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1
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LANCE LETSCHER: Lately,
the work has gotten
so complicated and so dense
2
00:00:31,265 --> 00:00:35,203
that the big question that it
engenders upon first appraisal
3
00:00:35,236 --> 00:00:37,638
is why would somebody
do something like this?
4
00:00:49,183 --> 00:00:51,685
So, it's a different catalog
and they're all at 8:20.
5
00:00:52,486 --> 00:00:53,487
Isn't that strange?
6
00:01:41,235 --> 00:01:43,437
LETSCHER: When I was little,
I mean really little,
7
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I was preoccupied
with patterns
that were nature-based.
8
00:01:49,943 --> 00:01:55,383
My grandparents had
a gigantic fireplace made
with these rough cut stones.
9
00:01:55,416 --> 00:01:57,685
That was when my parents
were still married
10
00:01:57,718 --> 00:02:01,822
and everybody
smoked cigarettes.
11
00:02:01,855 --> 00:02:04,592
I kind of remember
this smoke in the room
12
00:02:04,625 --> 00:02:08,562
creating a hazy
kind of ceiling.
13
00:02:08,596 --> 00:02:11,365
And I remember just looking
at this stone fireplace,
14
00:02:11,399 --> 00:02:14,768
and sometimes I would imagine,
like, an army tank,
15
00:02:14,802 --> 00:02:18,572
you know, like,
a big base, a small turret,
16
00:02:18,606 --> 00:02:23,211
and if there's another stone
coming off, that would be
the gun, you know?
17
00:02:23,244 --> 00:02:27,615
So, there's certain ones
that you can make
a really good tank.
18
00:02:27,648 --> 00:02:30,718
There's a meditative quality
to that kind of looking
19
00:02:30,751 --> 00:02:33,454
that's kind of stuck with me.
20
00:02:33,487 --> 00:02:36,424
One of my nicknames
in high school was Trance.
21
00:02:36,457 --> 00:02:39,827
Like... (LAUGHING)
22
00:02:39,860 --> 00:02:43,264
Yeah, so it's kind of
hard-wired.
23
00:02:43,297 --> 00:02:45,833
I zone out, look at things.
24
00:02:50,404 --> 00:02:53,774
LOUIS GRACHOS: There are so
few people that have advanced
collage the way he has,
25
00:02:53,807 --> 00:02:56,877
and also remained really true
to the material that he uses,
26
00:02:56,910 --> 00:03:00,948
and I think that really
makes him stand apart
from many artists.
27
00:03:00,981 --> 00:03:03,551
The careful synthesis
that he goes through,
28
00:03:03,584 --> 00:03:06,820
the very thought-provoking
combination of imagery,
29
00:03:06,854 --> 00:03:08,989
the narratives that he creates
30
00:03:09,022 --> 00:03:13,661
is very much
his personal stamp.
31
00:03:13,694 --> 00:03:17,665
PAVEL ZOUBOK: I think
for Lance, a big part of
his process as an artist
32
00:03:17,698 --> 00:03:22,236
is about taking things
that are, you know,
sometimes deeply painful
33
00:03:22,270 --> 00:03:25,573
and making them not only
necessarily beautiful
34
00:03:25,606 --> 00:03:27,975
but even sometimes
joyful or funny.
35
00:03:28,008 --> 00:03:30,644
And because he's also
incredibly playful,
36
00:03:30,678 --> 00:03:32,446
even at its most dead serious,
37
00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,214
it's sort of joyful
in its way.
38
00:03:36,817 --> 00:03:41,289
NANCY WHITENACK:
He doesn't mind going
to the dark place, ever.
39
00:03:42,490 --> 00:03:46,460
Which, I think, adds
some richness
40
00:03:46,494 --> 00:03:52,300
to how he thinks
and what his concerns are
as an artist.
41
00:03:52,333 --> 00:03:58,005
How would you know
how to put things together
that have shadow feelings,
42
00:03:58,038 --> 00:04:01,342
unless you were willing
to really go deep?
43
00:04:01,375 --> 00:04:02,410
And he does.
44
00:04:07,381 --> 00:04:09,650
Lance used to come
to the store that I worked at,
45
00:04:09,683 --> 00:04:13,521
which is the Half Price Books
on the Drag in Austin.
46
00:04:13,554 --> 00:04:16,390
It was the '80s
and early '90s.
47
00:04:16,423 --> 00:04:19,959
Lance would come
pretty regularly
and dive in our dumpster,
48
00:04:19,993 --> 00:04:23,464
because most of what he used
was old books.
49
00:04:23,497 --> 00:04:25,299
LETSCHER: That was
when one of my sons
was about seven,
50
00:04:25,333 --> 00:04:27,701
but he was a small guy
and he was real stout,
51
00:04:27,735 --> 00:04:29,470
so he was about this big,
52
00:04:29,503 --> 00:04:32,540
and I would lift him up
and drop him in the dumpster.
53
00:04:32,573 --> 00:04:34,742
And then he would start,
like, going through it,
54
00:04:34,775 --> 00:04:36,710
and I'd point or he'd point,
55
00:04:36,744 --> 00:04:39,347
or he'd say,
"Oh, my gosh, look at this,"
56
00:04:39,380 --> 00:04:42,583
and then he'd pull out
this gigantic, you know,
one of those dictionaries
57
00:04:42,616 --> 00:04:46,787
that's, like, this big,
you know, weighs
35 or 40 pounds.
58
00:04:46,820 --> 00:04:48,456
And so he was like
my accomplice,
59
00:04:48,489 --> 00:04:52,059
and we got yelled at
by people at Half Price Books.
60
00:04:52,092 --> 00:04:56,664
I think I would catch him
once in a while in there
61
00:04:56,697 --> 00:04:59,099
and even say,
"Hey, look at this."
62
00:04:59,132 --> 00:05:02,503
I started to develop an idea
of what he was looking for.
63
00:05:03,971 --> 00:05:06,707
TORNATORE:
There's such a beauty
in the aging of books,
64
00:05:06,740 --> 00:05:09,943
and he really gets it
and loves it.
65
00:05:09,977 --> 00:05:11,945
A really old book
that's torn and tattered.
66
00:05:13,647 --> 00:05:17,017
ROBERT JESSUP: You find
your attention always being
moved around
67
00:05:17,050 --> 00:05:18,285
in such a delightful way,
68
00:05:18,318 --> 00:05:20,488
and then you come upon,
you bump upon an image,
69
00:05:20,521 --> 00:05:22,623
you bump upon another image,
you bump another place.
70
00:05:22,656 --> 00:05:24,358
And he's always
moving you around,
71
00:05:24,392 --> 00:05:27,595
and there's this sense
of wonder, of delight,
of discovery.
72
00:05:27,628 --> 00:05:30,030
His images work
like little memories.
73
00:05:32,032 --> 00:05:33,100
LETSCHER: Nice box.
74
00:05:34,502 --> 00:05:35,869
Oh, yeah.
75
00:05:35,903 --> 00:05:38,005
PATTI HOWELL: Some of these
books are pretty trashed.
76
00:05:38,038 --> 00:05:41,008
There was an estate sale
when I went to Warrington,
77
00:05:41,041 --> 00:05:44,478
and some has stuff
all through it,
78
00:05:44,512 --> 00:05:47,615
others, you know,
just have a couple things,
like that one.
79
00:05:47,648 --> 00:05:48,882
LETSCHER: Yeah,
these are good.
80
00:05:51,084 --> 00:05:54,822
PATTI: And then there's
a lot of scribble stuff.
81
00:05:54,855 --> 00:05:58,626
Um, a friend of mine
was moving,
82
00:05:58,659 --> 00:06:03,063
and this is all her
childhood notebooks
and she's in her fifties.
83
00:06:03,096 --> 00:06:04,498
LETSCHER: Yeah,
these are great.
84
00:06:04,532 --> 00:06:06,967
LETSCHER: Thank you very
much. This is really good.
PATTI: Okay, good.
85
00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:08,035
LETSCHER: Really, really good.
86
00:06:12,005 --> 00:06:13,941
-(LETSCHER EXCLAIMS)
-PATTI: Isn't that good?
87
00:06:13,974 --> 00:06:14,975
LETSCHER: Ah, thanks
for doing this.
88
00:06:15,008 --> 00:06:17,411
You've really scored big.
89
00:06:17,445 --> 00:06:18,612
PATTI: Oh, good.
LETSCHER: These weapons...
90
00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:21,381
LETSCHER: Wow, these
are so good.
91
00:06:23,116 --> 00:06:25,586
This is how they're organized.
92
00:06:25,619 --> 00:06:28,756
So, this is stuff
that's been cut through,
93
00:06:29,957 --> 00:06:32,826
um, at some point or another.
94
00:06:32,860 --> 00:06:34,695
I started out a long time ago
with the idea
95
00:06:34,728 --> 00:06:36,764
that if I didn't organize
the boxes,
96
00:06:36,797 --> 00:06:38,231
that I'd have to
go through the boxes
97
00:06:38,265 --> 00:06:40,834
and I would find stuff
that I didn't know
was in them,
98
00:06:40,868 --> 00:06:45,172
and it actually has been
somewhat beneficial
having that idea,
99
00:06:45,205 --> 00:06:47,841
but lately I've gotten
so much stuff.
100
00:06:47,875 --> 00:06:50,644
That whole back room
is full of boxes of paper.
101
00:06:53,046 --> 00:06:55,649
I buy a lot of albums.
102
00:06:55,683 --> 00:06:58,886
There's no real rhyme
or reason to it.
103
00:06:58,919 --> 00:07:00,688
Like, that was a good one.
104
00:07:03,757 --> 00:07:06,093
There's a really good leg,
look at that.
105
00:07:07,995 --> 00:07:09,763
Oh, I could use that.
106
00:07:09,797 --> 00:07:11,031
Look at that color.
107
00:07:14,034 --> 00:07:17,237
A lot of times I'll be looking
for something
108
00:07:17,270 --> 00:07:18,972
and I'll find five things
I didn't know
I was looking for,
109
00:07:19,006 --> 00:07:21,809
but they're exactly
what I need.
110
00:07:21,842 --> 00:07:24,678
They're more what I need
than what I started out
the quest for.
111
00:07:27,881 --> 00:07:31,485
It's not a premeditated
decision to pursue the work
112
00:07:31,519 --> 00:07:36,990
in a certain emotional tone
or psychological tone
or thematic direction.
113
00:07:40,093 --> 00:07:45,132
It's more guided by intuition
and availability of materials.
114
00:07:47,067 --> 00:07:50,538
I'll just start out cold
without an idea
115
00:07:50,571 --> 00:07:53,707
and the materials
will start to dictate
the direction of the piece,
116
00:07:53,741 --> 00:07:57,878
and as I see something
becoming realized,
then I push it.
117
00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,223
LETSCHER: I wanted
a play-off of kind of
a structural assembly,
118
00:08:10,257 --> 00:08:11,625
like she is
a mechanical woman,
119
00:08:11,659 --> 00:08:16,196
or else have the items
function graphically
as if they were tattoos.
120
00:08:19,132 --> 00:08:22,235
WHITENACK: I am not sure
what drives Lance,
121
00:08:22,269 --> 00:08:28,108
but he is absolutely driven.
122
00:08:28,141 --> 00:08:33,614
He has shown with five
to seven or eight galleries
at a time.
123
00:08:33,647 --> 00:08:38,184
We always have a very large
body of work for show,
124
00:08:38,217 --> 00:08:42,623
and every gallery
that he works with
would say the same.
125
00:08:42,655 --> 00:08:45,693
He's incredibly responsible,
126
00:08:45,726 --> 00:08:50,964
but behind that is this man
127
00:08:50,998 --> 00:08:56,904
who may take six weeks
to cut material
with an X-ACTO knife.
128
00:08:56,937 --> 00:09:01,241
Tiny, tiny little pieces,
for six weeks!
129
00:09:04,377 --> 00:09:08,682
LETSCHER: My most conscious
time is when I'm cutting.
130
00:09:08,716 --> 00:09:12,185
If my mind wanders,
the blade continues to move
131
00:09:12,219 --> 00:09:16,189
and sometimes it doesn't
move in the direction
that I want it to move.
132
00:09:16,223 --> 00:09:18,225
Like, it's almost like
I black out,
133
00:09:18,258 --> 00:09:19,793
because I'm thinking
about something
134
00:09:19,827 --> 00:09:22,295
and not concentrating
on what my hand
and my eye are doing.
135
00:09:24,031 --> 00:09:27,668
It takes 3% of the time
to make the piece
136
00:09:27,701 --> 00:09:30,203
and 97% of the time
to cut all of the parts.
137
00:09:44,885 --> 00:09:46,754
(METAL CLATTERING)
138
00:09:49,289 --> 00:09:50,658
(GRUNTS SOFTLY)
139
00:10:01,769 --> 00:10:03,536
LETSCHER: Almost all
the cutting that I do is hard.
140
00:10:03,570 --> 00:10:08,241
One way or the other,
it's either very detailed
or physically demanding.
141
00:10:08,275 --> 00:10:12,880
The path of greater resistance
is the one that
I usually end up taking.
142
00:10:12,913 --> 00:10:16,349
This is no exception.
The metal is very difficult
to cut.
