SUBSCRIBE TO NEW YORK CLOSE UP: RSS | YOUTUBE | VIMEO How does an artist contribute his own personal story in the face of prevailing historical narratives? In this film, artist Rashid Johnson discusses the fluid nature of black identity in America and its escapist tendencies, from the Afrocentric politics of Marcus Garvey to the cosmic philosophy of [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO NEW YORK CLOSE UP: RSS | YOUTUBE | VIMEO When does a painting stop being a private object and start becoming a public work? In this film, artist Keltie Ferris prepares for her show KF + CM 4EVER (2010) by crating a new series of paintings in her Bushwick studio, shipping the work across town in [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO NEW YORK CLOSE UP: RSS |YOUTUBE | VIMEO What is the responsibility of an artist to her community? In this film, artist and activist LaToya Ruby Frazier discusses the economic and environmental decline of her hometown—Braddock, Pennsylvania—the city that the clothing company Levi’s used as inspiration and backdrop for a major advertising campaign in 2010. Having photographed [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO NEW YORK CLOSE UP: RSS | YOUTUBE | VIMEO How do you activate a white cube gallery space? In this film, artist Mika Tajima works with two amateur contortionists to create a series of dance-like movements that respond to her sculptural installation of re-purposed vintage office cubicles and ergonomic chairs. The performance is the culmination of [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE Episode #136: “I just wanted to approach the idea of war in a more complicated and more challenging way” says artist An-My Lê, whose photographic series and film “29 Palms” (2003-04) explore the training exercises and desert landscape near Joshua Tree National Park as a [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE Episode #135: Filmed in his New York studio, artist Hiroshi Sugimoto gives a tour of his private cabinet of curiosities which includes meteorites, stone age tools, and whimsical toys. Central to Hiroshi Sugimoto’s work is the idea that photography is a time machine, a method [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE Episode #133: Filmed at the Interrogative Design Group offices at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, designer Adam Whiton discusses his work with artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. By developing innovative technology for projects such as The Tijuana Projection (2001), Dis-Armor (1999-2000), and AEgis (2000), Wodiczko and Whiton explore [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE Episode #132: Filmed in his Los Angeles studio alongside his son and frequent collaborator Damon McCarthy, artist Paul McCarthy reflects on the documentary process and on being interviewed about his work, drawing conclusions about how it’s the nature of television “to simplify existence” and the [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: ITUNES | YOUTUBE | BLIP.TV | ARTBABBLE Episode #131: Featuring excerpts from her groundbreaking video installation Text and Commentary (1977), artist Beryl Korot discusses how information has been encoded in lines and patterns throughout human history, whether in print media, through video, or on a weaving loom An early video-art pioneer and [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: ITUNES | YOUTUBE | BLIP.TV | ARTBABBLE Episode #130: Beryl Korot discusses a recent work — Babel: the 7 minute scroll (2007) — which takes the form as both a large-scale print and an animated digital video. With pictographs that reference ancient Egypt and the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: ITUNES | YOUTUBE | BLIP.TV | ARTBABBLE Episode #130: Beryl Korot discusses a recent work — Babel: the 7 minute scroll (2007) — which takes the form as both a large-scale print and an animated digital video. With pictographs that reference ancient Egypt and the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: ITUNES | YOUTUBE | BLIP.TV | ARTBABBLE Episode #130: Beryl Korot discusses a recent work — Babel: the 7 minute scroll (2007) — which takes the form as both a large-scale print and an animated digital video. With pictographs that reference ancient Egypt and the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, [...]

“My work’s always had a lot to do with language and the landscape of the mind,” says artist Jessica Rankin, referencing her intricately embroidered pieces. Filmed in 2008 in a Berlin studio adjoining that of her partner, artist Julie Mehretu, Rankin discusses how learning a foreign language as well as reading literature are influential to her [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE In celebration of Art21′s new feature film William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible — which premiered nationally on October 21, 2010 and will continue to air on PBS (check local listings) — the Exclusive series devoted the past six weeks to telling stories about Kentridge’s numerous [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE IT’S OPENING NIGHT! In celebration of Art21′s forthcoming feature film William Kentridge: Anything is Possible — premiering tonight, October 21, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) — the Exclusive series is devoting the month of October to telling stories about Kentridge’s [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE In celebration of Art21′s forthcoming feature film William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible — premiering October 21, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) — the Exclusive series is devoting the month of October to telling stories about Kentridge’s numerous artistic collaborators whom [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE In celebration of Art21′s forthcoming feature film William Kentridge: Anything is Possible — premiering October 21, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) — the Exclusive series is devoting the month of October to telling stories about Kentridge’s numerous artistic collaborators whom [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE In celebration of Art21′s forthcoming feature film William Kentridge: Anything is Possible — premiering October 21, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) — the Exclusive series is devoting the month of October to telling stories about Kentridge’s numerous artistic collaborators whom [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE Episode #121: “You cannot work towards peace being peaceful” says artist Krzysztof Wodiczko, who explains this paradoxical position in terms of his personal experiences growing up in Poland under communist rule. Filmed at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Wodiczko’s [...]