Carrie Mae Weems: "Roaming" | Art21 "Exclusive"

[Carrie Mae Weems: "Roaming"]

I think that architecture,

in its essence--

much of the fabric of it--

is very much about power.

If we think about a place like Rome--

where I did a residency a few years ago--

what one is made to feel

is the power of the state

in relationship to the lower subject.

To the lower subject--

to the general populace.

You are always aware that you are, sort of,

a minion in relationship to this enormous edifice--

the edifice of power.

What is this relationship of power to you?

And what is your relationship to power?

And how do you contest it?

And how do you try to make

someone aware of it?

So, you crawl towards the church.

[LAUGHS]

And so I thought, then,

perhaps if I could use my own skin

in a sort of series of performances.

That I could use my own body as a way

of leading the viewer into those spaces--

highly aware--

and challenging those spaces.

Challenging them,

and marking them for really what they are.

That they are, of course, monumental,

and they're beautiful,

and the edifices are extraordinary.

But, I'm not confused about what they're supposed to mean,

and what they're supposed to do.

Maybe most people are sort of aware of them, too.

They just sort of accept--

they submit to them.

And I'm, of course, more interested in challenging them,

even when I think that they're sort of sublime in their way.