143
00:10:17,751 --> 00:10:19,119
(METAL CLANKS)
144
00:10:21,855 --> 00:10:23,256
Wow, this is hard.
145
00:10:23,857 --> 00:10:24,658
(GRUNTING)
146
00:10:30,197 --> 00:10:33,834
So right now, I'm just
kind of cutting through
the metal that I have
147
00:10:33,867 --> 00:10:35,903
in these pie-shaped wedges,
148
00:10:35,936 --> 00:10:41,441
so that I can reassemble them
into kind of circular shapes
like that.
149
00:10:41,474 --> 00:10:42,976
It's a theme that I've used,
150
00:10:43,010 --> 00:10:46,179
and it's one
that I've been doing
a lot of commissions for,
151
00:10:46,213 --> 00:10:48,348
and so that's
what they wanted.
152
00:10:48,381 --> 00:10:51,685
We wanted something
to be bright and colorful
and weather resistant,
153
00:10:51,719 --> 00:10:56,189
so we thought metal,
painted metal of some kind,
154
00:10:56,223 --> 00:10:59,326
and Patti started shopping.
155
00:10:59,359 --> 00:11:03,163
I started looking around
for old signage.
156
00:11:03,196 --> 00:11:06,366
Well, I didn't see anything,
157
00:11:06,399 --> 00:11:09,402
and I thought, "This is
going to be difficult."
158
00:11:17,978 --> 00:11:23,116
LETSCHER: The project is to do
an exterior piece outside of
South Congress Books.
159
00:11:26,486 --> 00:11:29,757
HOWELL: We bought the shop
in 1997,
160
00:11:29,790 --> 00:11:32,826
prior to South Congress
just taking off like a rocket.
161
00:11:35,095 --> 00:11:38,732
EVAN VOYLES: I think there's
something magical lucky
about South Congress,
162
00:11:38,766 --> 00:11:40,868
and I think the reason
it's popular
163
00:11:40,901 --> 00:11:44,905
is it reflects both
an America of the past
164
00:11:44,938 --> 00:11:48,341
and the idea that it can
be funky and different
165
00:11:48,375 --> 00:11:51,879
and not all malled up
and Starbuck-ed out
166
00:11:51,912 --> 00:11:53,513
is intriguing to people.
167
00:11:53,546 --> 00:11:56,950
To me, what's interesting
about Lance's project
168
00:11:56,984 --> 00:11:59,452
is that it's sort of
the next step.
169
00:11:59,486 --> 00:12:02,923
It's art for art's sake,
but it's outdoor art.
170
00:12:08,261 --> 00:12:09,729
LETSCHER: I got a letter
from Serbia.
171
00:12:19,206 --> 00:12:21,241
Wow.
172
00:12:21,274 --> 00:12:24,344
This is a 500 million
dinar banknote.
173
00:12:26,947 --> 00:12:29,917
The banknote represents one
of the biggest denominations
174
00:12:29,950 --> 00:12:31,384
for paper money ever printed
in the territory of Europe.
175
00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,287
This guy just sent it to me.
176
00:12:34,321 --> 00:12:35,455
(CHUCKLES)
177
00:12:38,391 --> 00:12:42,229
LETSCHER: What I love about
the work is what you can do
with perspective
178
00:12:42,262 --> 00:12:44,364
and what you can do
with an optical illusion.
179
00:12:48,869 --> 00:12:53,073
What you can do
with a movement of color
or a graphic shape.
180
00:12:56,043 --> 00:12:58,345
Some kind of shape
that implies something
181
00:12:58,378 --> 00:13:00,247
without actually
being something.
182
00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:12,092
My parents were distracted,
conceptually absent.
183
00:13:12,125 --> 00:13:16,196
I think I just gravitated
towards being by myself
when I had a choice.
184
00:13:18,398 --> 00:13:21,168
Lance grew up here in Austin,
born and raised,
185
00:13:21,201 --> 00:13:23,403
not many people
can say that anymore.
186
00:13:23,436 --> 00:13:26,239
His mother was
from Paris, Texas.
187
00:13:26,273 --> 00:13:30,577
His father was
from Port Arthur, Texas.
188
00:13:30,610 --> 00:13:33,280
FRASHER:
They met here in Austin,
going to school at UT.
189
00:13:33,313 --> 00:13:35,916
His mother was in art school.
190
00:13:35,949 --> 00:13:38,285
She kind of was
a frustrated artist, I guess.
191
00:13:38,318 --> 00:13:39,386
She... She got discouraged.
192
00:13:40,653 --> 00:13:45,926
She was very nurturing
until I was about five or six,
193
00:13:45,959 --> 00:13:48,929
and then I think
that things started to go bad.
194
00:13:48,962 --> 00:13:50,263
She just kind of shut down.
195
00:13:52,900 --> 00:13:56,169
My dad was kind of
a narcissistic person.
196
00:13:56,203 --> 00:13:58,205
He was very self-centered,
197
00:13:58,238 --> 00:14:01,841
and he was just somebody
that would pop up
and disappear.
198
00:14:03,476 --> 00:14:05,578
Didn't have much connection
with him.
199
00:14:08,281 --> 00:14:14,054
He was pretty well abandoned
by age... Probably about
by age 14.
200
00:14:14,087 --> 00:14:18,025
Yeah. They were there
a little bit for holidays,
201
00:14:18,058 --> 00:14:21,128
for Thanksgiving
and Christmas,
and that was about it.
202
00:14:28,501 --> 00:14:31,538
LETSCHER:
One of the advantages
that I had in my childhood
203
00:14:31,571 --> 00:14:35,442
was that I didn't have
a lot of stimulation.
204
00:14:35,475 --> 00:14:39,512
I was bored frequently
and I made things to kind of
compensate for that.
205
00:14:42,082 --> 00:14:45,452
I remember being on the floor
drawing when I was younger,
206
00:14:45,485 --> 00:14:49,589
I had a big set of
gold headphones.
I'd listen to music,
207
00:14:49,622 --> 00:14:54,962
I'd look at catalogs,
I liked to look at books,
just doing stuff.
208
00:14:54,995 --> 00:14:56,596
Doing things
to keep from being bored.
209
00:14:57,965 --> 00:14:59,399
I had an uncle, Johnny,
210
00:14:59,432 --> 00:15:03,136
that I kind of
pattern myself after
in a lot of ways.
211
00:15:03,170 --> 00:15:07,207
He had guns and he had a boat
and rode motorcycles
212
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,711
and, um, just was wild,
a little bit wild.
213
00:15:11,744 --> 00:15:16,984
FRASHER: When Lance was 16,
that's when he started
getting into motorcycles.
214
00:15:17,017 --> 00:15:19,519
And he got into a lot
of trouble with motorcycles.
215
00:15:19,552 --> 00:15:21,688
He wrecked them
one right after another.
216
00:15:21,721 --> 00:15:23,723
It was a lot of fun, you know,
it's fun. (CHUCKLES)
217
00:15:23,756 --> 00:15:25,025
It's really fun.
218
00:15:25,058 --> 00:15:27,260
I had friends that rode,
219
00:15:27,294 --> 00:15:29,262
and, you know,
we just rode a lot.
220
00:15:29,296 --> 00:15:31,064
Rode all the time,
skip school and ride.
221
00:15:33,366 --> 00:15:39,039
When I was a teenager,
hormones created
a lot of havoc and misery.
222
00:15:39,072 --> 00:15:42,342
You know, I think that's when
I started to become
more unhappy
223
00:15:42,375 --> 00:15:43,343
is just as a teenager.
224
00:15:43,376 --> 00:15:46,313
I think before that
I was okay.
225
00:15:46,346 --> 00:15:49,983
I lived with my mom some,
and then when I was
a senior in high school,
226
00:15:50,017 --> 00:15:53,286
I was getting in trouble,
and she didn't know
how to handle it,
227
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,288
and so she told me
to go live with my dad.
228
00:15:55,322 --> 00:15:57,624
I went and lived with my dad
in Nebraska for six months.
229
00:16:00,793 --> 00:16:03,997
My dad had some
psychological problems,
230
00:16:04,031 --> 00:16:06,233
and I think that he suffered
from depression,
231
00:16:06,266 --> 00:16:08,168
but I think he was
probably undiagnosed.
232
00:16:10,737 --> 00:16:14,741
He exaggerated
and he embellished stories,
233
00:16:14,774 --> 00:16:18,211
and he told stories
that were just false.
234
00:16:19,812 --> 00:16:23,016
About the time
I was in high school,
235
00:16:23,050 --> 00:16:26,519
he kind of just didn't want
to work anymore.
236
00:16:26,553 --> 00:16:28,755
So, he figured out
different strategies
237
00:16:28,788 --> 00:16:31,591
to kind of keep from working
for the rest of his life.
238
00:16:42,369 --> 00:16:45,438
LETSCHER: I was 21 when I got
married to my first wife.
239
00:16:47,474 --> 00:16:50,610
We started dating
and she got pregnant.
240
00:16:55,348 --> 00:16:58,451
Jonathan was born
and she graduated.
241
00:16:58,485 --> 00:17:00,753
I finished the semester
and then we got married.
242
00:17:04,357 --> 00:17:08,328
At that particular time,
I was really involved
in art school.
243
00:17:08,361 --> 00:17:11,798
I had kind of been through
a protracted period of crisis
244
00:17:11,830 --> 00:17:15,768
from about age 13
to about age 19.
245
00:17:15,801 --> 00:17:19,172
I was insecure
and self-conscious
246
00:17:19,205 --> 00:17:22,175
and just miserable,
generally miserable.
247
00:17:22,209 --> 00:17:23,742
And when he was born,
I just kind of focused on
248
00:17:23,776 --> 00:17:27,146
making him into
a strong enough person
249
00:17:27,180 --> 00:17:30,250
not to have those problems
when he got to that age.
250
00:17:30,283 --> 00:17:33,620
JONATHAN VON LETSCHER: I kind
of always just remember,
like, doing art with him.
251
00:17:33,653 --> 00:17:37,257
Feels like my whole upbringing
was kind of centered
around that.
252
00:17:37,290 --> 00:17:40,160
I remember going
to the UT art school
in the art department
253
00:17:40,193 --> 00:17:41,794
and hanging out
with his friends.
254
00:17:41,828 --> 00:17:43,863
STEVE WIMAN: We were two
of the only guys
255
00:17:43,896 --> 00:17:47,700
in that group of young artists
who had kids.
256
00:17:48,835 --> 00:17:51,871
He was reserved,
quiet, soft-spoken,
257
00:17:51,904 --> 00:17:54,574
but very focused
and very dedicated
258
00:17:54,607 --> 00:17:56,809
to the work that he was doing
at that time.
259
00:17:56,843 --> 00:17:58,211
I think it was 1986.
260
00:17:58,245 --> 00:18:02,415
He did a show
at a small gallery in Dallas
261
00:18:02,449 --> 00:18:05,752
that just was one
of the most remarkable
262
00:18:05,785 --> 00:18:07,820
moving pieces of work
that I've seen.
263
00:18:10,423 --> 00:18:12,492
JOHN REOCH: There was
something literary about it.
264
00:18:12,525 --> 00:18:13,793
There was something haunting.
265
00:18:15,895 --> 00:18:19,366
It was work that was
very unusual because...
266
00:18:21,534 --> 00:18:23,136
There was this
lead-based chair.
267
00:18:23,170 --> 00:18:26,139
There was this
lead-based tricycle.
268
00:18:26,173 --> 00:18:31,110
All these things
that were very unusual
and somewhat dark.
269
00:18:33,580 --> 00:18:35,548
REOCH: They were beautiful
works of art,
270
00:18:35,582 --> 00:18:38,785
but dark in a mysterious way.
271
00:18:43,356 --> 00:18:48,395
He also had a dissecting
cadaver table covered in lead,
272
00:18:48,428 --> 00:18:51,431
which was very,
very mysterious, and...
273
00:18:52,832 --> 00:18:54,667
And I was drawn to it,
but, I mean,
274
00:18:54,701 --> 00:18:55,902
you needed
to be an institution
275
00:18:55,935 --> 00:18:57,470
to have something like that
in your house.
276
00:18:59,639 --> 00:19:03,276
LETSCHER: The table had
a connotation of a landscape,
277
00:19:03,310 --> 00:19:05,745
like a river straight down
the center,
278
00:19:05,778 --> 00:19:08,815
you know, these two
banked sides.
279
00:19:08,848 --> 00:19:10,850
I wouldn't do
those pieces now,
280
00:19:10,883 --> 00:19:12,719
but, I mean,
I was 20 years old,
281
00:19:12,752 --> 00:19:16,289
and very depressed
282
00:19:16,323 --> 00:19:19,259
and very absorbed
with depressing subjects.
283
00:19:21,761 --> 00:19:24,731
I did several paintings
that were based on the book
284
00:19:24,764 --> 00:19:26,866
The Painted Bird
by Jerzy Kosinski.
285
00:19:28,801 --> 00:19:31,871
I was reading a lot
about the Holocaust,
286
00:19:31,904 --> 00:19:34,807
and I was very involved
in the history
of the Second World War,
287
00:19:34,841 --> 00:19:36,476
particularly in the Holocaust,
288
00:19:36,509 --> 00:19:37,710
and I was thinking
a lot about that
289
00:19:37,744 --> 00:19:39,812
and about the effect
on survivors.
