All Of It: The Camera Lens as a Mirror for Family History in 'My Mother and I Eye'

Podcast Information:

• Title: All Of It
• Host: Alison Stewart
• Producer: WNYC
• Description: ALL OF IT explores culture and its consumers, engaging thinkers, doers, makers, and creators to delve into the what and why of their work. The show celebrates the diverse perspectives and experiences that shape New York City, serving as both a companion and curator of the city's vibrant cultural landscape.
• Episode Title: The Camera Lens as a Mirror for Family History in 'My Mother and I Eye'
• Release Date: March 5, 2025

Introduction

In the March 5, 2025 episode of All Of It, host Alison Stewart welcomes artist Carmen Winant to discuss her compelling installation, "My Mother and I Eye." This project, showcased by the Public Art Fund on bus shelters across New York, Chicago, and Boston, intertwines Carmen's personal history with her mother's through layered film stills from their respective cross-country road trips.

Exploring the Genesis of "My Mother and I Eye"

Alison Stewart opens the conversation by highlighting Carmen's recent selection for the Public Art Fund exhibition, which features her artwork on bus shelters in major cities. Carmen explains the inception of her project, which began with a commission from fomu, a photo museum in Antwerp, Belgium. This initial project invited her to engage with the legacy of Chantal Aukerman, an avant-garde filmmaker, prompting Carmen to delve into her mother's Super 8 films from a 1969 cross-country trip.

Carmen Winant elaborates:

"I wanted to return to it and think about how I could sort of expand the project. It felt like there was more there."
(01:47)

Intergenerational Road Trips and Cultural Context

Carmen and her mother, both filled with a sense of adventure, embarked on separate cross-country road trips—her mother in the late 1960s and Carmen herself in the early 2000s. Alison inquires about the familial lore surrounding her mother's 1969 journey from Los Angeles to Niagara Falls, a trip marked by moments of playfulness and rebellion amidst a backdrop of significant historical events like the Summer of Love and Woodstock.

Carmen reflects on her mother's motivations:

"These are working class Jewish girls who grew up on the same block in Los Angeles. And this was the first opportunity to strike out on their own."
(04:17)

Documenting the Journey Through Film and Photography

The heart of Carmen's project lies in juxtaposing her mother's Super 8 film stills with her own 35mm photographs from her 2001 road trip from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. While her mother captured playful and spontaneous moments, Carmen's approach was more conceptual, focusing on abstract compositions and typologies.

Carmen Winant shares her process:

"I printed out about 2,200 [stills]... I'll just move these around. And I gave myself the prompt to try to tell the story out of order."
(08:11)

This method allowed Carmen to weave disparate visual narratives into a cohesive installation, highlighting both contrast and harmony between generations.

Personal Reflections and Discoveries

Through this artistic exploration, Carmen gains deeper insights into her mother's character and the era they lived in. She acknowledges her mother's bravery and readiness to embrace the burgeoning feminist movement of the late 1960s.

"I learned how eager she was, maybe even more than I knew, to strike out alone and how ready she was for the feminism that was to meet her just a few years later."
(10:44)

The Aesthetic Choice of Collage and Public Display

Alison questions Carmen's decision to present her work as large-scale collages on bus shelters rather than singular, monumental images. Carmen explains that each composition contains hundreds of photographs, reflecting her belief in the intrinsic value of contact sheets over hero images.

"Each composition holds several hundred photographs... it felt really appropriate here, as this project has so much to do with memory and is sort of reaching backwards or making sense of a kind of shared, you know, discontinuous history."
(12:01)

The choice of bus shelters as exhibition spaces emphasizes the transient and communal nature of the artwork, engaging a diverse and dynamic public audience.

Impact of Public Art and Community Engagement

Carmen expresses her enthusiasm for public art, noting its accessibility and the unique interactions it fosters among strangers and communities alike.

"These photographs of me and my mother and Judy, you know, 40 years apart... it's just, it's hard to describe, like, the thrill of that."
(13:33)

By placing her work in public transit spaces, Carmen ensures that her personal and historical narratives become part of the urban fabric, inviting spontaneous reflection and dialogue.

Conclusion

The episode culminates with Alison Stewart highlighting ongoing and upcoming opportunities to engage with Carmen Winant's work, including an art talk at the Cooper Union. Carmen's "My Mother and I Eye" serves as a poignant exploration of family history, generational perspectives, and the role of public art in bridging personal narratives with collective cultural memory.

"I have sort of given myself permission and confidence to be able to... de center this more conventional strategy."
(12:01)

Through Carmen's innovative blending of film stills and photography, listeners gain a profound appreciation for how personal stories can illuminate broader cultural contexts, making All Of It a resonant exploration of the myriad facets that constitute culture and its consumption.

Notable Quotes:

• Carmen Winant on Expanding Her Project:

  "I wanted to return to it and think about how I could sort of expand the project. It felt like there was more there."
  (01:47)

• Carmen Winant on Her Mother's Independence:

  "These are working class Jewish girls who grew up on the same block in Los Angeles. And this was the first opportunity to strike out on their own."
  (04:17)

• Carmen Winant on Storytelling Through Photos:

  "I printed out about 2,200 [stills]... I'll just move these around. And I gave myself the prompt to try to tell the story out of order."
  (08:11)

• Carmen Winant on Learning About Her Mother:

  "I learned how eager she was, maybe even more than I knew, to strike out alone and how ready she was for the feminism that was to meet her just a few years later."
  (10:44)

• Carmen Winant on the Role of Public Art:

  "These photographs of me and my mother and Judy, you know, 40 years apart... it's just, it's hard to describe, like, the thrill of that."
  (13:33)

Upcoming Events:

• Art Talk with Carmen Winant:
  Date: March 26, 2025
  Time: 6:30 PM
  Location: Cooper Union

For more information on Carmen Winant's installation and other cultural highlights, visit WNYC's All Of It podcast page.