% a Confederate battle flag appears 32:44.933 --> 32:46.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% inMonumental Cloth: The 32:44.933 --> 32:46.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Fl  32:44.933 --> 32:46.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% ag You Should Know. 32:48.266 --> 32:53.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I am dressed in this clothing 32:55.866 --> 32:59.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% borrowed from a famous photograph 32:59.133 --> 33:01.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that I'll show you in a bit. 33:02.266 --> 33:04.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I am kneeling on one knee, 33:05.000 --> 33:09.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% to conjure the idea of Colin Kaepernick, 33:09.733 --> 33:13.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I am cleaning the floor that is dirtied 33:13.766 --> 33:16.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% with dust gathered from Independence Hall 33:16.500 --> 33:19.966 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and the Declaration House in Philadelphia, 33:20.000 --> 33:22.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and as I clean the floor, 33:22.633 --> 33:26.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the Declaration of Independence appears. 33:26.333 --> 33:28.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And I am cleaning the floor 33:28.100 --> 33:31.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% with merchandise that you can purchase online 33:31.233 --> 33:33.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 33:33.633 --> 33:38.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% a dishcloth or a towel, that is printed with 33:38.566 --> 33:41.500 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% the Confederate battle flag. 33:44.033 --> 33:48.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So this is the image of my dress. 33:49.133 --> 33:51.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% This dress was made after Ella Watson, 33:51.700 --> 33:53.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the famous Gordon Parks photograph 33:54.000 --> 33:58.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that got renamedAmerican 33:54.000 --> 33:58.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Go  33:54.000 --> 33:58.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% thic, taken in 1942. 33:59.700 --> 34:02.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And I wanted to embody Ella Watson, 34:02.033 --> 34:06.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% who has this full life as a full human being 34:06.700 --> 34:08.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% who is cleaning up, 34:11.066 --> 34:16.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and to honor all the domestic laborers in this world, 34:17.066 --> 34:18.766 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% in this nation, farm laborers, 34:18.800 --> 34:22.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% domestics, teachers, nurses. 34:22.700 --> 34:27.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Many women in my family have held those kinds of positions 34:27.800 --> 34:31.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and that's the other reason that I'm here before you. 34:31.866 --> 34:35.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So that's about it for that project. 34:35.500 --> 34:36.700 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% There's some more pieces to it, 34:36.733 --> 34:39.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but just in the interest of time, I'll move forward. 34:39.100 --> 34:41.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I made this piece called  Edifice and Mortar 34:41.666 --> 34:44.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and it's connected to the idea of labor, 34:44.066 --> 34:47.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and also the idea of empire building. 34:47.733 --> 34:50.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I hope you can see that it, too, is 34:50.200 --> 34:55.766 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% making reference to a flag, perhaps an upside down flag. 34:56.933 --> 35:01.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% The bricks, the brick wall is 13 bricks high, 35:01.066 --> 35:04.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% to make reference to the 13 stripes. 35:04.166 --> 35:07.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The bricks are stamped with: We hold these truths 35:07.200 --> 35:10.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to be self evident, that all men are-- 35:10.200 --> 35:11.633 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% - [All] Created equal. 35:11.666 --> 35:15.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - Yes, one of the big paradoxes of our nation. 35:16.200 --> 35:19.500 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% That you know, with pursuit of 35:19.533 --> 35:24.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% life, liberty, and happiness (Sonya chuckles), 35:25.533 --> 35:27.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and yet that's not true for all people in this nation, 35:27.866 --> 35:32.733 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% so an edifice is not only a large and imposing building, 35:33.666 --> 35:35.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% it's also a complex system of beliefs, 35:35.466 --> 35:41.300 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and the mortar here is made to, 35:41.333 --> 35:45.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% gathered from the hair of African American salons 35:45.500 --> 35:47.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in Richmond, 'cause I have a lot of 35:47.766 --> 35:50.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% salon friends in Richmond. 35:50.733 --> 35:54.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And the idea is that the mortar is at once, 35:54.533 --> 35:56.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% representing black people that are 35:56.900 --> 35:58.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% held under the weight of the system, 35:58.566 --> 36:01.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% but also are responsible for building 36:01.366 --> 36:03.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the wealth of the nation at the same time. 36:04.666 --> 36:06.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% If you're not familiar with this, 36:06.433 --> 36:10.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% this is an example of an ancient Roman brick stamp, 36:10.200 --> 36:12.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I'm showing it to you because it, 36:12.366 --> 36:17.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and the next slide, tie into the back of the piece, 36:17.666 --> 36:19.300 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Edifice and Mortar. 36:19.333 --> 36:22.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% These ancient Roman brick stamps, 36:22.200 --> 36:25.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and this one is from 2 B.C., 36:25.933 --> 36:30.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the outside of the crescent would have the name of the 36:30.866 --> 36:32.500 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% person who owned the clay pit. 36:32.533 --> 36:35.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The next inner circle would have the name of the person 36:35.433 --> 36:37.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% who owned the enslaved person 36:37.466 --> 36:39.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% who was making the bricks, 36:39.066 --> 36:41.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and in this particular one, COS is the name 36:41.766 --> 36:44.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% of the enslaved person in ancient Rome. 36:44.366 --> 36:47.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Now in ancient Rome race didn't play 36:47.033 --> 36:49.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in the way that it does in this nation, 36:49.466 --> 36:50.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% or in the history of this nation, 36:50.866 --> 36:52.833 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% or certainly in the history of 36:52.866 --> 36:54.633 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% the transatlantic slave trade. 36:54.666 --> 36:57.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But certainly slavery is what built the Roman Empire, 36:59.933 --> 37:02.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I would say slavery is what built 37:02.200 --> 37:06.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the American Empire, and yes, I called it an empire. 37:06.833 --> 37:09.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And it's also, Richmond and many of our cities, 37:09.700 --> 37:12.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% our older cities, are brick cities as well, 37:12.766 --> 37:18.