290
00:19:44,016 --> 00:19:47,620
Sometimes you find meaning
in reading about
other people's suffering.
291
00:19:47,654 --> 00:19:48,855
You identify with it
292
00:19:48,888 --> 00:19:51,424
and it makes your own
suffering more meaningful
293
00:19:51,458 --> 00:19:52,825
and not as isolated.
294
00:19:53,660 --> 00:19:55,528
You feel less alone, I guess.
295
00:20:05,405 --> 00:20:06,706
She gets so pissed off.
296
00:20:14,614 --> 00:20:17,650
It was in a show in 1992,
297
00:20:17,684 --> 00:20:20,520
so it was after I'd been
out of graduate school
for about three years.
298
00:20:22,289 --> 00:20:24,657
I was doing a lot of pieces
based on furniture
299
00:20:24,691 --> 00:20:28,661
and then doing things
to them or, you know,
carving parts of them
300
00:20:28,695 --> 00:20:31,531
or breaking up parts of them
and reassembling them,
301
00:20:31,564 --> 00:20:34,901
so that you could see that
they'd been broken and fixed.
302
00:20:34,934 --> 00:20:39,606
I made this piano
that was, you know,
5 feet by 4 1/2 feet.
303
00:20:39,639 --> 00:20:43,910
It had real short, stubby
legs, so it was deformed,
almost like a dwarf,
304
00:20:43,943 --> 00:20:47,013
and it was sealed closed
305
00:20:47,046 --> 00:20:50,417
and had little brass fittings
on the bottom,
306
00:20:50,450 --> 00:20:53,753
brass casters and brass pedals
for the actuation,
307
00:20:53,786 --> 00:20:56,323
but it didn't have the actual
mechanism of the piano.
308
00:20:59,492 --> 00:21:03,930
CHARLES DEE MITCHELL:
So much of the very early work
was about childhood.
309
00:21:03,963 --> 00:21:09,569
Everything was child-sized,
and, I mean, it was...
It was traumatic.
310
00:21:09,602 --> 00:21:13,806
MITCHELL: The ballet slippers
were definitely for a child.
311
00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:18,010
A pillow made out of marble
that looked like someone
had slept on.
312
00:21:20,347 --> 00:21:23,583
The first exhibition which was
so predominantly sculpture,
313
00:21:23,616 --> 00:21:28,421
the one piece that I remember
being framed and on the wall
314
00:21:28,455 --> 00:21:34,093
was a really tender image
that was an angel.
315
00:21:34,126 --> 00:21:36,095
When you looked again,
you could also see
316
00:21:36,128 --> 00:21:38,665
that it was
a little boy standing
317
00:21:38,698 --> 00:21:40,933
with very bright lights
shining on his face,
318
00:21:40,967 --> 00:21:43,503
and I think his hand
was up like this.
319
00:21:43,536 --> 00:21:46,339
The light was both invasive,
320
00:21:46,373 --> 00:21:49,942
but it was also radiant,
transcendent light.
321
00:21:52,479 --> 00:21:54,947
JONATHAN: I just remember
him kind of brooding,
thinking a lot.
322
00:21:54,981 --> 00:21:58,418
He seemed kind of distant.
323
00:21:58,451 --> 00:22:00,887
My parents weren't really
getting along at all.
324
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:05,758
It was kind of a...
A rocky household,
I would say.
325
00:22:05,792 --> 00:22:07,760
LETSCHER: You know,
by the time my second
son was born,
326
00:22:07,794 --> 00:22:12,131
my first wife was pretty much
gone all the time.
327
00:22:12,164 --> 00:22:14,367
It was pretty bad.
It was terrible.
328
00:22:14,401 --> 00:22:17,404
It was a terrible relationship
and we fought a lot,
329
00:22:17,437 --> 00:22:19,839
and so it was not healthy
for the boys, and...
330
00:22:19,872 --> 00:22:23,376
So, I told her I wanted
to get a divorce
331
00:22:23,410 --> 00:22:25,111
and told her I wanted custody
of the kids,
332
00:22:25,144 --> 00:22:27,514
and she didn't dispute that.
333
00:22:46,065 --> 00:22:48,435
LETSCHER: I don't really have
any kind of preconception
334
00:22:48,468 --> 00:22:50,537
about how this piece
is going to go,
335
00:22:50,570 --> 00:22:53,673
but it seems similar enough
to the paper pieces
that I make
336
00:22:53,706 --> 00:22:57,510
to where it's mostly going
to be about balancing color
337
00:22:57,544 --> 00:22:59,879
and creating a composition
that's active and interesting.
338
00:23:04,183 --> 00:23:06,919
One of the kind of classical
theories about color
339
00:23:06,953 --> 00:23:09,456
is the simultaneous contrast
of complementary colors.
340
00:23:09,489 --> 00:23:11,658
It's like you put
red next to green,
341
00:23:11,691 --> 00:23:12,892
they're complementary colors,
342
00:23:12,925 --> 00:23:15,027
and they both make each other
look more vibrant.
343
00:23:16,963 --> 00:23:19,566
Working with color,
it's a process of, like,
344
00:23:19,599 --> 00:23:21,167
putting things down
next to each other
345
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:22,502
and seeing if it makes it
better or worse,
346
00:23:22,535 --> 00:23:25,204
and taking it away and seeing
if it's better or worse.
347
00:23:25,237 --> 00:23:27,640
Just a visual trial and error.
348
00:23:27,674 --> 00:23:30,510
So, laying them all out
like this on the floor,
349
00:23:30,543 --> 00:23:32,645
there's no commitment there
to any of those things
350
00:23:32,679 --> 00:23:33,846
being in the place
that they're in now.
351
00:23:36,115 --> 00:23:38,017
All that cutting
and this is all I got.
352
00:23:38,050 --> 00:23:40,820
Like, this isn't even
a third of it.
353
00:23:40,853 --> 00:23:44,023
It's a real insecure feeling
to be making something
and it doesn't look good.
354
00:23:44,056 --> 00:23:46,959
You know, like, letting it
not look good.
355
00:23:46,993 --> 00:23:49,696
Right now,
there's no cohesion.
It's just real rough.
356
00:23:57,537 --> 00:24:00,239
When I first met Lance,
he was working for an artist,
357
00:24:00,272 --> 00:24:02,174
southwestern artist,
Amado Pena,
358
00:24:02,208 --> 00:24:05,077
who was very big and famous
at the time,
359
00:24:05,111 --> 00:24:07,514
and Lance was doing
all of his printing for him,
360
00:24:07,547 --> 00:24:11,651
his etching,
his mono-printing,
lithography, he did it all.
361
00:24:11,684 --> 00:24:13,886
I was with him
for 11 years total.
362
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:19,659
Towards the end,
we were doing 9-plate,
64-color etchings
363
00:24:19,692 --> 00:24:24,196
that took three guys eight
hours to wipe for one print.
364
00:24:24,230 --> 00:24:29,168
He was coming to work
for Amado at about 7:00
every morning,
365
00:24:29,201 --> 00:24:35,642
after he'd gotten his kids
fed for breakfast,
came to work,
366
00:24:35,675 --> 00:24:38,645
and he would work until
about 3:00 in the afternoon,
367
00:24:38,678 --> 00:24:43,249
go pick them up at different
schools every day,
and then take them home.
368
00:24:43,282 --> 00:24:46,218
Then, he would hang signs
for his ex-wife.
369
00:24:46,252 --> 00:24:49,756
Hang banners
until about 8:00
at night.
370
00:24:49,789 --> 00:24:53,626
Then he'd go home,
cook dinner for the boys,
371
00:24:53,660 --> 00:24:55,962
and then he'd do his artwork.
372
00:24:55,995 --> 00:24:57,697
That's when he had time
to do his art.
373
00:24:59,666 --> 00:25:03,235
The first exhibition that we
had of Lance's work
374
00:25:03,269 --> 00:25:05,905
were graphite drawings,
375
00:25:05,938 --> 00:25:11,811
and they were very small,
intimate drawings
of fragile branches,
376
00:25:11,844 --> 00:25:15,281
and he would cut
every bit of it out
377
00:25:15,314 --> 00:25:19,552
and apply the drawing
to an old piece of paper,
378
00:25:19,586 --> 00:25:21,253
and they were exquisite.
379
00:25:21,287 --> 00:25:22,822
There was no color.
380
00:25:22,855 --> 00:25:24,123
Always quiet.
381
00:25:25,992 --> 00:25:30,062
There are always
bodies of work, you know,
and he'll...
382
00:25:30,096 --> 00:25:34,667
He would always
find a motif or a theme
and pursue it.
383
00:25:34,701 --> 00:25:35,968
The, um...
384
00:25:36,002 --> 00:25:39,872
There are some
very, I would say,
straightforward landscapes,
385
00:25:39,906 --> 00:25:41,608
although, of course,
they're totally abstract.
386
00:25:46,112 --> 00:25:50,249
REOCH: It looks like
a faint drawing made with tea.
387
00:25:50,282 --> 00:25:52,619
There's faint pencil marks
on it.
388
00:25:52,652 --> 00:25:57,023
They're quiet, quiet gestures
of the human hand.
389
00:25:59,726 --> 00:26:03,963
The work became lighter
and airier and more poetic.
390
00:26:05,632 --> 00:26:07,366
I have hundreds of works
of art,
391
00:26:07,399 --> 00:26:09,335
but this is one
of my favorite pieces
392
00:26:09,368 --> 00:26:12,872
because of how quietly
it speaks of love.
393
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,843
It's just a very romantic
piece to me,
394
00:26:16,876 --> 00:26:19,946
and it's these two cards
that are two of hearts
395
00:26:19,979 --> 00:26:22,248
and they mirror each other.
396
00:26:22,281 --> 00:26:25,251
The two of them together
for eternity.
397
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:31,891
One thing Lance's father
always said when I met him,
398
00:26:31,924 --> 00:26:36,128
he said, "Lance did not do
anything with color
until he met you."
399
00:26:37,664 --> 00:26:41,167
You know,
she's a complex person
400
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:45,638
and intelligent and creative
and attractive,
401
00:26:45,672 --> 00:26:50,076
and, you know, I just started
to let down my guard.
402
00:26:50,109 --> 00:26:53,312
It was after we'd been
together for a while
403
00:26:53,345 --> 00:26:56,949
that both of our lives
started improving together,
404
00:26:56,983 --> 00:26:59,852
you know, we were helping
each other, um,
405
00:26:59,886 --> 00:27:02,121
that it started showing
in his work.
406
00:27:05,825 --> 00:27:08,895
WHITENACK: One day I got
in the mail a small collage,
407
00:27:08,928 --> 00:27:11,764
and it was very abstract
408
00:27:11,798 --> 00:27:15,968
with just small slits
of colored paper,
409
00:27:16,002 --> 00:27:21,808
and it was just this total
break from anything
we'd had.
410
00:27:21,841 --> 00:27:27,079
This was Lance's signal
that he was moving
a very different direction.
411
00:27:27,113 --> 00:27:30,082
MITCHELL: Very quickly,
though, the elaboration
of the abstract work
412
00:27:30,116 --> 00:27:33,686
had reached a level
of complexity
and sophistication.
413
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,255
Even if it was nothing
but stacks of color
414
00:27:36,288 --> 00:27:38,791
that appear unbalanced
on the paper
415
00:27:38,825 --> 00:27:40,259
or maybe shifting to one side.
416
00:27:42,494 --> 00:27:45,932
WHITENACK:
Color, once he started
getting involved with it,
417
00:27:45,965 --> 00:27:49,468
became something that is
a very important element
418
00:27:49,501 --> 00:27:52,004
and something
that he understands,
419
00:27:52,038 --> 00:27:53,039
maybe intuitively.
420
00:27:56,275 --> 00:28:00,813
JESSUP: Lance's collages
always hold the wall
from 40 feet away.
421
00:28:00,847 --> 00:28:04,884
There's always an overriding
sense of form and rhythm,
422
00:28:04,917 --> 00:28:08,420
that kind of formal play,
the syncopation
of all those parts together.
423
00:28:10,790 --> 00:28:14,093
All these different levels of
pictorial organization work.
424
00:28:15,828 --> 00:28:18,497
They work in a big way,
they work in a medium way,
425
00:28:18,530 --> 00:28:21,100
and they work
in a teeny, teeny way.
426
00:28:21,133 --> 00:28:24,336
And like all of the
really great works of art,
427
00:28:24,370 --> 00:28:26,773
you will never get tired
of looking at them.
428
00:28:31,110 --> 00:28:34,013
LETSCHER: I started to think
about creativity
429
00:28:34,046 --> 00:28:36,949
several years after I got out
of graduate school.
430
00:28:38,985 --> 00:28:41,053
I started thinking about
my dream life,
431
00:28:41,087 --> 00:28:45,191
which is so rich
and so populated
with people I don't know,
432
00:28:45,224 --> 00:28:47,293
landscapes that I've never
seen before,
433
00:28:47,326 --> 00:28:50,763
detailed to an infinite degree
434
00:28:50,797 --> 00:28:54,400
in a way that I couldn't
consciously conceive of
when I was awake.
