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Things Don't Have to Be Like This Morehshin Allahyari, American Artist, and Mimi Ọnụọha

July 2, 2025

Over coffee at a Brooklyn cafe, artists and friends Morehshin Allahyari, American Artist, and Mimi Ọnụọha gathered to explore the complex relationships between technology, knowledge, power, and identity.

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Art21 Library

The Art21 Library includes every film produced by Art21 since its first broadcast in 2001. Over 80 hours of full episodes from each of Art21’s television and digital series are always on view, free of charge.

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Jack WhittenSally MannJames TurrellGabriel OrozcoDiane Severin NguyenErin ShirreffAllan McCollumAnn Hamiltonassume vivid astro focusBrian Jungen
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Peace

Krzysztof Wodiczko

September 24, 2010

Digital Landscape

Playlists

Playing with Tension
Diana Al-Hadid's Suspended Reality
New York Close Up
Autoconstrucción
Extended Play
Abigail DeVille's Harlem Stories
New York Close Up
Pain & Sympathy
Extended Play
Janine Antoni in "Loss & Desire"
Art in the Twenty-First Century
"Continuity"
Extended Play
Liz Magic Laser Feeeeeeeeeeeeels Your Pain
New York Close Up
"The Kitchen Table Series"
Extended Play

Playing with Tension

In art, there are moments of many opposite forces converging all in one place. How artists deal with tensions—of materials, of ideas, or even of social issues—might reveal itself in the meaning or the appearance of a work. The films in this playlist demonstrate the creative ways in which artists play with tensions.

Playing with Tension
by Marela ZacaríasSeptember 28, 2017 8 videos • 56:46 total runtime

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Art in the Twenty-First Century

The only series on television in the U.S. to focus exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists, Art in the Twenty-First Century is a Peabody Award-winning biennial program that follows artists at work as they transform inspiration into art.

Extended Play

Extended Play provides unmediated, behind-the-scenes access to today’s leading artists through process-revealing footage and intimate interviews, chronicling a diverse scale of projects, ranging from major commissions to exploratory sketches.

New York Close Up

New York Close Up is devoted to capturing early-career artists living and working in New York City, providing a unique window into the next wave of art-making in the city.

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Artist to Artist is an online film series featuring contemporary visual artists in conversation with their peers, discussing the inspirations and passions that drive their processes. Each film follows a single artist as he or she engages with other artists in a shared exhibition setting.

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Art21 specials are single and limited-run features on the artists and communities that bring contemporary art to the fore, broadening the scope of voices and perspectives represented in Art21 films.

William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible

William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible gives viewers an intimate look into the mind and creative process of William Kentridge, the South African artist whose acclaimed charcoal drawings, animations, video installations, shadow plays, mechanical puppets, tapestries, sculptures, live performance pieces, and operas have made him one of the most dynamic and exciting contemporary artists working today.

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In keeping with Art21’s core commitment to making art accessible to all audiences, we strive to support the paths to which audiences with disabilities may continue to enjoy and participate in our programming. The Descriptive Audio option is designed to improve our films’ engagement for people with visual impairments.

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