Titus Kaphar: Can art amend history?
Тайтъс Кафар: Може ли изкувството да измени историята?
Titus Kaphar's artworks interact with the history of art by appropriating its styles and mediums. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
Природонаучния музей?
to the Natural History Museum?
is I take my kids to the museum.
е да водя децата си в музеи.
to the Natural History Museum.
Природонаучния музей.
Sabian and Dabith.
entrance of the museum,
главния вход на музея,
of Teddy Roosevelt out there.
на Теди Рузвелт.
with one hand on the horse,
с едната си ръка на коня,
but it kind of feels like it.
но създава такова усещане.
is a Native American walking.
върви един индианец.
is an African-American walking.
върви един афроамериканец.
който е на девет, казва:
to try to explain that,
за да опитам да му обясня,
I try to do with them anyways.
would have never really asked.
което е толкова несправедливо
of such an amazing institution."
to amend our public sculptures,
нашите публични статуи,
паметници?
when I was born.
когато съм се родил.
with his own things
is because of a woman.
изкуство, е една жена.
fantastic, beautiful, smart woman,
прекрасна, умна жена
about your future."
"I'm thinking about my future now."
"Ето сега мисля за бъдещето си".
to the junior college
to what I was registering to.
на какви предмети се записвам.
по история на изкувството,
about art history.
when I went into that class.
случи, когато влязох в този час.
визуалната си интелигентност.
and say, "Who's that?"
и питаше: "Кой е това?"
Clearly that is Van Gogh.
Очевидно това е Ван Гог.
I wasn't a great student. OK?
бях добър ученик. ОК?
that I was able to learn things visually
че мога да уча неща визуално,
this became my tactic
това стана моята тактика
Things were going well.
нещата се развиваха добре
these art history classes.
история на изкуството.
никога няма да го забравя.
I will not forget, I will never forget.
по обща история на изкуството.
art history classes.
survey art history classes,
обща история на изкуството,
the entire history of art
цялата история на изкуството
and Jackson Pollock
и Джаксън Полък,
but they try anyway.
но все пак пробват.
was about a 14-page section
имаше един откъс от около 14 страници
хора в изобразителното изкуство.
of black people in painting
в изобразителното изкувство
let's just put it that way.
нека така да го кажем.
the other classes that I had,
които съм учил,
to go over that particular chapter,
да разгледаме точно тази глава
to go through it."
да го прегледаме."
hold on, professor, professor.
important chapter to me.
важна глава за мен.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
съжалявам, съжалявам,
that this is significant.
че е значително.
защото трябва да говорим."
because we need to talk."
out of her office.
от кабинета ѝ.
я принудя да преподава каквото и да е."
"I can't force her to teach anything."
if I wanted to understand this history,
че ако искам да разбера тази история,
of those folks who had to walk,
тези хора, които трябваше да вървят,
to have to figure that out myself.
and looking at images like this.
изображения като това.
some slight differences in the painting.
малки разлики в картината.
that I had been absorbing
изкуството, която бях погълнал
that painting is a language.
че рисуването е език.
in the composition here.
this gold necklace here.
тази златна огърлица тук.
about the economic status
за икономическия статус
of the compositional structure,
заради композиционната структура,
that they have quite a bit of money.
че те имат доста пари
this other character here.
in research on these kinds of paintings,
проучването на такива картини
in this painting --
than I can about this character here,
отколкото за този герой тук,
за надеждите му,
just put inside of this paint
да слагам в тази боя
of sculptures at museums?
скулптури в музеите?
of these kinds of paintings
в нашето общество,
of themselves all the time?
по този начин.
you actually had to focus. Right?
трябваше да фокусираш. Нали?
a little to the right,
in the background would come out.
а хората зад Вас ще се виждат ясно.
the struggles of our past
проблемите на нашето минало,
and the advances of our present.
и предимствата на настоящето.
гумичка и се отървем от някои неща.
and getting rid of stuff.
do it in the same way
да го направим по начина,
a law in the American Constitution,
правило в Американската конституция
but this is where we are right now."
understand a little bit
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Titus Kaphar - ArtistTitus Kaphar's artworks interact with the history of art by appropriating its styles and mediums.
Why you should listen
As Titus Kaphar says of his work: "I’ve always been fascinated by history: art history, American history, world history, individual history -- how history is written, recorded, distorted, exploited, reimagined and understood. In my work I explore the materiality of reconstructive history. I paint and I sculpt, often borrowing from the historical canon, and then alter the work in some way. I cut, crumple, shroud, shred, stitch, tar, twist, bind, erase, break, tear and turn the paintings and sculptures I create, reconfiguring them into works that nod to hidden narratives and begin to reveal unspoken truths about the nature of history."
Kaphar is founder/CEO of the NXTHVN, a multidisciplinary arts incubator that's being built to train professional artists and to further establish New Haven's growing creative community. His latest works are an investigation into the highest and lowest forms of recording history. From monuments to mug shots, this body of work exhibited at Jack Shainman gallery December-January 2017 seeks to collapse the line of American history to inhabit a fixed point in the present. Historical portraiture, mug shots, and YouTube stills challenge viewers to consider how we document the past, and what we have erased. Rather than explore guilt or innocence, Kaphar engages the narratives of individuals and how we as a society manage and define them over time. As a whole, this exhibition explores the power of rewritten histories to question the presumption of innocence and the mythology of the heroic.
Titus Kaphar | Speaker | TED.com