435
00:28:57,036 --> 00:29:00,239
I started to develop
strategies to trick myself
436
00:29:00,272 --> 00:29:03,109
into having access
to those parts of my mind
437
00:29:03,142 --> 00:29:06,012
that aren't normally available
during waking hours.
438
00:29:08,347 --> 00:29:11,083
I kind of stopped trying
to preconceive pieces
439
00:29:11,117 --> 00:29:13,219
and stopped trying
to plan pieces.
440
00:29:13,252 --> 00:29:15,822
Instead, I'd get a fragment
of an idea from a piece
441
00:29:15,855 --> 00:29:18,124
and that will become
the next piece.
442
00:29:19,558 --> 00:29:21,493
And when I'm in a groove
like that,
443
00:29:21,527 --> 00:29:24,430
I think about it all the time
and I dream about it at night.
444
00:29:26,332 --> 00:29:31,103
My favorite kind of dream is
I'll have a piece of paper
like this,
445
00:29:31,137 --> 00:29:34,874
and I'll be going like this,
and that's the whole dream.
446
00:29:34,907 --> 00:29:39,178
It's just like,
see the pattern,
see the color, you know,
447
00:29:39,211 --> 00:29:43,482
and this feeling comes
over you, like,
"Oh! Oh, that feels so good."
448
00:29:43,515 --> 00:29:45,417
You know,
I'm just looking at color.
449
00:29:45,451 --> 00:29:46,919
(LAUGHING)
450
00:29:50,322 --> 00:29:53,425
One time I had a dream
that there was a secret
piece of fabric
451
00:29:53,459 --> 00:29:56,362
on the back of our armoire
in our bedroom,
452
00:29:56,395 --> 00:29:59,265
and you couldn't see it
and nobody knew it was there,
453
00:29:59,298 --> 00:30:01,000
but in the dream
I knew it was there
454
00:30:01,033 --> 00:30:03,870
and it was a striped
piece of fabric.
455
00:30:03,903 --> 00:30:06,438
I did 20 pieces based
on that dream.
456
00:30:14,947 --> 00:30:19,886
JESSUP: He depends upon
that chaos of stuff,
of things laying around,
457
00:30:19,919 --> 00:30:23,990
which is almost
a physical manifestation
458
00:30:24,023 --> 00:30:27,226
of the untamed mind,
the untamed unconscious,
459
00:30:27,259 --> 00:30:30,596
that as you survey it,
as you scan it,
460
00:30:30,629 --> 00:30:33,165
as you live through it,
things come up.
461
00:30:33,199 --> 00:30:35,201
Things present themselves.
462
00:30:35,234 --> 00:30:37,536
In fact, things can only
present themselves
463
00:30:37,569 --> 00:30:44,243
if they exist within
that kind of chaotic, uh,
noise, as it were.
464
00:30:44,276 --> 00:30:46,578
You know in that process
of selecting, selecting,
465
00:30:46,612 --> 00:30:48,414
trying this, trying that,
trying this,
466
00:30:48,447 --> 00:30:51,583
one thing leads to another,
one thing leads to another,
things are open,
467
00:30:51,617 --> 00:30:54,220
you make discoveries,
you find things.
468
00:30:56,288 --> 00:30:59,525
Like, when do you decide
to commit to the cutting out
of this thing?
469
00:31:05,064 --> 00:31:06,598
LETSCHER: There's like
a pattern of the same color
470
00:31:06,632 --> 00:31:08,334
and it moves throughout
the piece.
471
00:31:08,367 --> 00:31:11,003
This kind of yellowish orange,
472
00:31:11,037 --> 00:31:13,539
like those two colors
put together make this color.
473
00:31:14,340 --> 00:31:16,075
And...
474
00:31:16,108 --> 00:31:18,677
So, if you think of that
as one level
475
00:31:18,710 --> 00:31:21,413
um, and there is
another level with...
476
00:31:21,447 --> 00:31:24,616
Or another kind of
interlocking matrix
of this blue...
477
00:31:24,650 --> 00:31:25,584
This blue-gray.
478
00:31:27,453 --> 00:31:29,221
I knew that I wanted
more blue-gray,
479
00:31:29,255 --> 00:31:31,457
but then I...
I saw this piece.
480
00:31:33,325 --> 00:31:34,126
Like this.
481
00:31:35,627 --> 00:31:37,096
It made sense
to put another tree in,
482
00:31:37,129 --> 00:31:38,330
but also, you can see
through it,
483
00:31:38,364 --> 00:31:40,632
so I don't lose
a lot of detail.
484
00:31:40,666 --> 00:31:43,235
There's a certain wow factor
to the cutting
485
00:31:43,269 --> 00:31:45,504
and the light transition.
486
00:31:45,537 --> 00:31:49,641
I was hoping for the color
and I got those other things
as a benefit.
487
00:31:49,675 --> 00:31:54,113
I don't understand, really,
the symbolic significance
of putting this tree in,
488
00:31:54,146 --> 00:31:58,717
but it gives it a more kind,
gentle, loving feel.
489
00:31:58,750 --> 00:32:01,453
You know,
it's not as harsh. Like,
before I put the tree in,
490
00:32:01,487 --> 00:32:03,722
he looks crazier,
they look crazier.
491
00:32:03,755 --> 00:32:06,525
The tree kind of
stabilized it a little bit.
492
00:32:06,558 --> 00:32:09,595
It's a mysterious process.
It's a complex
and mysterious process.
493
00:32:10,997 --> 00:32:13,132
And I don't fully
understand it,
494
00:32:13,165 --> 00:32:16,435
but I'm aware of it
and I can coax it along
495
00:32:16,468 --> 00:32:19,071
or I can get out of the way
and let it happen.
496
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,684
I think this piece
is kind of about an oblivious
denial, you know?
497
00:32:32,718 --> 00:32:38,424
It's like they're all about
dysfunctionality
and mental illness.
498
00:32:38,457 --> 00:32:42,061
You know, the cat's got
this devious and excited look
499
00:32:42,094 --> 00:32:45,564
that it's actually probably
going to eat these mice.
500
00:32:46,798 --> 00:32:49,035
The rabbit is painting
this picture of this horse,
501
00:32:49,068 --> 00:32:51,303
but he's looking at a fire,
502
00:32:51,337 --> 00:32:54,206
so that's a weird
symbolic thing
that I don't understand.
503
00:32:55,641 --> 00:32:58,210
So, it's kind of an
expressionistic quality to me,
504
00:32:58,244 --> 00:33:01,480
like, you know, manic,
505
00:33:01,513 --> 00:33:05,584
and just kind of spin out.
506
00:33:06,752 --> 00:33:08,020
I don't know.
507
00:33:08,054 --> 00:33:10,389
It's what the work
is doing right now
508
00:33:10,422 --> 00:33:12,758
and I don't feel that way,
I don't feel manic,
509
00:33:12,791 --> 00:33:15,494
and I don't think
in terms of cartoons
510
00:33:15,527 --> 00:33:18,197
and weird Freudian symbology,
511
00:33:18,230 --> 00:33:20,166
but it comes out in the work.
512
00:33:29,541 --> 00:33:33,712
I heard a quote one time,
this guy said, about music,
513
00:33:34,613 --> 00:33:37,583
"Music is not written,
it's given."
514
00:33:37,616 --> 00:33:41,520
You know, so,
it's almost like...
515
00:33:41,553 --> 00:33:45,724
I think that your subconscious
may be a conduit
516
00:33:45,757 --> 00:33:50,162
for something
that's beyond your capacity,
517
00:33:50,196 --> 00:33:53,532
and it's beyond your
experience, and it's beyond...
518
00:33:53,565 --> 00:33:57,503
You know, it's something
that you can't easily access,
519
00:33:57,536 --> 00:34:01,640
but when you do access it,
it's much more powerful
than your conscious mind,
520
00:34:01,673 --> 00:34:04,643
so, you know, it can
give you something.
521
00:34:08,414 --> 00:34:09,748
(BARKING)
522
00:34:12,451 --> 00:34:14,186
Pearl, come here.
523
00:34:16,422 --> 00:34:20,058
Yeah, he's a little...
He's special needs.
He's a little slow.
524
00:34:21,659 --> 00:34:23,061
Hey, hey.
525
00:34:23,529 --> 00:34:24,830
(BARKING)
526
00:34:25,731 --> 00:34:28,167
All right, come on.
527
00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:31,337
That's going to look great
and really be eye-catching
528
00:34:31,370 --> 00:34:34,206
and mind-boggling
to look at, I think.
529
00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:35,841
LETSCHER: Yeah, I'm working
on it more now.
530
00:34:35,873 --> 00:34:38,143
I had a lot of time
to think about it.
531
00:34:38,177 --> 00:34:43,215
Thinking through the steps
takes away anxiety and stress.
532
00:34:43,248 --> 00:34:47,418
I think I'm gonna use some
kind of really heavy-bodied
Liquid Nails-type adhesive
533
00:34:47,453 --> 00:34:50,356
to glue them onto disks,
wooden disks.
534
00:34:50,389 --> 00:34:55,327
I want to make this hanging
as quick and easy
and fool-proof as possible.
535
00:34:55,360 --> 00:35:00,332
I want the weight of it to be
hanging from that parapet
with no screws.
536
00:35:00,366 --> 00:35:03,802
Basically, I want to make
some brackets
to go over-top...
537
00:35:03,835 --> 00:35:05,871
-Yeah.
-...and then just hang it
on there.
538
00:35:05,904 --> 00:35:08,640
We could have those things
that go over the parapet
539
00:35:08,674 --> 00:35:11,377
fasten on the back
of two-by-fours,
540
00:35:11,410 --> 00:35:15,414
and you could just
put your boards up
on the two-by-fours and...
541
00:35:15,447 --> 00:35:16,848
-Screw them in. Yeah.
-Yeah.
542
00:35:16,882 --> 00:35:19,451
It doesn't have to be
too elaborate or too...
543
00:35:19,485 --> 00:35:22,388
It doesn't even need
to be too strong.
544
00:35:22,421 --> 00:35:26,358
I like the idea of moving it
up over the top of the roof
a little bit,
545
00:35:26,392 --> 00:35:30,596
just to get it high enough
to where people
won't be touching it.
546
00:35:30,629 --> 00:35:35,401
We don't want anybody
to get cut because it is going
to be an attractive...
547
00:35:35,434 --> 00:35:39,371
What the lawyers call
an attractive nuisance,
if it's within reach.
548
00:35:39,405 --> 00:35:40,572
(BOTH LAUGHING)
549
00:35:40,606 --> 00:35:42,140
That's an actual term.
550
00:35:42,174 --> 00:35:47,313
They use that to prosecute
people that have swimming
pools that aren't fenced
551
00:35:47,346 --> 00:35:49,315
that a kid could drown in
or something.
552
00:35:49,348 --> 00:35:51,783
LETSCHER: Wow,
attractive nuisance.
553
00:35:51,817 --> 00:35:52,884
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
554
00:35:53,785 --> 00:35:54,953
I know people like that.
555
00:35:54,986 --> 00:35:56,655
(BOTH LAUGHING)
556
00:35:56,688 --> 00:35:57,889
Yeah, right.
557
00:35:59,591 --> 00:36:01,393
Oh, wow. God, these are great!
558
00:36:01,427 --> 00:36:02,694
HOWELL: Oh, good.
559
00:36:02,728 --> 00:36:04,363
-Really fantastic color.
-Oh, good.
560
00:36:05,297 --> 00:36:06,498
LETSCHER: Isn't that gorgeous?
561
00:36:06,532 --> 00:36:08,434
HOWELL: Yeah. Okay, good.
562
00:36:08,467 --> 00:36:09,701
LETSCHER: Yeah, even if
I just get, like,
563
00:36:09,735 --> 00:36:11,603
one or two, you know,
of those wedge-shaped
564
00:36:11,637 --> 00:36:13,839
-pieces out of that.
-Oh, okay.
565
00:36:13,872 --> 00:36:15,474
This is amazing.
566
00:36:17,343 --> 00:36:19,945
HOWELL: That's on both sides.
LETSCHER: That's fantastic.
567
00:36:19,978 --> 00:36:20,946
-HOWELL: Yeah.
-Yeah, okay.
568
00:36:24,683 --> 00:36:28,654
HOWELL: That is paper,
and I didn't know
if you could use that or not.
569
00:36:28,687 --> 00:36:29,821
LETSCHER: Oh, yeah,
these are great.
570
00:36:31,523 --> 00:36:33,359
A painter takes a kind of
formless thing
571
00:36:33,392 --> 00:36:35,594
and gives it a form
and makes a language with it.
572
00:36:35,627 --> 00:36:38,964
A collage artist takes things
that already exist
in the world
573
00:36:38,997 --> 00:36:41,600
that already have stories,
context, et cetera,
574
00:36:41,633 --> 00:36:46,272
and they use it
in an associative way
to create a new reality.
575
00:36:49,275 --> 00:36:51,277
LETSCHER: So, this
three or four-month period,
576
00:36:51,310 --> 00:36:53,945
I think I've made probably
between 40 and 50 pieces.
577
00:36:55,981 --> 00:36:59,651
I've been thinking
about doing pieces
that have to do with sound.