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and so this is, and you can see maybe in that middle brick, 37:18.233 --> 37:21.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% those old hand prints, impressions left 37:21.500 --> 37:24.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% by an enslaved African American in the still wet bricks, 37:24.966 --> 37:28.533 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% and these were people who were forced to make bricks 37:28.566 --> 37:33.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% for those slave quarters that still exist 37:33.633 --> 37:38.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% at Historic Stagville in North Carolina. 37:38.233 --> 37:40.133 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% In what was then, 37:40.166 --> 37:44.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the largest antebellum plantation complex in the state. 37:45.700 --> 37:48.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So the back of the piece has this. 37:48.366 --> 37:50.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You can see it has this crescent shape 37:51.000 --> 37:56.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that is making reference to the ancient Roman brick stamps. 37:56.866 --> 37:59.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And hopefully you can also see that 37:59.366 --> 38:01.666 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% it kind of looks like an Afro? 38:01.700 --> 38:02.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience murmuring) 38:02.866 --> 38:04.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Yeah, that part is obvious. 38:04.500 --> 38:07.466 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% And then are there any Italian speakers in the house? 38:07.500 --> 38:10.266 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Yeah, okay. 38:10.300 --> 38:13.766 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% So, for the non-Italian speakers, 38:13.800 --> 38:17.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% if I said ciao, would you know what that meant? 38:17.466 --> 38:18.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience murmuring) 38:18.666 --> 38:21.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Yeah, okay, so everybody knows ciao, right? 38:21.633 --> 38:23.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So ciao is a greeting that means hello or goodbye. 38:24.000 --> 38:25.500 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% That's the way we think of it. 38:25.533 --> 38:29.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Ciao is directly derived from this word schiavo, 38:29.966 --> 38:32.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% which is an Italian word, 38:32.366 --> 38:34.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and would one of the Italian speakers 38:34.033 --> 38:36.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% like to tell us what that word means? 38:36.433 --> 38:38.766 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% - [Woman] Slave. - Schiavo means slave. 38:38.800 --> 38:41.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So when we are saying ciao to one another, 38:41.066 --> 38:43.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% you know, 'cause we're all so cosmopolitan, 38:43.866 --> 38:47.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% (audience chuckles) we're actually saying I'm your slave, 38:47.533 --> 38:49.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I'm in your service. 38:49.366 --> 38:51.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And that's that kind of interesting slippage 38:51.733 --> 38:53.100 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% that happens, you know. 38:53.133 --> 38:55.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Roman Empire slips into our language, 38:55.733 --> 38:58.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and suddenly we're saying ciao, right? 38:58.066 --> 39:00.833 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% I'm your slave. 39:00.866 --> 39:02.233 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% And just to work that through, 39:02.266 --> 39:04.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% so you understand, so schiavo, right? 39:04.733 --> 39:09.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In Venice it would be sort of softened to shiao, 39:09.300 --> 39:12.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and you see how we get to ciao from that. 39:15.200 --> 39:18.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Well I didn't get here and mourn for this guy. 39:18.033 --> 39:21.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 39:21.900 --> 39:23.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% But it's problematic, right? 39:23.933 --> 39:25.566 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% You know the great emancipator 39:25.600 --> 39:27.333 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% was making an economic decision 39:27.366 --> 39:29.000 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% which is why he's on a $5 bill, 39:29.033 --> 39:32.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and why I sell these pieces for a lot more than $5. 39:32.500 --> 39:33.766 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 39:33.800 --> 39:35.600 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% It's another kind of reversal. 39:35.633 --> 39:37.366 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% Just tryin' to get reparations. 39:37.400 --> 39:42.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs heartily) 39:43.400 --> 39:46.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And also just to think as it 39:46.066 --> 39:48.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% relates to my particular family, 39:48.033 --> 39:50.566 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% this piece encrusted in which, 39:50.600 --> 39:53.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I grew sugar crystals on a five dollar bill 39:53.266 --> 39:56.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and I hope that this piece sort of seduces your eye 39:56.666 --> 40:00.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and your tongue, like it is really rock candy. 40:00.866 --> 40:04.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And that is exactly what was happening 40:04.533 --> 40:06.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% with the slave trade route as it relates 40:06.333 --> 40:08.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to the Caribbean and to the southern parts 40:08.566 --> 40:09.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of the United States of America. 40:09.933 --> 40:13.900 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Places like New Orleans, 40:13.933 --> 40:16.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% which had big sugar plantations as well. 40:16.733 --> 40:18.766 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% It was a drug of trade, 40:18.800 --> 40:20.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and sugar was more valuable than the people 40:20.766 --> 40:23.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% who worked the land. 40:23.633 --> 40:24.766 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% So the seduction there. 40:24.800 --> 40:30.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And also this notion that there's a way in which 40:30.566 --> 40:34.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Lincoln's legacy can be sugarcoated. 40:34.400 --> 40:39.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Like yes, he emancipated the slaves 40:39.166 --> 40:40.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% or enslaved people, grateful, 40:40.666 --> 40:43.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% it was also complicated. 40:45.400 --> 40:48.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So I want to share with you this use of sugar. 40:48.700 --> 40:50.233 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% This piece is called  Sugar Freed, 40:50.266 --> 40:51.933 align:left position:12.5% line:5% size:77.5% and it's made from pastillage. 40:51.966 --> 40:56.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Pastillage is a sugar paste popularized by Queen Victoria 40:56.800 --> 40:58.400 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% in the late 1800s, 40:58.433 --> 41:03.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and the form of these teeth is inspired by Nanny, 41:03.366 --> 41:07.233 align:left position:22.5% line:5% size:67.5% and many of you, maybe Faizal would know this, 41:07.266 --> 41:11.400 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% Nanny was the equivalent of Sojourner Truth 41:11.433 --> 41:12.500 align:left position:32.5% line:5% size:57.5% but in Jamaica. 