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Kevin Beasley’s Raw Materials

February 6, 2019

One of five new films kicking off Art21’s 2019 programming season

Does the past have a sound? Celebrated for his material-oriented practice, Kevin Beasley juxtaposes sound, silence, and sculpture to examine the legacy of cotton in the American South. Set to the beat of his improvised drumming, the film shows Beasley at work in his Queens studio finishing his multipart exhibition, A view of a landscape, at the Whitney Museum of American Art—his most ambitious work to date.

The installation is centered around the motor of a modern cotton gin—a machine originally invented in the late 1700s that streamlined the most labor-intensive part of cotton production, separating the fiber from the seed. Acquired on eBay, the motor was in operation from 1940–1973 in Maplesville, Alabama; in parallel to an era of intense social change that encompassed both the Great Migration and the passing of the Civil Rights Act. Housed in a glass soundproof chamber, the running motor is a visual, yet silent experience. Divorcing its sound was inspired by the motor’s former owner, who was unable to articulate its sound to Beasley upon purchasing, but as a feeling that will “shake your insides.”

The industrial roar is channeled into an adjacent gallery, recorded by an array of specialized microphones surrounding the motor in the vitrine—a complete sensory switch from the gallery next door. A noted musician, Beasley manipulates and enhances the motor’s tones through a soundboard, each vibration embedded with a sonic history of the Southern soil. For Beasley, “sound is just as tactile as any other material, and has increasingly become a way to process the world.”

Revealing the personal story that inspired the installation, Beasley describes his emotional response when he saw cotton growing on his family’s Virginia farm. “Why am I so mad at this plant? This plant is not doing anything except growing and being beautiful.” This creative journey is chronicled in three large “slab” sculptures. These wall-like assemblages are composed of seemingly disparate materials—a Yale sweater, durags, and sound equipment—set into place by a wall of Virgina-cotton, and mirror the contemporary complexity of race in the United States.

More information and credits

Credits

Director & Producer: Christine Turner. Series Producer: Nick Ravich. Editor: Troy Herion. Cinematography: Jon Chen & Nick Fitzhugh. Location Sound: Edward Morris II. Production Coordinator: Danielle Brock. Music: Troy Herion. Color Correction: Jonah Greenstein. Design & Graphics: Chips. Artwork Courtesy: Kevin Beasley. Archival Media Courtesy: Library Of Congress. Thanks: Casey Kaplan, Stephen Decker, Em Joseph, Veronica Levitt, Shani Strand, & Whitney Museum Of American Art.

This film is possible thanks to Hedy Fischer and Randy Shull. Additional support of New York Close Up is provided, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; and by individual contributors.

Closed captionsAvailable in English, German, Romanian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian

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Licensing

Interested in showing this film in an exhibition or public screening? To license this video please visit Licensing & Reproduction.

Kevin Beasley

Kevin Beasley was born in 1985 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He lives and works in Queens, New York. Beasley creates sculptures and installations made from found materials, including clothing, sports equipment, personal artifacts, and cultural ephemera. These items weave together Beasley’s own memories and experiences, along with historical and cultural references, in order to examine the role of power and race in American society. Interested in the tactile dimension of sound, Beasley connects sound production and the movement of the physical body through his performances and sound installations.

“Sound has always been important to me, and it has increasingly become a way for me to process the world.”

Kevin Beasley


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