578
00:36:59,685 --> 00:37:03,922
All these kind of jokey things
about noise-making devices,
579
00:37:03,955 --> 00:37:07,959
but also the sound of just
all the stuff kind of
cascading down
580
00:37:07,993 --> 00:37:10,796
and maybe over
the hull of the submarine.
581
00:37:10,829 --> 00:37:12,631
(IMMITATES CASCADE)
582
00:37:17,503 --> 00:37:21,640
Really, where it came from is
a friend of mine
showed me this video
583
00:37:21,673 --> 00:37:26,412
of this sound that has
supposedly been recorded
all over the world.
584
00:37:26,445 --> 00:37:30,516
Um, it was on YouTube
and it was just a shot
of the sky
585
00:37:30,549 --> 00:37:34,620
with kind of a cropped
building on one side
and maybe a power-line,
586
00:37:34,653 --> 00:37:39,425
and then you hear
this tone that's like...
(IMITATING TONE)
587
00:37:39,458 --> 00:37:41,460
It's like the horn
at the end of the world.
588
00:37:41,493 --> 00:37:42,994
(LOW-PITCH DRONING)
589
00:37:53,372 --> 00:37:54,773
It's about the rapture.
590
00:37:56,442 --> 00:38:00,512
Most of the boats
and the planes,
they're all without people.
591
00:38:15,494 --> 00:38:19,531
FRASHER: He watched me go
through a difficult divorce
and was a good friend.
592
00:38:21,700 --> 00:38:24,503
He was the kindest, most
gentle man I'd ever met,
593
00:38:24,536 --> 00:38:28,907
and I thought, "My God,
I can't not love this man."
594
00:38:28,940 --> 00:38:30,141
LETSCHER: I think we're
real similar.
595
00:38:30,175 --> 00:38:33,845
It's just that she's more
actualized than I am.
596
00:38:33,879 --> 00:38:36,782
She's more realized
as a person.
597
00:38:36,815 --> 00:38:41,119
She kind of made certain
decisions at crucial junctures
in her life
598
00:38:41,152 --> 00:38:42,954
that have benefited her.
599
00:38:42,988 --> 00:38:47,058
Like, be happy
instead of being miserable,
600
00:38:47,092 --> 00:38:51,430
and be kind, you know,
instead of...
601
00:38:51,463 --> 00:38:53,799
Instead of miserable.
602
00:38:53,832 --> 00:38:55,100
(LAUGHS)
603
00:38:55,834 --> 00:38:56,835
(CLEARS THROAT)
604
00:38:57,936 --> 00:39:00,572
FRASHER: When we
came together as a family,
605
00:39:00,606 --> 00:39:03,509
I think Gabe was 6
and Jonathan was 12.
606
00:39:06,445 --> 00:39:08,046
I'll never forget it.
Lance said,
607
00:39:08,079 --> 00:39:10,849
"Mary, if we buy this house,
I promise you,
608
00:39:10,882 --> 00:39:14,052
"if you'll let me,
I will transform this place."
609
00:39:14,085 --> 00:39:16,588
I said, "Okay, if you
think so, go for it.
610
00:39:16,622 --> 00:39:18,890
"I think it's what we can
afford and we'll do it."
611
00:39:18,924 --> 00:39:21,993
And so we bought it,
lived in his rent house,
612
00:39:22,027 --> 00:39:27,433
and every day after work
we'd come over here
taking things apart.
613
00:39:27,466 --> 00:39:28,867
Basically, right when
we moved in,
614
00:39:28,900 --> 00:39:31,937
my dad just started
tearing through it,
like, ripping down walls.
615
00:39:31,970 --> 00:39:34,840
We mixed a lot of concrete,
like, for the foundation.
616
00:39:36,475 --> 00:39:39,745
This house doesn't at all
mirror what we bought.
617
00:39:39,778 --> 00:39:42,147
He wasn't exaggerating.
618
00:39:42,180 --> 00:39:45,784
But for him, it's doing it
by hand himself.
619
00:39:45,817 --> 00:39:47,753
GABE VON LETSCHER:
When I was growing up,
I didn't have a room,
620
00:39:47,786 --> 00:39:50,722
so he built this chicken coop
type thing that I had.
621
00:39:50,756 --> 00:39:52,624
It was like a little fort
with windows
622
00:39:52,658 --> 00:39:55,961
and it had a screen door
with a little spring on it.
623
00:39:55,994 --> 00:39:57,863
And then Mary helped
make it look cool.
624
00:39:57,896 --> 00:40:01,032
And on top of it,
there was a mattress.
625
00:40:01,066 --> 00:40:06,938
So, I basically had no privacy
for, like, the first fourteen
years of my life.
626
00:40:06,972 --> 00:40:11,477
LETSCHER: I was real invested
in my kids and spent
a lot of time with them.
627
00:40:11,510 --> 00:40:15,847
You know, I just had an
insight based on my own
kind of dysfunctionality
628
00:40:15,881 --> 00:40:19,150
of what it takes to be
a functional human being
629
00:40:19,184 --> 00:40:22,754
and somebody that's strong
and grounded.
630
00:40:27,593 --> 00:40:30,028
At one point, he looked at me
and he said,
631
00:40:30,061 --> 00:40:33,899
"Mary, do you think I should
go to medical school?"
632
00:40:33,932 --> 00:40:35,734
And I said,
"Why would you do that?"
633
00:40:35,767 --> 00:40:38,870
And he said, "Because I'm not
making it financially,"
634
00:40:38,904 --> 00:40:41,507
and I just said, "No, no.
Don't give up.
635
00:40:41,540 --> 00:40:44,142
"You... You're doing
somebody else's art all day
636
00:40:44,175 --> 00:40:45,777
"and you're not doing
your own.
637
00:40:45,811 --> 00:40:47,713
"You don't have time
for your own.
638
00:40:47,746 --> 00:40:49,615
"Keep at it."
639
00:40:49,648 --> 00:40:53,184
And then it was just kind of
like almost a miracle
that happened.
640
00:40:53,218 --> 00:40:55,954
He got a call from a gallery
in New York,
641
00:40:55,987 --> 00:40:59,491
Howard Scott, and he said,
"Lance, I'd like you to send
me some of your artwork.
642
00:40:59,525 --> 00:41:01,593
"I heard about you
through a collector."
643
00:41:01,627 --> 00:41:04,129
LETSCHER: The work was
based on design and craft
644
00:41:04,162 --> 00:41:06,064
and, specifically,
quilt patterns.
645
00:41:07,999 --> 00:41:12,070
He probably sold 90%
of the work
before the opening.
646
00:41:12,103 --> 00:41:14,773
We walked into the show
and it was, like,
almost all red dots.
647
00:41:14,806 --> 00:41:17,776
It was totally, uh...
648
00:41:17,809 --> 00:41:19,811
I just couldn't
believe it myself.
649
00:41:22,714 --> 00:41:25,517
JESSUP: They're not pure,
they're not clean,
because they're collage.
650
00:41:25,551 --> 00:41:27,819
That's one of the things
that made them so painterly.
651
00:41:29,588 --> 00:41:31,657
They had natural abrasions
652
00:41:31,690 --> 00:41:34,560
that would come
from the history of,
653
00:41:34,593 --> 00:41:36,194
you know, the paper,
wherever they came from.
654
00:41:39,698 --> 00:41:42,100
LETSCHER: I was just thinking
about color wheels,
655
00:41:42,133 --> 00:41:48,807
the gradation of color
from yellow to orange
to red to purple to blue.
656
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:52,811
All the primary colors
joined together
with all the tertiary colors
657
00:41:52,844 --> 00:41:56,815
that involve the blending
of the primary colors.
658
00:41:56,848 --> 00:42:00,118
I was doing pieces like that,
but I was doing them
with the idea
659
00:42:00,151 --> 00:42:03,689
that they were done
by a chaotic thinker.
660
00:42:05,757 --> 00:42:07,793
FRASHER: A year after he had
his first show there,
661
00:42:07,826 --> 00:42:11,129
everybody wanted
Lance Letscher.
662
00:42:11,162 --> 00:42:14,299
And he no longer had to work
for anyone else again.
663
00:42:16,367 --> 00:42:18,136
LETSCHER: I mean,
in the scheme
of things in the world,
664
00:42:18,169 --> 00:42:19,838
it's not that big a deal,
665
00:42:19,871 --> 00:42:22,574
but to get picked up
by a gallery in New York,
that's a big step up,
666
00:42:22,608 --> 00:42:24,910
and he changed
my pricing structure.
667
00:42:24,943 --> 00:42:27,979
Instead of making
$1,000 or $1,200 a year,
668
00:42:28,013 --> 00:42:31,049
I was making $6,000
or $9,000 a year.
669
00:42:31,082 --> 00:42:34,219
And then,
pretty quickly after that,
he was selling a lot of work,
670
00:42:34,252 --> 00:42:38,724
and so I was making
a decent living
for the first time.
671
00:42:38,757 --> 00:42:41,960
The other thing
that Howard did was
he had connections overseas,
672
00:42:41,993 --> 00:42:45,296
and so he arranged
a show in Munich
and a show in Barcelona,
673
00:42:45,330 --> 00:42:48,634
so I started to be visible
in Europe.
674
00:42:48,667 --> 00:42:53,304
Consequently, a gallery
in Paris started showing
my work.
675
00:42:53,338 --> 00:42:58,043
I'm like, "Lance, do you
realize, of all the artists
you went to art school with,
676
00:42:58,076 --> 00:43:00,612
"or more importantly,
all the artists you know,
677
00:43:00,646 --> 00:43:04,082
"how many of them show
all over the world?
678
00:43:04,115 --> 00:43:08,086
"How many of them
have been seen, you know,
679
00:43:08,119 --> 00:43:10,155
"and are still actually
doing their art?
680
00:43:10,188 --> 00:43:12,023
"It's tough."
681
00:43:12,057 --> 00:43:14,092
He's just... He stuck with it.
682
00:43:14,125 --> 00:43:15,293
He has stuck with it.
683
00:43:15,326 --> 00:43:17,829
And at all costs.
684
00:43:22,834 --> 00:43:25,370
WHITENACK: You can stand
back from a piece
685
00:43:25,403 --> 00:43:28,807
and enjoy
a certain aspect of it,
686
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,342
but then you get up
on the piece
687
00:43:31,376 --> 00:43:36,314
and there's an infinite field
of things to see.
688
00:43:40,318 --> 00:43:43,054
You never come to the end
of his work.
689
00:43:43,088 --> 00:43:46,157
That's one of the things
I love about what he does.
690
00:43:49,394 --> 00:43:53,865
ZOUBOK: It immediately demands
a kind of closer look.
691
00:43:53,899 --> 00:43:56,768
It demands
a deeper engagement,
692
00:43:56,802 --> 00:43:59,037
because you really have to
look at this stuff.
693
00:43:59,070 --> 00:44:02,908
It's not sort of
art-as-entertainment
or art-as-spectacle,
694
00:44:02,941 --> 00:44:08,046
it's really art
as an object of contemplation,
as a physical space,
695
00:44:08,079 --> 00:44:14,019
as a metaphorical garden
of ideas and experiences.
696
00:44:14,052 --> 00:44:17,723
An artist like Lance
helps to reconnect us
697
00:44:17,756 --> 00:44:20,892
to our kind of physical sense
of ourselves
698
00:44:20,926 --> 00:44:23,294
in relation to
the things around us.
699
00:44:31,436 --> 00:44:33,371
Oh, hello, how are you?
700
00:44:33,404 --> 00:44:35,807
This is Lance,
who I've been buying for
for all these years.
701
00:44:35,841 --> 00:44:37,208
Hi, Lance, how wonderful.
702
00:44:37,242 --> 00:44:39,845
I knew you were selling
to somebody that needed
all this good stuff...
703
00:44:39,878 --> 00:44:42,313
-Yeah.
-...that I've...
That I've loved, too.
704
00:44:42,347 --> 00:44:43,614
-(LAUGHING)
-Yeah!
705
00:44:43,648 --> 00:44:46,785
LETSCHER: How did
you get involved
in buying paper like this?
706
00:44:46,818 --> 00:44:49,487
LILLIE MAE WILLIAMS: Well,
one reason,
I've always loved paper stuff.
707
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:51,723
I grew up in the Depression,
708
00:44:51,757 --> 00:44:54,425
and I'd keep every little
piece of paper
that we could get.
709
00:44:54,459 --> 00:44:55,693
We didn't have any money.
710
00:44:55,727 --> 00:44:58,129
I mean, we didn't have
ten cents to go
to the picture show.
711
00:44:58,163 --> 00:45:00,398
We didn't throw anything away
because we didn't get much,
712
00:45:00,431 --> 00:45:02,367
and I still do to the day.
713
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:04,002
I mean, I need
to throw stuff away.
714
00:45:04,035 --> 00:45:06,905
I've got a houseful,
a garage full.
715
00:45:06,938 --> 00:45:10,108
LETSCHER: Yep.
I'm the same way,
I've got big piles.
716
00:45:10,141 --> 00:45:12,377
-LETSCHER: I mean,
it's a fire hazard.
-(LAUGHS)
717
00:45:12,410 --> 00:45:14,980
Well, I hope to make your pile
a little bit bigger.
718
00:45:15,013 --> 00:45:17,048
-(ALL LAUGHING)
-TORNATORE: Well,
let's see what you've got.