41:12.533 --> 41:16.333 align:left position:22.5% line:5% size:67.5% She was a African woman who was captured, 41:16.366 --> 41:20.333 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% and then she emancipated herself, 41:20.366 --> 41:22.666 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% and ran to the hills, 41:22.700 --> 41:25.133 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% became part of the Maroon Kingdom there, 41:25.166 --> 41:29.733 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% and helped free other enslaved people in the Caribbean. 41:29.766 --> 41:35.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Eduardo Galeano wrote this prose poem, 41:35.233 --> 41:37.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Queen of the Free" to her. 41:37.966 --> 41:41.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "It happens in the first half of the 18th century. 41:41.266 --> 41:43.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "The international division of labor 41:43.366 --> 41:48.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "decides that Jamaica exists to sweeten Europe's table. 41:48.166 --> 41:51.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "The land produces sugar, sugar, and more sugar. 41:51.533 --> 41:54.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "In Jamaica, as in Brazil, diversity of diet 41:54.866 --> 41:58.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "is a privilege of those who escape. 41:58.033 --> 42:00.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "Although fertile land is hard to find 42:00.100 --> 42:01.766 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% "in the high mountains, 42:01.800 --> 42:04.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% "the Maroons figure out how to grow everything, 42:04.266 --> 42:06.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "and even raise pigs and chickens. 42:06.900 --> 42:09.866 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% "Hidden here, they see without being seen. 42:09.900 --> 42:12.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "They sting and then they vanish. 42:12.833 --> 42:15.166 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% "In the windward blue mountains 42:15.200 --> 42:18.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "Nanny has her temple and her throne. 42:18.300 --> 42:20.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "She is queen of the free. 42:20.766 --> 42:23.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "Once a machine for birthing slaves, 42:23.500 --> 42:25.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% "now she wears necklaces 42:25.266 --> 42:29.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% made of the teeth of English soldiers." 42:34.766 --> 42:37.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% I worked with one of my hairdressing friends 42:37.700 --> 42:41.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% who was cutting off the dreadlocks of one of her clients. 42:41.033 --> 42:43.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And I said, if you have anybody who decides to 42:43.066 --> 42:44.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% cut off their dreadlocks, 42:44.300 --> 42:46.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and they don't have any problem with their dreadlocks 42:46.933 --> 42:49.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% then going to an artist who might put the piece 42:49.966 --> 42:52.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% into the art market, all of that, 42:53.866 --> 42:56.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% then please let me know. 42:56.733 --> 42:58.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And so she did this. 42:58.100 --> 43:01.800 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% She cut off some clients' dreadlocks and gave them to me 43:01.833 --> 43:03.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and so I had all these dreadlocks, 43:03.266 --> 43:04.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and I put them dreadlock to dreadlock 43:04.833 --> 43:06.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% so that it made this long length, 43:06.300 --> 43:09.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and it didn't measure anything meaningful to me. 43:09.466 --> 43:10.933 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% And I kept trying to figure out 43:10.966 --> 43:13.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% what to do with that measurement. 43:13.366 --> 43:18.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And so eventually I just turned it into this skein, 43:19.366 --> 43:20.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% this ball of yarn, 43:22.133 --> 43:23.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I thought, well, does the size 43:24.000 --> 43:25.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% of the ball of yarn mean anything? 43:25.733 --> 43:26.866 align:left position:42.5% line:89% size:47.5% No, no. 43:26.900 --> 43:29.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% 'Cause I wanted to assign something 43:29.133 --> 43:32.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that had meaning to all of these hairs, 43:32.033 --> 43:33.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to the length of it. 43:33.366 --> 43:37.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And then I just went to something that I know about hair. 43:39.766 --> 43:41.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% If you grow hair like I do, 43:41.600 --> 43:47.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% then you probably have about 80,000 follicles 43:47.533 --> 43:51.166 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% on your scalp. 43:51.200 --> 43:52.733 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Eighty thousand. 43:52.766 --> 43:54.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So if you cut off all your dreadlocks 43:54.366 --> 43:56.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that's like 80,000 follicles, you know, 43:56.666 --> 43:58.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and some more hairs of course 43:58.500 --> 44:02.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that are comprised in this piece. 44:05.300 --> 44:08.333 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% 80,000 was a meaningful number to me, 44:08.366 --> 44:13.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% because 80,000 is the number of unknown, 44:14.700 --> 44:18.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% well, the number of people that, 44:18.166 --> 44:20.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in the height of slavery, 44:20.600 --> 44:22.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% were forcibly migrated in one year. 44:26.933 --> 44:29.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So how big is UW-Madison? 44:29.666 --> 44:31.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% (audience members murmur and answer) 44:31.866 --> 44:33.800 align:left position:42.5% line:89% size:47.5% 40,000. 44:33.833 --> 44:34.966 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% - [Man In Audience] 44. 44:35.000 --> 44:39.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - 44,000, so take all the students at UW-Madison, 44:40.433 --> 44:42.400 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% double that, all of those people, 44:44.333 --> 44:46.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% subjected to transatlantic slavery. 44:48.033 --> 44:49.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Put into slavery by Africans, 44:50.000 --> 44:53.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% taken by Europeans, subjected to slavery 44:53.700 --> 44:55.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% all over the world. 45:00.200 --> 45:02.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So I'm often thinking about race 45:02.466 --> 45:06.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and race designation, because it's a construct. 45:06.933 --> 45:09.000 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% We know this. 45:10.100 --> 45:14.666 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And this sort of, 45:15.600 --> 45:17.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% let me explain to you how much I think about it 45:17.933 --> 45:18.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% as being a construct. 45:19.000 --> 45:20.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So, remember before when I told you 45:20.633 --> 45:23.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that my great-grandfather is Scottish? 45:23.200 --> 45:27.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Right, but I bet none of you when I'm standing here 45:27.200 --> 45:30.500 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% are thinking, yes, it's a nice Scottish lass, right? 45:30.533 --> 45:32.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I mean it's just not really how we do it 45:32.666 --> 45:33.900 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% in the US right? 45:34.933 --> 45:37.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And yet I think about the notion of passing, right, 45:37.700 --> 45:40.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and even though the complications within that notion 45:40.666 --> 45:42.