CARRIE STARLET CRACK

Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY Carrie Mae Weems, Scenes & Takes. AT OLIVIAвЂ™S, SHE WAS SHOCKED TO FIND HER OWN IMAGE. IN THIS CAREFULLY CONSTRUCTED FUSION OF THE REAL AND THE IMAGINED, SHE MARVELS AT THE GLAMOROUS SETS FILLED WITH MIDCENTURY DECOR, ENGAGING CONTEMPORARY ART, STUNNING FASHION AND AN ALL-BLACK CAST. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY LAUGHING COYLY, SHE SAID, вЂњWHO ARE YOU KIDDING? I WASNвЂ™T BORN YESTERDAY, SILLY.вЂќД®MBITTERED, THE FORMER FLAME STALKS THE WOMANIZER.Д¬UT. THIS IS A TOUGH TOWN, A TOUGH BUSINESS, SO I CANвЂ™T MAKE ANY PROMISES, BUT REMEMBER, THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS. SQUEEZING HER THIGHS, KISSING HER LIPS AND HAVING SEX WITH HER LIKE THERE WAS NO TOMORROW, HE SAID, вЂњYOU HAVE THAT CERTAIN вЂ¦ JE NE SAIS QUOI. HEвЂ™D TAKEN AN INTEREST AND INTRODUCED HER ABOUT TOWN. SHE AND THE DIRECTOR HAD A вЂњTHING,вЂќ SHORT-LIVED, BUT SWEET. ALONG THE WAY, SHE ENCOUNTERS ERRONEOUS ASSUMPTIONS, BAD LUCK AND DANGEROUS MEN. THE PLOT: BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL, A YOUNG WOULD-BE STARLET IN HOLLYWOOD SEEKING FAME AND FORTUNE. SOFTLY, VON TRIER SAID, вЂњI PREFER SOFT BLONDES.вЂќДЇRANKLY, SCORSESE SAID, вЂњFORGET ABOUT IT!вЂќД¬UT. LAUGHINGLY, THE COEN BROTHERS SAID, вЂњFUNNY.вЂќДRYLY, CRONENBERG SAID, вЂњNOT AT THIS TIME.вЂќ

THE PLOT: SHEвЂ™S MADE THE ENDLESS ROUND OF RELENTLESS AUDITIONS, PRESENTING HERSELF BEFORE VARIOUS CASTING AGENTS, AND AWAITS A CALLBACK. IN SUSPENDED DISBELIEF, SHE FLOATS FROM ROOM TO ROOM AND SET TO SET, MARKING THE SHIFTS THAT SEEMED TO RESET THE BAR WITH SHOWS EXPLORING THE OUTER LIMITS OF BLACKNESS AND ITS ABILITY TO HOLD THE IMAGINATION. SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER, SHEвЂ™D STUMBLED ONTO THE SETS OF вЂњZOE,вЂќ вЂњEMPIRE,вЂќ вЂњSCANDALвЂќ AND вЂњHOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDERвЂќ - AN ENTIRE BLOCK OF STUDIOS GIVEN OVER TO SHONDALAND. SHEвЂ™D SPENT YEARS SEARCHING THE BACK LOTS OF STUDIOS PRAYING FOR A BREAK, FOR A WAY OUT OF THE ABYSS. SHE HAD ARRIVED IN HOLLYWOOD ON A WING AND A PRAYER, AND THE CLOCK WAS TICKING. I thought it would be important for me to stand in front of, and in, the sets of these shows, to think about what was shifting within the worlds of contemporary expression and popular culture.

CARRIE STARLET CRACK

I was thrilled.ДЄs with much of my work, вЂњScenes & TakesвЂќ grew out of that crack in the cultural armor. These shows upended old notions of what was important and what could be seen, positing something that was dynamic and that grappled with the notion of representation in a new way.

Shows like вЂњEmpire,вЂќ вЂњHow to Get Away with MurderвЂќ and вЂњScandalвЂќ emerged, and the game began to change. I worked in the shadows, and had been waiting for the coming of a new day.Д«ut then, coupled with our changing demographics, came a sudden shift: Network television was freed up, its narratives ceded to those who historically couldnвЂ™t afford cable - the black and the brown. The entire country, along with its cultural institutions, was behind.Дumbfounded, disappointed, angry and hurt, one day I sat down and cried. It was woven into our social fabric and existed across all our cultural landscapes.

Then again, that absence wasnвЂ™t limited to The New York Times. There was nothing in the Arts section, nothing in dance, nothing in film, nothing in the Book Review and, astonishingly, very little in music. (My Sundays today still include The Times, albeit the one on my iPad.) ItвЂ™s the best newspaper in the nation, and I loved it even during those long stretches when I donвЂ™t remember seeing a single story on black or brown artists for weeks on end. For years I used to get up early and walk to the corner store to grab my weekend fix: a Sunday edition of The New York Times.

Carrie starlet