719
00:45:17,082 --> 00:45:19,417
TORNATORE:
I'm gonna let Lance do
what I normally do.
720
00:45:19,450 --> 00:45:21,019
And she'll tell you
how much it is.
721
00:45:21,052 --> 00:45:22,387
LETSCHER: Okay.
722
00:45:22,420 --> 00:45:24,222
TORNATORE: Lance,
you aren't gonna get this.
I'm getting this.
723
00:45:24,255 --> 00:45:25,590
LETSCHER: What is it?
724
00:45:25,623 --> 00:45:28,326
TORNATORE: It's a complete
guide to modern knitting
and crocheting.
725
00:45:28,359 --> 00:45:30,495
-That's gonna go
like crazy in my store.
-LETSCHER: Really?
726
00:45:30,528 --> 00:45:32,130
-TORNATORE: You can't have it.
-LETSCHER: Are you sure?
727
00:45:32,163 --> 00:45:33,298
I think she got
this stuff for me.
728
00:45:33,331 --> 00:45:35,901
(LAUGHING)
729
00:45:35,934 --> 00:45:38,103
That was the first thing
I would have picked up,
730
00:45:38,136 --> 00:45:39,504
and that's the first thing
he put on.
731
00:45:39,537 --> 00:45:40,872
LETSCHER: Yeah,
this is a beautiful book.
732
00:45:40,906 --> 00:45:44,442
That's a golden nugget
for me. That is, like,
really beautiful.
733
00:45:44,475 --> 00:45:46,444
WILLIAMS: That's wonderful.
Somebody's trying
to sell it for $6,
734
00:45:46,477 --> 00:45:49,514
but it sure ain't me, honey,
about a dollar.
735
00:45:49,547 --> 00:45:54,185
Sheri pays me better
sometimes, but I'm glad
to meet you, so we will...
736
00:45:54,219 --> 00:45:55,821
LETSCHER: Yeah, we'll cut out
the middleman.
737
00:45:55,854 --> 00:45:59,324
Well, no,
I can't do without her.
She's my goody.
738
00:45:59,357 --> 00:46:01,392
See that? This is good.
739
00:46:01,426 --> 00:46:02,961
This is good. This is gold.
740
00:46:02,994 --> 00:46:06,131
WILLIAMS: There's gonna
be a lot of that stuff
in all those old things, yeah.
741
00:46:06,164 --> 00:46:07,833
-Yeah.
-That's awesome.
742
00:46:07,866 --> 00:46:09,267
LETSCHER: Yeah, these
are really beautiful.
743
00:46:09,300 --> 00:46:11,336
Like, that word, "Pop."
744
00:46:11,369 --> 00:46:16,074
TORNATORE: As you're speaking,
I'm seeing some of your
collages in my head.
745
00:46:16,107 --> 00:46:18,009
LETSCHER: That I'm going
to cut out when I get home.
746
00:46:18,043 --> 00:46:19,945
I know what I can
use that for.
747
00:46:19,978 --> 00:46:21,279
I use pictures like this
a lot.
748
00:46:21,312 --> 00:46:23,181
WILLIAMS: Well, that's good.
749
00:46:23,214 --> 00:46:24,482
LETSCHER: I'm gonna
buy all of this.
750
00:46:24,515 --> 00:46:26,351
I think you could use
all of this, probably.
751
00:46:26,384 --> 00:46:29,354
-It's just gonna be $5
for the whole box over there.
-LETSCHER: Okay.
752
00:46:29,387 --> 00:46:31,923
-Is that cheap enough?
-LETSCHER: Oh, my gosh,
thanks.
753
00:46:31,957 --> 00:46:34,159
I would have probably
charged her $10,
but I'll charge you $5.
754
00:46:34,192 --> 00:46:35,861
(LAUGHING)
755
00:46:35,894 --> 00:46:36,995
LETSCHER: I'm learning
a lot today.
756
00:46:37,028 --> 00:46:39,865
WILLIAMS: It's been wonderful,
I appreciate it so much.
757
00:46:39,898 --> 00:46:42,100
-LETSCHER: Thank you.
-You better believe it.
758
00:46:42,133 --> 00:46:44,102
-MAN: All done?
-TORNATORE: Yeah, we're done.
759
00:46:44,135 --> 00:46:45,403
We'll see you next time.
760
00:47:02,888 --> 00:47:05,490
LETSCHER: One of
the professors that I had
when I was in art school
761
00:47:05,523 --> 00:47:09,861
did me a really big favor
in that he complimented me
on my work ethic.
762
00:47:09,895 --> 00:47:12,597
He said that I didn't mind
a little hard work.
763
00:47:14,165 --> 00:47:16,367
At that time,
I did mind hard work,
764
00:47:16,401 --> 00:47:18,369
but I realized
when he said that,
765
00:47:18,403 --> 00:47:22,107
there was like
this gleam of virtue
in what he said
766
00:47:22,140 --> 00:47:25,343
that made me want to acquire
that skill or that discipline.
767
00:47:29,647 --> 00:47:31,549
So, yeah, I have a work ethic.
768
00:47:31,582 --> 00:47:34,552
I just happen to worry
about failure a lot
769
00:47:34,585 --> 00:47:40,491
and negative
outcomes to possible
or imaginary scenarios.
770
00:47:41,993 --> 00:47:45,130
I'm worried about
not doing enough
771
00:47:45,163 --> 00:47:48,967
or I'm worried about
the state of something
that's in flux
772
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:51,336
that I need to have
some kind of resolution,
773
00:47:51,369 --> 00:47:53,271
and a lot of times,
when it's not resolved,
774
00:47:53,304 --> 00:47:55,941
it almost manifests itself
as a form of anger.
775
00:48:01,212 --> 00:48:03,114
When it does kind of
come together,
776
00:48:03,148 --> 00:48:05,450
if it comes together in a way
that I don't really anticipate
777
00:48:05,483 --> 00:48:08,486
or better than I expect,
then I feel relief.
778
00:48:22,367 --> 00:48:24,169
You gotta lay it down somehow
779
00:48:24,202 --> 00:48:25,937
and then I can
shift stuff around.
780
00:48:46,324 --> 00:48:47,925
So that's that.
781
00:48:49,727 --> 00:48:51,496
I've done a lot of
these pieces,
782
00:48:51,529 --> 00:48:54,432
and also I've been working
on this piece so long
783
00:48:54,465 --> 00:48:57,168
that I've been kind of, like,
thinking and thinking
and thinking,
784
00:48:57,202 --> 00:49:00,471
and kind of gradually,
things come into focus
or go out of focus,
785
00:49:00,505 --> 00:49:06,611
and, you know, then I get
kind of basic guidelines
in my head about how to do it.
786
00:49:08,679 --> 00:49:13,051
If I lay it out again,
then maybe it'll be better,
it'll probably be better.
787
00:49:13,084 --> 00:49:15,453
If I make a mistake
and it gets better,
then that's better.
788
00:49:25,530 --> 00:49:30,368
I've got about a 30-
or 45-minute open time,
like it starts to dry up.
789
00:49:31,502 --> 00:49:33,171
So I've got to kind of
do this fast.
790
00:50:07,272 --> 00:50:08,073
(GROANS SOFTLY)
791
00:50:22,187 --> 00:50:23,188
(SIGHS)
792
00:50:43,374 --> 00:50:45,410
I had a friend
in graduate school that,
793
00:50:45,443 --> 00:50:48,446
I went over
to his house one time at like,
9:00 in the morning
794
00:50:48,479 --> 00:50:50,081
and I knocked on the door
and he didn't answer,
795
00:50:50,115 --> 00:50:52,350
so I open the door
and he was laying
on the floor.
796
00:50:52,383 --> 00:50:54,719
He was holding a tube
of paint and a brush.
797
00:50:54,752 --> 00:50:56,587
I kid you not.
And he was asleep.
798
00:50:56,621 --> 00:50:57,955
I woke him up and he was like,
799
00:50:57,988 --> 00:51:01,058
"Oh," and he went over
to his painting
and started painting again.
800
00:51:03,694 --> 00:51:05,230
That was so
inspirational for me.
801
00:51:37,562 --> 00:51:38,696
Okay. (SIGHS)
802
00:52:02,320 --> 00:52:05,256
LETSCHER: Lately, I've been
talking to people
about adhesives.
803
00:52:05,290 --> 00:52:08,559
I've been using the same
adhesive for paper
for a long time.
804
00:52:08,593 --> 00:52:10,395
Seven or eight years
or something
805
00:52:10,428 --> 00:52:13,464
and so I haven't really had to
do any kind of research
or experimentation,
806
00:52:13,498 --> 00:52:17,235
but with the metal, I need to
find some kind of adhesive
807
00:52:17,268 --> 00:52:20,505
that's not
gonna come unglued
when the metal gets hot,
808
00:52:20,538 --> 00:52:21,606
that's the problem.
809
00:52:23,808 --> 00:52:28,613
I've been procrastinating
because it's unfamiliar
and it's more difficult.
810
00:52:30,381 --> 00:52:32,283
I was talking to
my son about it
811
00:52:32,317 --> 00:52:34,585
and he said, "Lots of people
are gonna see that,
812
00:52:34,619 --> 00:52:36,621
"you're gonna have to
really knock it out
of the park with this."
813
00:52:36,654 --> 00:52:38,689
And that was like the first
time that I thought,
814
00:52:38,723 --> 00:52:41,192
"Wow, I have to make this
as good as I can make it,
815
00:52:41,226 --> 00:52:43,027
"I have to make
this really good."
816
00:52:43,060 --> 00:52:47,332
I realized that I was
procrastinating because
I didn't have that insight,
817
00:52:47,365 --> 00:52:49,700
you know, I didn't have that
motivation or inspiration
818
00:52:49,734 --> 00:52:51,736
to make it as strong
as I can make it.
819
00:52:53,438 --> 00:52:55,773
FRASHER: He was kind of
fighting with himself about,
820
00:52:55,806 --> 00:52:58,243
"What am I gonna do?
How am I gonna do this?"
821
00:52:58,276 --> 00:53:01,279
He wouldn't talk about it,
and it froze him for a while.
822
00:53:01,312 --> 00:53:02,747
He was doing
a lot of art upstairs
823
00:53:02,780 --> 00:53:04,715
and I thought,
"What are you doing,
824
00:53:04,749 --> 00:53:06,751
"when are you gonna
get to the metal?" (LAUGHING)
825
00:53:08,919 --> 00:53:10,455
(METAL SLICING)
826
00:53:17,695 --> 00:53:20,698
LETSCHER: Last weekend,
I started having really
bad anxiety attacks,
827
00:53:20,731 --> 00:53:23,501
I needed to be working on
this piece no matter what,
828
00:53:23,534 --> 00:53:26,371
and so this week
I've put in a lot of hours.
829
00:53:26,404 --> 00:53:28,339
With the paper,
you put it in a press
830
00:53:28,373 --> 00:53:30,675
and so it pushes the paper
so hard that,
831
00:53:30,708 --> 00:53:34,445
if there's a circle underneath
that's covered by
another circle on top,
832
00:53:34,479 --> 00:53:36,947
you can clearly see
the definition
of the circle below.
833
00:53:36,981 --> 00:53:40,551
I want that quality to be
in this metal if possible.
834
00:53:40,585 --> 00:53:42,820
As I've worked on it,
I've solved certain
technical problems
835
00:53:42,853 --> 00:53:45,256
and I've realized certain
things that'll work,
836
00:53:45,290 --> 00:53:47,792
and I've seen what the color
looks like, and the colors
kind of...
837
00:53:47,825 --> 00:53:49,760
The color's gonna be strong.
838
00:53:49,794 --> 00:53:52,297
And I got more excited
about it and I realized
839
00:53:52,330 --> 00:53:54,599
I can do certain things
to invest more quality
840
00:53:54,632 --> 00:53:58,336
into the piece because
I have the energy to do it,
I know how to do it now.
841
00:53:58,369 --> 00:54:00,805
So it's... I turned a corner
on it, definitely.
842
00:54:04,775 --> 00:54:08,679
It used to be that I would
think about a certain person
843
00:54:08,713 --> 00:54:10,915
and I would imagine their
personality traits
844
00:54:10,948 --> 00:54:13,418
and their
thinking characteristics,
845
00:54:13,451 --> 00:54:15,920
and then I would make a piece
based on that dynamic
846
00:54:15,953 --> 00:54:18,389
or that paradigm
or that kind of structure.
847
00:54:20,925 --> 00:54:25,296
I would think about somebody
who was highly dysfunctional
848
00:54:25,330 --> 00:54:29,767
and would make these pieces
to communicate
849
00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:31,502
because they were
such a poor communicator,
850
00:54:31,536 --> 00:54:34,639
and then when the work started
becoming autobiographical,
851
00:54:34,672 --> 00:54:38,676
I realized that, you know,
basically, I'm that person.
852
00:54:38,709 --> 00:54:42,880
You know, so I just made
pieces the way
I wanted to make pieces.
853
00:54:42,913 --> 00:54:45,716
JONATHAN: I think It's
impossible to do
what you want to do
854
00:54:45,750 --> 00:54:49,554
without that fire and drive.