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% that people would accuse 45:42.233 --> 45:45.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% an African American person of passing. 45:45.100 --> 45:49.733 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% Now in order for someone to pass, 45:49.766 --> 45:52.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% they would have to understandably 45:52.633 --> 45:57.000 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% have European heritage, right? 45:57.033 --> 46:01.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So the notion of passing is based on white supremacy, right? 46:01.766 --> 46:03.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Because if I stood before you right now, 46:03.866 --> 46:08.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I said to you, I'm a Scottish person 46:08.133 --> 46:11.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% passing for black (audience laughs) 46:11.033 --> 46:13.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% it makes you laugh, right? 46:13.900 --> 46:15.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% But the reverse is something 46:15.100 --> 46:16.833 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% that we would do all the time. 46:16.866 --> 46:20.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% That there would be a person who has 46:20.333 --> 46:24.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% 7/8 European heritage and 1/8 African heritage 46:24.366 --> 46:27.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% if you could draw the lines that neatly, 46:27.266 --> 46:30.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and say that person's passing for white. 46:36.033 --> 46:37.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And this pieceNo Passing, 46:37.400 --> 46:42.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% which also refers to drawing borders around places, 46:44.300 --> 46:46.100 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and the complications therein. 46:46.133 --> 46:52.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So, both of those pieces were made with combs, 46:52.900 --> 46:55.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% because combs are one of the ways that we, 46:55.100 --> 46:58.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% you know, straightened, combs are intended 46:58.400 --> 47:02.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% for straight hair, these kinds of combs. 47:02.300 --> 47:04.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Madame C.J. Walker, who I was telling you about before. 47:04.566 --> 47:06.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% She is often credited with creating 47:06.933 --> 47:12.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% the hair straightening comb, the hot comb, 47:13.966 --> 47:14.966 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% but she did not. 47:15.000 --> 47:17.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Some Parisian people did that way before, 47:17.800 --> 47:21.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% but she did make a bunch of products 47:21.566 --> 47:25.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that helped African American women straighten their hair. 47:25.500 --> 47:29.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And so I wanted to make this piece which was 47:29.300 --> 47:31.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% an homage to her, actually. 47:31.300 --> 47:34.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And not so much around the hair straightening, 47:34.800 --> 47:38.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but in the, just the basic badassedness of her, 47:38.900 --> 47:42.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% 'cause this is a woman who was born in 1867, 47:42.300 --> 47:44.133 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% a full 100 years before I was, 47:44.166 --> 47:47.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% who started in the cotton fields of the South, 47:47.466 --> 47:51.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and by the time she died in 1919 in her 50s 47:51.500 --> 47:54.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% had amassed a fortune of a million dollars. 47:56.600 --> 47:58.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Realize that this is before, 47:58.200 --> 47:59.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% well before the Civil Rights Movement 47:59.800 --> 48:01.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and the Women's Suffrage Movement. 48:01.466 --> 48:05.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It seems impossible, and also realize 48:05.200 --> 48:07.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that because she had that kind of money 48:07.366 --> 48:09.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in this capitalist country, 48:09.100 --> 48:13.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that it meant that she was invited to the table, right? 48:13.633 --> 48:15.800 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% So people would listen to her, 48:15.833 --> 48:18.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and let her speak, and she used that money to launch 48:18.133 --> 48:19.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% anti-lynching campaigns. 48:25.800 --> 48:27.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% This is a piece in which 48:27.200 --> 48:30.866 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% one of her most famous quotations is stitched, 48:30.900 --> 48:32.900 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% one work on each comb. 48:32.933 --> 48:36.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "I'm a black woman from the cotton fields of the South. 48:36.533 --> 48:39.066 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% "I was promoted to the washtub. 48:39.100 --> 48:42.866 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% "I was promoted to the kitchen. 48:42.900 --> 48:45.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "I promoted myself to the business of hair 48:45.933 --> 48:47.433 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% on my own ground." 48:49.600 --> 48:51.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So, as I told you, this is the 100th anniversary 48:51.966 --> 48:55.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% of her passing, and so I had a show on which to 48:55.033 --> 48:58.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% this piece was part of the exhibition, 48:58.200 --> 49:02.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and also this piece, a nod to Ntozake Shange, 49:02.633 --> 49:06.966 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% who in 1976 wrote this amazing piece called 49:07.000 --> 49:12.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide 49:12.200 --> 49:14.066 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% When the Rainbow is Enuf." 49:15.100 --> 49:16.666 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% That's comprised of an Afro wig 49:16.700 --> 49:20.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% which I had great fun wearing before I made the piece, 49:20.666 --> 49:23.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and then these combs that are thread-wrapped. 49:25.233 --> 49:30.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And the last few pieces have to do with 49:30.400 --> 49:34.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% what my husband calls my subtle politics 49:34.400 --> 49:37.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and he means that as a joke. 49:37.533 --> 49:38.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 49:38.633 --> 49:40.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So I made this piece calledWriter Type 49:40.333 --> 49:42.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to talk about when, 49:43.600 --> 49:47.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% whether the African American voice is silenced, 49:47.766 --> 49:51.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% or is this a piece in which the typewriter 49:51.866 --> 49:55.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% is sort of embodying African American voice. 49:55.133 --> 49:58.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So is it a person or is it about 49:58.233 --> 50:00.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the silencing of something? 50:00.200 --> 50:02.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And I think that both of those readings and more 50:02.833 --> 50:04.733 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% can live in an artwork. 50:04.766 --> 50:05.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% This piece came quickly. 50:05.966 --> 50:09.033 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% I picked a Remington typewriter 50:09.066 --> 50:14.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% because Remington was known for providing arms 50:14.100 --> 50:15.