855
00:54:51,656 --> 00:54:54,759
I've done, like,
push-yourself-to-the-limit
kind of sports
856
00:54:54,792 --> 00:54:59,063
and I think I was
attracted to those
because of my upbringing.
857
00:55:00,731 --> 00:55:03,401
His father, Larry,
he started kind of coming
858
00:55:03,434 --> 00:55:07,538
to my competitions when I was
running track at UT.
859
00:55:07,572 --> 00:55:09,474
He was really into it, so
he started coming around
860
00:55:09,507 --> 00:55:10,508
and coming to dinner
and stuff.
861
00:55:12,877 --> 00:55:17,615
LETSCHER: Gabe started
wrestling in high school
and he was really gifted.
862
00:55:17,648 --> 00:55:21,719
He was state champion in Greco
his second or third year.
863
00:55:21,752 --> 00:55:23,988
He went to Nationals twice.
864
00:55:24,021 --> 00:55:26,791
For somebody to come out
of Texas
865
00:55:26,824 --> 00:55:31,128
and wrestle that well,
it's highly unusual,
it's very, very unusual.
866
00:55:31,161 --> 00:55:34,432
So my dad got really
interested in that
because he was so good.
867
00:55:34,465 --> 00:55:36,901
He started going to
wrestling matches.
868
00:55:36,934 --> 00:55:41,472
So we'd sit there all day
Saturday and all day Sunday
together and talk.
869
00:55:43,974 --> 00:55:45,910
He wanted to be
around his father, um...
870
00:55:46,544 --> 00:55:48,379
So...
871
00:55:48,413 --> 00:55:50,981
I think he probably just
kind of suppressed a lot.
872
00:55:52,750 --> 00:55:55,052
MITCHELL: All of a sudden
there were pictures there.
873
00:55:55,085 --> 00:55:57,755
There were
landscape-type settings,
874
00:55:57,788 --> 00:56:02,427
there were some things
that seem to be based on
children's stories,
875
00:56:02,460 --> 00:56:04,862
there were factories,
and I was supposed to
write about this,
876
00:56:04,895 --> 00:56:07,465
and I really didn't know
what to say. (LAUGHS)
877
00:56:07,498 --> 00:56:09,567
And I did just end up
saying, like,
878
00:56:09,600 --> 00:56:11,368
"Well, you never know
what's going to come next."
879
00:56:13,103 --> 00:56:15,973
FRASHER:
They've got train tracks
going into these buildings
880
00:56:16,006 --> 00:56:18,809
and no one knows
what that's about
881
00:56:18,843 --> 00:56:20,711
and I do know
what that's about.
882
00:56:20,745 --> 00:56:23,648
That's about
the concentration camps.
883
00:56:23,681 --> 00:56:27,084
TORNATORE:
We're all fascinated
by fairy tales like Grimm's,
884
00:56:27,117 --> 00:56:30,087
and things like that,
these dark fairy tales.
885
00:56:30,120 --> 00:56:33,624
This was like,
this true fairy tale
886
00:56:33,658 --> 00:56:36,927
that was the darkest of all.
887
00:56:36,961 --> 00:56:39,430
LETSCHER: I was seeped in that
stuff when I was growing up.
888
00:56:39,464 --> 00:56:42,099
I read books, I read
air combat magazines,
889
00:56:42,132 --> 00:56:45,903
and they were always about
World War II airplanes.
890
00:56:45,936 --> 00:56:50,941
(STAMMERING) I didn't really
understand the horror of it
and the tragedy.
891
00:56:52,577 --> 00:56:55,580
TORNATORE: He's really
fascinated by people
892
00:56:55,613 --> 00:56:59,116
and what moves them
and how things can happen
893
00:56:59,149 --> 00:57:05,490
and what in the world would go
on in the mind of children
of this time
894
00:57:05,523 --> 00:57:09,660
and I think he's a deeply
caring and deeply, um,
thoughtful person.
895
00:57:36,587 --> 00:57:39,790
LETSCHER: I love beautiful
design and I love mechanical
and industrial design.
896
00:57:41,692 --> 00:57:44,795
I love things that are
utilitarian primarily
897
00:57:44,829 --> 00:57:47,164
because the decision-making
process that goes into them
898
00:57:47,197 --> 00:57:49,166
is to support their
ability to function.
899
00:57:52,169 --> 00:57:54,772
FRASHER: When he took up
motorcycles again,
900
00:57:54,805 --> 00:57:58,576
I was so absolutely livid
with him,
901
00:57:58,609 --> 00:57:59,810
I could have wrung his neck.
902
00:58:01,879 --> 00:58:04,048
Well, I'll never forget,
I came home
from work and he said,
903
00:58:04,081 --> 00:58:06,584
"I have to tell
you something,"
and I thought, "Oh God, what?"
904
00:58:06,617 --> 00:58:07,985
(LAUGHING)
905
00:58:08,018 --> 00:58:10,755
He said, "I bought
a motorcycle," and I was...
906
00:58:10,788 --> 00:58:13,958
I dropped
the F-bomb. I was like,
"What are you doing?"
907
00:58:13,991 --> 00:58:15,760
I thought, "Are you trying
to kill yourself?"
908
00:58:15,793 --> 00:58:17,194
(OBJECTS CLATTERING)
909
00:58:20,998 --> 00:58:22,099
LETSCHER: I really wanted
to buy a motorcycle,
910
00:58:22,132 --> 00:58:24,535
I just wanted to buy
a motorcycle so bad.
911
00:58:24,569 --> 00:58:26,537
I couldn't justify it
with my wife
912
00:58:26,571 --> 00:58:29,707
and I expected to be a serious
point of contention.
913
00:58:29,740 --> 00:58:32,543
I decided one way to get
a motorcycle would be
914
00:58:32,577 --> 00:58:35,713
to do a motorcycle
as a sculptural project.
915
00:58:36,647 --> 00:58:38,182
My whole life he's been like,
916
00:58:39,884 --> 00:58:42,019
saying that
I shouldn't ride motorcycles
917
00:58:42,052 --> 00:58:46,056
and I never have
because of that.
918
00:58:46,090 --> 00:58:47,792
Then all of a sudden,
he gets a motorcycle
919
00:58:47,825 --> 00:58:49,193
and I'm like,
"What are you doing?"
920
00:58:49,226 --> 00:58:50,728
He's like, "Oh,
I'm not gonna ride it,
921
00:58:50,761 --> 00:58:54,264
"You know, it's, uh,
it's just for art."
922
00:58:54,298 --> 00:58:56,867
LETSCHER: I wanted
to highlight the design,
923
00:58:56,901 --> 00:58:58,736
not necessarily
the engineering
924
00:58:58,769 --> 00:59:03,874
but rather the design of
the bikes, and how minimalist
925
00:59:03,908 --> 00:59:08,212
and beautifully mechanical
and elegantly engineered
they were,
926
00:59:08,245 --> 00:59:12,216
so that those
aspects of the bikes
supported the art.
927
00:59:12,249 --> 00:59:14,585
It's real small
and it's very light,
928
00:59:14,619 --> 00:59:17,588
it's a Yamaha 125 from 1972
929
00:59:17,622 --> 00:59:21,726
and it was a Grand Prix
motorcycle, so it was raced
at the very highest level.
930
00:59:21,759 --> 00:59:23,761
They go 150 miles an hour.
931
00:59:32,336 --> 00:59:34,939
RICK ROME:
It's not just a surface
beauty thing for him,
932
00:59:34,972 --> 00:59:37,007
it's about doing
everything right
933
00:59:37,041 --> 00:59:40,010
and making everything perfect,
934
00:59:40,044 --> 00:59:41,946
and so, you know, we had
the perfect machine
935
00:59:41,979 --> 00:59:44,014
and our motorcycle
in the other room,
936
00:59:44,048 --> 00:59:49,954
and I just think Lance,
everything Lance does,
it's done with a purpose.
937
00:59:49,987 --> 00:59:54,058
NANCY ROME: After you
kind of get past that
it's a motorcycle
938
00:59:54,091 --> 00:59:59,296
that's been collaged,
you start seeing it
as an entire story.
939
00:59:59,329 --> 01:00:01,365
That's the mystery
and the miracle
940
01:00:01,398 --> 01:00:04,101
of the Lance Letscher work.
941
01:00:04,134 --> 01:00:08,973
You're immediately engaged
by his technique.
942
01:00:09,006 --> 01:00:14,812
References to childhood,
to adulthood,
to family history,
943
01:00:14,845 --> 01:00:19,016
to, you know,
the Industrial Revolution.
944
01:00:19,049 --> 01:00:22,119
It's that same deep
appreciation of structure.
945
01:00:22,152 --> 01:00:25,089
The machines are, um, perfect.
946
01:00:26,757 --> 01:00:28,325
LETSCHER:
It's a Cagiva Alazzurra.
947
01:00:28,358 --> 01:00:31,996
Ducati went bankrupt in
1982 or 1983
948
01:00:32,029 --> 01:00:36,100
and they were bought out
by these three brothers,
949
01:00:36,133 --> 01:00:39,269
and they used the first two
initials of each of their
names to spell Cagiva.
950
01:00:39,303 --> 01:00:42,372
I stripped it completely,
took the engine apart,
951
01:00:42,406 --> 01:00:45,409
rebuilt everything
and then collaged discreetly.
952
01:00:46,877 --> 01:00:51,882
It's an incredibly interesting
two-faceted mind to me.
953
01:00:51,916 --> 01:00:55,786
The engineering ability and
the creative artistic ability.
954
01:00:55,820 --> 01:00:58,756
It doesn't happen very often
and I think it's...
955
01:00:58,789 --> 01:00:59,990
I think that's what makes
him amazing.
956
01:01:03,227 --> 01:01:04,929
LETSCHER: At that time,
I was really interested in
957
01:01:04,962 --> 01:01:07,264
the juxtaposition of childhood
958
01:01:07,297 --> 01:01:12,402
and the presenting of certain
ideas to children
as entertaining somehow.
959
01:01:14,204 --> 01:01:16,741
And how people make things
attractive to children
960
01:01:16,774 --> 01:01:20,477
that shouldn't be attractive
to children, like guns
shouldn't be toys, you know?
961
01:01:20,510 --> 01:01:22,713
And motorcycles
shouldn't be toys.
962
01:01:22,747 --> 01:01:27,151
That was kind of the...
The genesis for the idea
963
01:01:27,184 --> 01:01:30,287
for the perfect machine,
was having these pieces around
964
01:01:30,320 --> 01:01:33,924
and, like, starting to think
about the fact
that I was doing
965
01:01:33,958 --> 01:01:37,828
things that had to do
with my childhood.
966
01:01:37,862 --> 01:01:42,299
FRASHER: He tells difficult
stories in a way that you
don't understand it,
967
01:01:42,332 --> 01:01:44,434
but he's always
telling a story.
968
01:01:44,468 --> 01:01:47,404
That's the very, uh,
essence of Lance.
969
01:01:47,437 --> 01:01:50,841
At first I was going to make
an exhibition catalog.
970
01:01:50,875 --> 01:01:54,979
I had a show in March of 2010
that I was preparing for
971
01:01:55,012 --> 01:01:57,014
and this was going to be
in the show.
972
01:01:57,047 --> 01:02:03,153
This is an actual gun.
It's a Condor Legion Astro,
and the Condor Legion...
973
01:02:03,187 --> 01:02:07,792
Uh, these German airman
were the ones
that bombed Guernica
974
01:02:07,825 --> 01:02:10,360
and that's what
Pablo Picasso's painting,
975
01:02:10,394 --> 01:02:13,263
Guernica, is about,
was the bombing of Guernica.
976
01:02:13,297 --> 01:02:16,200
My uncle had
a Condor Legion Astro
977
01:02:16,233 --> 01:02:19,436
when I was growing up,
and he let me shoot his guns.
978
01:02:19,469 --> 01:02:20,404
He would take me out
in the country
979
01:02:20,437 --> 01:02:22,339
and me and my cousins
would shoot his guns
980
01:02:22,372 --> 01:02:24,008
and I shot
the Condor Legion Astro
981
01:02:24,041 --> 01:02:26,410
when I was about
10 or 11 years old
982
01:02:26,443 --> 01:02:30,047
and it was like, "boom,"
you know?
983
01:02:30,080 --> 01:02:34,384
I mean, it was this
powerful gun and powerful
experience for a little kid.
984
01:02:38,022 --> 01:02:40,424
When I started to think about
the gun in particular,
985
01:02:40,457 --> 01:02:42,492
I realized that
I could make a story.
986
01:02:42,526 --> 01:02:44,494
That was it,
The Perfect Machine.
987
01:02:46,396 --> 01:02:48,866
LETSCHER: Up to that point,
I'd always been
988
01:02:48,899 --> 01:02:52,102
pretty strict about making
the work non-autobiographical,
989
01:02:52,136 --> 01:02:54,471
but at that time it was like,
990
01:02:54,504 --> 01:02:56,373
penetratingly
autobiographical,
991
01:02:56,406 --> 01:02:58,475
it was terrifyingly
autobiographical.
992
01:03:10,154 --> 01:03:13,457
Baby, Baby, Baby. Quit!
993
01:03:14,892 --> 01:03:15,926
That's Baby.
994
01:03:15,960 --> 01:03:17,127
Ready?