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% during the Civil War, 50:15.900 --> 50:19.133 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and then they switched to typewriters, 50:19.166 --> 50:22.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% so the pen and the sword is in this piece. 50:22.766 --> 50:25.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I picked a noiseless because of that play 50:25.666 --> 50:27.200 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% that I was just talking about, 50:27.233 --> 50:31.366 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% and I picked this year of Remington Seven Noiseless, 50:31.400 --> 50:33.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% because I'd like to think, 50:33.033 --> 50:34.666 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% it's a model made in the 1930s, 50:34.700 --> 50:37.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and I'd like to think this is the kind of typewriter 50:37.033 --> 50:40.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that Richard Wright might have writtenNative Sonon. 50:40.533 --> 50:41.700 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Just pretend. 50:41.733 --> 50:46.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And a fellow artist of mine, Thurmond Statham said, 50:46.666 --> 50:49.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "Every medium has its own hidden language." 50:49.966 --> 50:54.666 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And so I quickly started thinking about 50:54.700 --> 50:58.966 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% what would the font for this typewriter be, 50:59.000 --> 51:02.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and I worked with a graphic designer 51:02.933 --> 51:06.200 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% by the name of Bo Peng to develop this font 51:08.600 --> 51:11.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% as a language of the typewriter. 51:11.566 --> 51:15.966 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% So I used to just show the 51:16.000 --> 51:19.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% the glyph or the font there with the letters, 51:19.766 --> 51:21.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and people would say, "Oh, that doesn't look like 51:21.600 --> 51:22.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% it would be so hard to read." 51:23.000 --> 51:24.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So then I actually want to show you 51:24.600 --> 51:26.966 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% what it really looks like when it's written. 51:29.033 --> 51:32.333 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% And so even this I think about. 51:34.200 --> 51:39.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The great writer and thinker Ngugi wa Thiong'o 51:40.433 --> 51:43.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% wrote this book called  51:40.433 --> 51:43.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% De  colonizing the African Mind, 51:43.200 --> 51:45.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in which, it's a slim novel, 51:45.233 --> 51:50.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and he gives a call out to other African writers, 51:50.733 --> 51:53.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and he said "Please, please, please 51:53.166 --> 51:56.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "write in your native tongue. 51:56.533 --> 51:58.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Otherwise, we'll lose it, 51:58.333 --> 52:01.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "and people won't understand the metaphors 52:01.533 --> 52:02.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "that we have in language. 52:03.000 --> 52:04.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We'll lose the language." Right? 52:04.366 --> 52:07.000 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% It's a beautiful thing. 52:07.033 --> 52:09.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% I mean those of you who are bi or trilingual 52:09.833 --> 52:11.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% know that there's some things that 52:11.166 --> 52:14.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% literally don't translate from one language to another. 52:14.433 --> 52:16.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So it's not just for the loss of metaphors, 52:16.533 --> 52:19.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the loss of a way of thinking, right? 52:19.700 --> 52:20.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So he made this petition. 52:20.966 --> 52:23.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% I met Ngugi wa Thiong'o not too long ago. 52:23.300 --> 52:24.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I read the book years before, 52:24.733 --> 52:27.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but he came to Amherst College not too long ago, 52:27.400 --> 52:30.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and as I was talking to this phenomenal man who should, 52:30.866 --> 52:35.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in my opinion, have won a Nobel Prize many years ago, 52:35.033 --> 52:40.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I realized, oh my gosh, but even 52:40.666 --> 52:44.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% if a Yuroba person writes a book in Yuroba 52:45.200 --> 52:47.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% what is the font? 52:51.333 --> 52:56.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I mean maybe if an Ethiopian person writes a book 52:56.166 --> 52:59.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% it might be in Amharic right? 53:00.233 --> 53:01.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But or maybe it could be in Arabic, 53:01.933 --> 53:03.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% if it's someone else. 53:03.200 --> 53:08.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But the, it's going to be in the Roman alphabet. 53:09.200 --> 53:17.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Like European hegemony is just, it's a big thing. 53:17.533 --> 53:20.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience murmuring) 53:20.233 --> 53:23.433 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So I'm going to try and teach everyone to know 53:23.466 --> 53:24.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the Confederate flag of truce 53:24.866 --> 53:26.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and to learn the twist font. 53:26.533 --> 53:28.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Those are my charges for the rest of my life. 53:28.600 --> 53:30.766 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience chuckles) 53:30.800 --> 53:35.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So I want to share with you this idea of language and hair, 53:36.033 --> 53:38.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I think sometimes as artists, 53:38.300 --> 53:39.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% you know that famous quote, 53:39.733 --> 53:42.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% good artists borrow, great artists steal? 53:42.900 --> 53:45.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So I'm going to put myself in the category of 53:45.166 --> 53:47.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% great artist here, 'cause I just stole this idea 53:47.800 --> 53:49.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% 'cause I'm confessing to you, remember? 53:49.600 --> 53:51.900 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% I'm confessing. 53:51.933 --> 53:53.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I had heard that there was a barber 53:53.866 --> 53:56.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% who would give little boys free haircuts 53:56.400 --> 54:00.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% if they read to him in an African American neighborhood 54:00.733 --> 54:03.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and I just loved that idea. 54:03.100 --> 54:05.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So a friend of mine, Scott Cunningham, 54:07.400 --> 54:09.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% runs a poetry festival in Miami, 54:10.000 --> 54:13.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and it's a small mission to, in April, 54:13.966 --> 54:15.600 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% which is Poetry Month, 54:15.633 --> 54:20.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% expose everyone in Miami-Dade County to a poem. 54:20.233 --> 54:23.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% A little mission (chuckles). 54:23.866 --> 54:27.700 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% So he invites artists, and artists do huge gestures like 54:29.066 --> 54:33.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% painting a poem on top of the Big Box Store right, 54:33.366 --> 54:38.300 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% in the flight path, so that people get exposure to a poem, 54:38.333 --> 54:42.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% sky writing poems, small interventions 54:42.900 --> 54:45.700 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% like going to Goodwill, 54:45.733 --> 54:52.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and putting a poem tucked in to the label of a garment. 54:53.600 --> 54:57.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But what I stole was this idea from this barber. 54:59.100 --> 55:02.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So I asked these African American men 55:02.800 --> 55:07.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in these two neighborhoods in Miami Overtown 55:08.800 --> 55:11.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% African American, and then Little Haiti 55:12.833 --> 55:18.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% to read a poem, a very specific poem 55:18.300 --> 55:20.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% by Calvin Hernton, the late Calvin Hernton. 55:20.533 --> 55:22.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% If you don't know Calvin Hernton, 55:22.900 --> 55:26.300 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% he was a professor, African American poet, 55:26.333 --> 55:28.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% professor at Oberlin College, 55:34.566 --> 55:37.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and the poem that he wrote in the 70s 55:37.566 --> 55:39.300 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% is unfortunately 55:39.333 --> 55:43.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% as valid today as it was then. 55:45.500 --> 55:47.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And it was my great privilege 55:51.166 --> 55:55.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to have these men read this poem. 55:56.933 --> 55:59.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And I'll recite it for you 'cause I know it. 55:59.200 --> 56:01.300 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% In fact it's, 56:03.766 --> 56:05.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% well, I'll recite it to you. 56:06.966 --> 56:11.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The poem's called "The Distant Drum." 56:13.733 --> 56:16.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% "I am not a metaphor 56:16.633 --> 56:19.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% "or a symbol. 56:19.666 --> 56:21.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% "This you hear 56:21.566 --> 56:25.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "is not the wind in the trees 56:25.600 --> 56:28.233 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% "nor is it a cat 56:28.266 --> 56:32.500 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% "being maimed in the streets. 56:32.533 --> 56:34.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "I am being maimed in the streets. 56:36.333 --> 56:39.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "It is I who weep, 56:39.366 --> 56:45.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "laugh, feel pain, or joy. 56:45.466 --> 56:50.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Speak this because I exist. 56:50.333 --> 56:52.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% "This is my voice. 56:53.100 --> 56:55.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "These words are my words. 56:56.166 --> 56:58.400 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% "My mouth speaks them. 56:59.333 --> 57:01.366 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% "My hand writes. 57:01.400 --> 57:05.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "It is my fist you hear beating 57:05.333 --> 57:08.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% against your ear." 57:08.233 --> 57:11.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Questions, comments? 57:12.200 --> 57:13.366 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% So the dust. 57:13.400 --> 57:18.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It's literally dust from two institutions 57:18.700 --> 57:20.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that have to do with the Declaration. 57:20.766 --> 57:23.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Declaration House, Independence Hall, right? 57:23.900 --> 57:27.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So this is a piece that we had planned. 57:27.966 --> 57:30.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You know I was an artist in residence 57:30.400 --> 57:32.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, 57:32.666 --> 57:35.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% which meant that they just asked me to come a lot 57:36.000 --> 57:38.033 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% over 18 months. 57:38.066 --> 57:40.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So this piece had been in the plans 57:40.066 --> 57:41.866 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and the works for a while and I said 57:41.900 --> 57:43.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% it really is important to me 57:43.300 --> 57:44.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that we're in this historic city, 57:44.700 --> 57:48.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% that we gather dust from a historic site 57:48.033 --> 57:50.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that has something to do with this text. 57:50.933 --> 57:53.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And the staff there went about it, 57:53.066 --> 57:54.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and they talked to some curators 57:55.000 --> 57:57.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% at some historic museums. 57:57.166 --> 58:00.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We've got the dust, no problem, great. 58:00.166 --> 58:01.400 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% This is literally like 58:01.433 --> 58:04.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the stuff that comes out of their vacuum cleaners. 58:04.400 --> 58:06.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Like it's the dirt of the institution, right. 58:06.733 --> 58:09.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So we're just saying can we have your dust. 58:09.733 --> 58:10.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 58:10.833 --> 58:12.966 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Yeah, like what you're about to throw away, 58:13.000 --> 58:14.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% can we have that? 58:14.766 --> 58:19.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And about three weeks before the show opened, 58:21.066 --> 58:23.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the institution that had said yes, 58:23.066 --> 58:25.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% a curator said yes, the museum staff said yes, 58:25.533 --> 58:27.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% it went up and then someone said "No, 58:27.700 --> 58:29.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% you can't have our dust." 58:29.700 --> 58:31.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 58:31.500 --> 58:34.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So apparently a black girl can't have someone's dust. 58:34.066 --> 58:35.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs) 58:35.700 --> 58:38.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I mean I can't even have it to clean it up (chuckles) 58:38.300 --> 58:39.366 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% as Ella Watson. 58:42.266 --> 58:46.100 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% But then, and that institution shall remain unnamed. 58:46.133 --> 58:48.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But then these two other institutions stepped forward 58:48.900 --> 58:51.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and they were actually more better suited 58:51.300 --> 58:54.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% for their relevance to the Declaration. 58:55.300 --> 58:59.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, I often think about that in the terms of reversals, 58:59.766 --> 59:02.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because I realize that people will come after me, 59:02.433 --> 59:04.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and they do, for the work that I do, 59:04.566 --> 59:06.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% saying "You have no right to use a flag 59:06.600 --> 59:07.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to clean a floor." 59:07.600 --> 59:09.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Well it's not a flag, it's a towel, 59:09.200 --> 59:10.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and you printed it. 59:10.600 --> 59:12.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 59:12.666 --> 59:15.066 align:left position:42.5% line:89% size:47.5% Right? 59:15.100 --> 59:16.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% But when someone was like, 59:16.166 --> 59:17.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "No, you can't even have our dust," 59:17.866 --> 59:19.033 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I was like really? 59:19.066 --> 59:23.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% (audience laughs) 59:24.633 --> 59:27.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Anyway, is there another question for me? 59:27.533 --> 59:31.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I want everyone to know this truce flag, 59:31.533 --> 59:35.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and not because I think that it's all about peace. 59:35.766 --> 59:38.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% In fact I think it's a complicated symbol 59:38.366 --> 59:40.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because the more that you know about the truce, 59:40.633 --> 59:45.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% there's a historian that just wrote a book. 59:48.700 --> 59:50.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I cannot remember the name of the book, sorry. 59:50.533 --> 59:55.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But his name is David Silkenat, and he-- 59:55.033 --> 59:56.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Did someone know the name of the book? 59:56.633 --> 59:58.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% - [Woman In Audience]  Raise the White Flag. 59:58.300 --> 59:59.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% -Raise the White Flag, thank you. 59:59.733 --> 01:00:02.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Yes Madison audience (audience laughs). 01:00:02.200 --> 01:00:04.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The collective wisdom, collective wisdom. 01:00:04.233 --> 01:00:09.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, David Silkenat and I reached out to each other 01:00:09.466 --> 01:00:12.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% around this, because it was just April 9th 01:00:12.133 --> 01:00:15.433 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% that the truce flag was flown, 01:00:15.466 --> 01:00:17.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and his book just came out in early April, 01:00:17.733 --> 01:00:19.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and my show just opened in late March, 01:00:19.600 --> 01:00:21.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% so it's like aw, we found each other, 01:00:21.333 --> 01:00:22.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and people connected us. 01:00:22.533 --> 01:00:28.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And one thing that's clear as I'm reading this book 01:00:28.266 --> 01:00:33.333 align:left position:22.5% line:77% size:67.5% is how easy it was for Confederate soldiers to surrender. 01:00:34.266 --> 01:00:36.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% They would just say like, "Oh, you know like 01:00:36.100 --> 01:00:37.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% this is tough, I want to surrender." 01:00:37.666 --> 01:00:40.500 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And they wouldn't be made prisoners of war. 01:00:40.533 --> 01:00:42.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% There's all this gentleman's agreement stuff 01:00:42.733 --> 01:00:43.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% that was happening. 01:00:44.900 --> 01:00:47.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Which then makes so much sense when you realize like 01:00:47.233 --> 01:00:48.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% nothing was ever taken away. 01:00:48.833 --> 01:00:50.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Like, you're enemies of the state, 01:00:50.300 --> 01:00:52.133 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% but nothing's ever taken away. 01:00:52.166 --> 01:00:55.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Because there's, I guess there's this recognition 01:00:55.100 --> 01:00:56.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% that we all know, right, 01:00:56.400 --> 01:00:59.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that what the South was holding on to 01:00:59.233 --> 01:01:00.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% was the dirty business that the North 01:01:00.766 --> 01:01:04.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% had been involved in not so many years before, right. 01:01:04.033 --> 01:01:05.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So there's this sense of like 01:01:05.466 --> 01:01:07.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "You're just a little slower than us. 01:01:07.300 --> 01:01:10.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We're just not doing that anymore (chuckles)." 01:01:10.500 --> 01:01:12.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I mean I'm understating this, gravely, 01:01:12.866 --> 01:01:15.800 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% but it's a complicated symbol. 01:01:15.833 --> 01:01:19.733 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% Truth and reconciliation is complicated work, 01:01:19.766 --> 01:01:26.000 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% and so I just feel if we focus on the peace brokering, 01:01:27.566 --> 01:01:31.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and that we might be a little further along than we are. 01:01:31.600 --> 01:01:35.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And I just love the idea that there are children, 01:01:35.566 --> 01:01:39.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% who came to, and will continue coming 01:01:39.666 --> 01:01:42.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to the show at the Fabric Workshop, 01:01:42.600 --> 01:01:44.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% who will have the opportunity 01:01:44.666 --> 01:01:50.533 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% to sit at the loom and weave a truce flag, 01:01:51.466 --> 01:01:53.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% you know, participate in weaving a truce flag, 01:01:53.700 --> 01:01:55.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% cause it takes a long time to make cloth. 01:01:55.500 --> 01:01:57.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It takes a long time to undo cloth, 01:01:57.166 --> 01:01:59.533 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% it takes a long to make cloth. 01:01:59.566 --> 01:02:01.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Or they can sit at an old school desk 01:02:01.766 --> 01:02:04.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and do a rubbing, of an old school desk 01:02:04.133 --> 01:02:07.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that has been etched with a texture of the truce flag 01:02:07.433 --> 01:02:10.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and they can do a rubbing, black Tyvek, white crayon 01:02:10.333 --> 01:02:11.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and take that with them. 01:02:12.933 --> 01:02:14.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Or they might just walk into a space and say 01:02:14.933 --> 01:02:17.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "That's a really big cloth. 01:02:17.833 --> 01:02:19.333 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% What's that?" 01:02:19.366 --> 01:02:21.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And it might just lodge back there 01:02:21.266 --> 01:02:25.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in the same way that the Dukes of Hazzard 01:02:25.100 --> 01:02:28.266 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% is in my mind (audience laughs) 01:02:28.300 --> 01:02:31.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% as being a thing. 01:02:32.166 --> 01:02:33.700 align:left position:42.5% line:89% size:47.5% Right? 01:02:35.200 --> 01:02:37.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I made a piece very early on. 01:02:37.800 --> 01:02:42.866 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% My graduate thesis work was a kente cloth strip 01:02:44.766 --> 01:02:46.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% woven piece that's, you know, 01:02:46.433 --> 01:02:48.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that's just for the textile people in the room, 01:02:48.500 --> 01:02:52.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that so it in part looked like West African cloth, 01:02:52.466 --> 01:02:54.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and in part looked like an American flag 01:02:54.800 --> 01:03:00.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I was thinking about issues of nomenclature, 01:03:02.166 --> 01:03:07.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% like my grandmother would call people colored 01:03:07.733 --> 01:03:11.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and then there was negro, and then there was black, 01:03:11.600 --> 01:03:13.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and then there was Afro American and then there was 01:03:13.700 --> 01:03:15.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% African American. 01:03:15.433 --> 01:03:17.066 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% I'm fond of black, personally. 01:03:17.100 --> 01:03:19.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It's a little bit more diasporic 01:03:19.233 --> 01:03:21.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% but that's my personal thing. 01:03:21.566 --> 01:03:23.900 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% When I say African American I usually mean 01:03:23.933 --> 01:03:26.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% African Americans. 01:03:27.800 --> 01:03:29.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And so I was just thinking about 01:03:29.866 --> 01:03:32.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% how all of those name changes are trying to 01:03:32.566 --> 01:03:35.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% attend to something but ultimately, 01:03:35.233 --> 01:03:36.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% there's something about identity 01:03:36.866 --> 01:03:39.233 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% that lives on in cloth. 01:03:39.266 --> 01:03:41.433 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% It's great to have people in the audience 01:03:41.466 --> 01:03:44.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% who knew me when I was like wet behind the ears 01:03:44.500 --> 01:03:46.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% assistant professor because it is true 01:03:46.800 --> 01:03:48.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that I'm now looking back on my work 01:03:48.966 --> 01:03:51.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and I'm realizing that I think my work is better 01:03:51.666 --> 01:03:54.033 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% when people are engaged in it, 01:03:54.066 --> 01:03:57.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and so the project that Joy Door is referring to 01:03:57.666 --> 01:04:00.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% is a project that had a lot of play in Wisconsin 01:04:00.833 --> 01:04:04.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% when I was here called The Beaded Prayers Project, 01:04:04.666 --> 01:04:08.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and it was based on the etymology of the word bead 01:04:08.166 --> 01:04:11.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and prayer, shared etymology because of rosary beads. 01:04:11.833 --> 01:04:14.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% You know this mnemonic device, a bead, 01:04:14.666 --> 01:04:17.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% helps you know where you are in your prayer cycle 01:04:17.033 --> 01:04:19.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% so when a old English beden 01:04:19.233 --> 01:04:20.866 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% is the word that means to pray, 01:04:20.900 --> 01:04:22.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and also the word that we get bead from. 01:04:24.200 --> 01:04:26.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And I invited people to write down 01:04:26.466 --> 01:04:30.700 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% wishes, hopes, dreams, and aspirations, 01:04:30.733 --> 01:04:33.100 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and make these amulets that were then beaded, 01:04:33.133 --> 01:04:35.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and that project actually, 01:04:35.466 --> 01:04:39.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% every time I think it's going to go to bed it lives again, 01:04:39.133 --> 01:04:41.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% so we're showing it again at 01:04:41.733 --> 01:04:43.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the Textile Museum in D.C. 01:04:46.233 --> 01:04:50.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And strangely, though I haven't read this, 01:04:50.433 --> 01:04:53.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I was told that someone left me this card right here, 01:04:53.766 --> 01:04:55.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and it's someone who, 01:04:55.500 --> 01:05:01.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% who I must have done a beaded prayers project with 01:05:01.333 --> 01:05:03.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% 'cause there is one. 01:05:04.266 --> 01:05:07.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience murmurs in awe) 01:05:07.333 --> 01:05:08.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% There was another question? 01:05:09.700 --> 01:05:12.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Well nobody's getting truce flags, 01:05:12.433 --> 01:05:14.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% reparations, reparations. 01:05:14.133 --> 01:05:19.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs heartily) 01:05:20.966 --> 01:05:23.033 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% So it's an interesting thing, right, 01:05:23.066 --> 01:05:26.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because there actually is a piece of the truce flag 01:05:26.533 --> 01:05:31.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that's at Appomattox at the museum at Appomattox, 01:05:31.566 --> 01:05:36.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and when I called Appomattox to get information about it, 01:05:36.566 --> 01:05:38.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the person that I got on the phone 01:05:38.233 --> 01:05:40.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that I was told was the curator, 01:05:40.633 --> 01:05:41.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% someone who knew something, 01:05:41.733 --> 01:05:45.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% said to me, and keep in mind, 01:05:45.033 --> 01:05:46.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% I've seen the one at the Smithsonian 01:05:46.833 --> 01:05:48.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and this person said to me, 01:05:48.366 --> 01:05:50.466 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% "Oh we have the largest piece." 01:05:50.500 --> 01:05:53.266 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% No, I was almost a math major, 01:05:53.300 --> 01:05:55.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but I know if something's divided in half. 01:05:55.700 --> 01:06:00.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs heartily) 01:06:00.833 --> 01:06:02.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% So I had more questions. 01:06:02.533 --> 01:06:04.933 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% I said, "Well how large is your piece?" 01:06:04.966 --> 01:06:07.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And this gentleman told me that it was, you know, 01:06:07.100 --> 01:06:08.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% a couple inches by a couple inches, 01:06:08.700 --> 01:06:11.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and I said "Do you not know that there's--" 01:06:11.033 --> 01:06:12.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% but not with this much attitude, 01:06:12.600 --> 01:06:17.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "Do you not know that the nation's museum, 01:06:17.100 --> 01:06:22.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% two hours north of you has half (sighs)?" 01:06:23.100 --> 01:06:26.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Anyway, but it's not what the focus is. 01:06:26.266 --> 01:06:28.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It's not what's being amplified, right? 01:06:29.600 --> 01:06:32.766 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And so the other thing that I want to say 01:06:32.800 --> 01:06:35.833 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% is that I don't think of the truce flag work, 01:06:35.866 --> 01:06:40.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% thisMonumental Clothwork as being a Southern issue. 01:06:40.200 --> 01:06:46.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Again, Richmond's story, and the Civil War's story, 01:06:46.333 --> 01:06:50.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but Richmond's story, is not a Southern story, 01:06:50.700 --> 01:06:52.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% it's not an American story, 01:06:52.766 --> 01:06:54.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% it's a global story. 01:06:54.900 --> 01:06:59.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The truce flag also fits right into that category, 01:06:59.366 --> 01:07:01.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in my opinion. 01:07:03.733 --> 01:07:06.066 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% But it is going to have a venue in the South, 01:07:06.100 --> 01:07:09.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% eventually, (laughs) yeah. 01:07:09.500 --> 01:07:10.966 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Thank you. 01:07:11.000 --> 01:07:13.833 align:left position:30% line:5% size:60% (heavy applause)