995
01:03:23,934 --> 01:03:26,503
The real first page
of the text,
996
01:03:26,536 --> 01:03:32,309
there's a fan-shaped structure
of electrical devices
997
01:03:32,342 --> 01:03:35,312
and letters
and different textures,
998
01:03:35,345 --> 01:03:39,183
and they're all kind of
projected out of a pair of
legs that are running.
999
01:03:40,550 --> 01:03:42,586
It's like the thoughts
of this really excited kid.
1000
01:03:51,228 --> 01:03:54,098
The next one is
the same idea of thoughts
1001
01:03:54,131 --> 01:03:57,034
projecting and expanding out
and becoming more full.
1002
01:04:11,015 --> 01:04:14,418
There's a hut and it's in
the background,
1003
01:04:14,451 --> 01:04:17,187
just a little
cube that's got
a little fenced area,
1004
01:04:17,221 --> 01:04:20,991
and in the back there's
kind of these circles
joined together with lines
1005
01:04:21,025 --> 01:04:24,261
that imply
a scientific background,
1006
01:04:24,294 --> 01:04:27,631
like a chemical
structure somehow.
1007
01:04:27,664 --> 01:04:29,566
There's railroad tracks
in front of it
1008
01:04:29,599 --> 01:04:31,401
and a glass of chocolate milk.
1009
01:04:41,645 --> 01:04:44,114
FRASHER: He made a little
walking machine one time.
1010
01:04:44,148 --> 01:04:48,485
When it was done, he thought,
"It needs a pair of shoes
to make it perfect."
1011
01:04:48,518 --> 01:04:52,222
So he made some shoes
which ended up looking
kind of ridiculous. (CHUCKLES)
1012
01:04:54,258 --> 01:04:56,593
(FRASHER READING)
1013
01:05:03,300 --> 01:05:06,370
LETSCHER:
I kind of think of these as
diagrams of thought,
1014
01:05:06,403 --> 01:05:11,041
and these pieces
are kind of split,
right brain, left brain,
1015
01:05:11,075 --> 01:05:14,444
one side is kind of imagistic
and that's the right brain,
1016
01:05:14,478 --> 01:05:17,347
and the left brain
is like, chaotic
1017
01:05:17,381 --> 01:05:20,384
and filled with letters
and lines connecting
different letters,
1018
01:05:20,417 --> 01:05:23,587
you know, trying to get
connections and associations.
1019
01:05:24,554 --> 01:05:26,356
(FRASHER READING)
1020
01:05:38,502 --> 01:05:40,704
(LETSCHER READING)
1021
01:05:54,284 --> 01:05:56,086
I'd never really done
any guns before,
1022
01:05:56,120 --> 01:05:58,088
I did all the guns at
the same time.
1023
01:05:58,122 --> 01:06:01,258
And I did this gun,
it's a Colt 45.
1024
01:06:01,291 --> 01:06:02,559
It's a specific gun.
1025
01:06:03,327 --> 01:06:04,694
And, um...
1026
01:06:11,468 --> 01:06:15,639
That's the gun, um,
that my father
used to kill himself.
1027
01:06:18,375 --> 01:06:21,478
He saw... He saw the gun,
I don't think
it influenced him,
1028
01:06:21,511 --> 01:06:24,381
but, um, very ironic.
1029
01:06:32,756 --> 01:06:34,758
FRASHER:
He started thinking harder.
1030
01:06:35,759 --> 01:06:38,295
He thought of every kind
of airplane.
1031
01:06:41,431 --> 01:06:43,333
LETSCHER: One of the things
I'm interested in
1032
01:06:43,367 --> 01:06:45,669
is the German development
of rocket flight.
1033
01:06:45,702 --> 01:06:48,172
And this particular
rocket's a V2,
1034
01:06:48,205 --> 01:06:51,141
it's the rocket that
Wernher von Braun developed
1035
01:06:51,175 --> 01:06:53,510
at the end of the War
to bomb England,
1036
01:06:53,543 --> 01:06:56,413
but after the war,
he kind of had a moment
1037
01:06:56,446 --> 01:06:58,782
when he could go with Russia
or with the United States,
1038
01:06:58,815 --> 01:07:00,717
and he went with
the United States,
1039
01:07:00,750 --> 01:07:04,121
and he founded
the space program NASA,
he worked for NASA.
1040
01:07:06,090 --> 01:07:08,392
TORNATORE:
What he thinks a lot about is
1041
01:07:08,425 --> 01:07:11,795
how good and evil exist in
the same person,
1042
01:07:11,828 --> 01:07:15,099
and when does that evil get
control of you
1043
01:07:15,132 --> 01:07:16,733
and when does
the good come out?
1044
01:07:19,236 --> 01:07:20,770
LETSCHER: He thought
of a city on wheels.
1045
01:07:21,638 --> 01:07:23,440
It doesn't exactly
illustrate it
1046
01:07:23,473 --> 01:07:28,112
but it's with very thin,
short, segmented strips
1047
01:07:28,145 --> 01:07:31,515
that are laid out in kind of
a chaotic pattern
1048
01:07:31,548 --> 01:07:37,087
and supported by very tenuous,
unsteady legs.
1049
01:07:40,424 --> 01:07:42,692
(FRASHER READING)
1050
01:07:56,240 --> 01:08:00,744
He had so many ideas that
he had to arrange them into
categories to avoid confusion.
1051
01:08:08,252 --> 01:08:11,255
LETSCHER: This one's buildings
and train tracks
1052
01:08:11,288 --> 01:08:14,424
and, you know, maybe it's like
the very edge of consciousness
1053
01:08:14,458 --> 01:08:17,627
when you start to dream,
you start to see images
1054
01:08:17,661 --> 01:08:20,863
of what are going to
coalesce into a dream.
1055
01:08:20,897 --> 01:08:23,733
The separation of
reality and dream life.
1056
01:08:33,577 --> 01:08:35,444
FRASHER: Then he had a dream
about a little building
1057
01:08:35,479 --> 01:08:37,714
that good ideas flowed out of.
1058
01:08:43,287 --> 01:08:47,122
Next, he dreamed about
a machine that made
beautiful works of art.
1059
01:08:53,830 --> 01:08:55,865
Finally, he dreamed
of a device
1060
01:08:55,899 --> 01:08:57,734
that could write
all kinds of books.
1061
01:09:00,437 --> 01:09:02,639
(LETSCHER READING)
1062
01:09:08,678 --> 01:09:09,845
Then he knew the answer.
1063
01:09:17,453 --> 01:09:18,755
Can you think of
what it might be?
1064
01:09:20,290 --> 01:09:21,725
Can you think of
what it might be?
1065
01:09:28,532 --> 01:09:29,765
Just a second.
1066
01:09:32,469 --> 01:09:33,636
(DOG BARKS)
1067
01:09:34,470 --> 01:09:35,872
(DOOR OPENS)
1068
01:09:46,883 --> 01:09:48,352
(DOG BARKING)
1069
01:10:00,664 --> 01:10:02,332
He never saw the book.
1070
01:10:04,501 --> 01:10:06,202
He saw the galleys for it
1071
01:10:06,236 --> 01:10:10,707
and then, you know,
when it was published
he was no longer with us.
1072
01:10:13,543 --> 01:10:17,581
Everybody in the family
is absolutely devastated.
1073
01:10:17,614 --> 01:10:20,950
Lance is the one that
stands up and is like,
1074
01:10:20,984 --> 01:10:23,453
"No, we're gonna
handle this,
it's gonna be okay."
1075
01:10:24,621 --> 01:10:26,022
He still did the show,
1076
01:10:26,055 --> 01:10:30,860
focused, did the opening for
them and kept it all at bay.
1077
01:10:33,363 --> 01:10:35,899
LETSCHER: He had these
kind of rages, and the thing
that he ranted
1078
01:10:35,932 --> 01:10:39,603
about a lot was the people
that lived above him.
1079
01:10:39,636 --> 01:10:42,972
They had a little kid
and he said it was like
living under a bowling alley
1080
01:10:43,006 --> 01:10:45,742
because the little kid
would run back and forth.
1081
01:10:45,775 --> 01:10:48,912
So, what he did was...
1082
01:10:48,945 --> 01:10:52,882
He had inherited a gun
from my aunt,
1083
01:10:52,916 --> 01:10:57,354
and he took
the gun and he went upstairs
1084
01:10:57,387 --> 01:10:59,055
and he sat outside
of the apartment
1085
01:10:59,088 --> 01:11:03,627
of his neighbors upstairs,
1086
01:11:03,660 --> 01:11:06,696
and that's where
he shot himself.
1087
01:11:06,730 --> 01:11:12,001
And, so the young man
came home with his child
and found my dad.
1088
01:11:13,036 --> 01:11:14,904
I mean, it's terrible.
It's terrible.
1089
01:11:16,105 --> 01:11:18,475
But I went and talked
to the guy
1090
01:11:18,508 --> 01:11:22,612
and he was
27 years old and he had
a four-year-old boy,
1091
01:11:22,646 --> 01:11:25,982
you know, and he didn't want
to even open the door,
1092
01:11:26,015 --> 01:11:28,752
he thought I was gonna do
something to him or something.
1093
01:11:35,925 --> 01:11:41,898
It's angry, hateful,
vindictive.
1094
01:11:44,668 --> 01:11:47,337
There was a lot of really
negative connotations
to what he did.
1095
01:11:51,107 --> 01:11:54,444
He had letters
that he had written out,
1096
01:11:54,478 --> 01:11:59,015
like a letter to the police,
a list of things
that needed to be done,
1097
01:11:59,048 --> 01:12:01,117
where all of his accounts
were, his passwords,
1098
01:12:01,150 --> 01:12:04,421
all this paperwork,
and he had crossed out dates
1099
01:12:04,454 --> 01:12:08,091
and put new dates,
like, sometimes two
or three times on it,
1100
01:12:08,124 --> 01:12:10,827
so he had been planning it
for a really long time.
1101
01:12:13,062 --> 01:12:15,765
At first I was
very task-oriented,
1102
01:12:15,799 --> 01:12:20,904
care-taking, explaining,
rationalizing,
1103
01:12:20,937 --> 01:12:22,472
and then it kind of
tapered down
1104
01:12:22,506 --> 01:12:24,374
and then I started working
in the studio
1105
01:12:24,408 --> 01:12:28,645
and then I kind of went back
into my normal habits
and isolation,
1106
01:12:28,678 --> 01:12:32,616
and that's when
I started to kind of
really think, I guess.
1107
01:12:32,649 --> 01:12:35,585
It really spun out
pretty quick after that.
1108
01:12:35,619 --> 01:12:37,921
JONATHAN: I've never seen
him like that.
1109
01:12:37,954 --> 01:12:40,023
He really went down
for a long time.
1110
01:12:42,992 --> 01:12:45,595
LETSCHER: About three or four
months into the experience,
1111
01:12:45,629 --> 01:12:49,999
I started getting hit
with profound emotional
shock waves.
1112
01:12:52,869 --> 01:12:55,104
Terrible insomnia was
kind of the first thing.
1113
01:12:57,073 --> 01:12:59,609
I started having
problems with panic.
1114
01:13:01,110 --> 01:13:04,648
Painful, wracking
physical symptoms,
1115
01:13:04,681 --> 01:13:06,382
and it just kind of
snowballed like that.
1116
01:13:08,151 --> 01:13:11,688
Really radically
dysfunctional.
1117
01:13:11,721 --> 01:13:15,992
Near psychotic, probably,
for maybe six months
or eight months or a year.
1118
01:14:03,973 --> 01:14:07,076
He was so down
that it kind of...
1119
01:14:07,110 --> 01:14:09,713
He put a wall around himself
and it was kind of hard
1120
01:14:09,746 --> 01:14:11,948
to, like, be in his life
for a few years,
1121
01:14:11,981 --> 01:14:13,182
I think for all of us
in a way.
1122
01:14:13,983 --> 01:14:15,184
(DOG BARKING)
1123
01:14:23,527 --> 01:14:26,262
LETSCHER:
After my dad's death,
I felt like,
1124
01:14:26,295 --> 01:14:28,197
you know, probably
in the back of my mind
1125
01:14:28,231 --> 01:14:31,100
I thought it's therapeutic to
work through it with my work.
1126
01:14:31,134 --> 01:14:32,602
I mean, there's only
really one path
1127
01:14:32,636 --> 01:14:37,040
and the work's
gonna change,
and it's gonna change again.
1128
01:14:38,908 --> 01:14:40,209
I want it to be
out of control,
1129
01:14:40,243 --> 01:14:42,211
I want it to be beyond
my control,
1130
01:14:42,245 --> 01:14:44,714
but to function out of
your control
1131
01:14:44,748 --> 01:14:47,517
or beyond your control,
or beyond your understanding
1132
01:14:47,551 --> 01:14:50,119
is an uncomfortable
position to be in.
1133
01:14:52,188 --> 01:14:54,858
He started staying home a lot,
1134
01:14:54,891 --> 01:14:58,562
um, and the boys were gone.
1135
01:14:59,295 --> 01:15:01,164
Yeah. They grew up and left.
1136
01:15:02,031 --> 01:15:07,170
And so he, um,
had to be careful.
1137
01:15:07,203 --> 01:15:09,873
Yeah, and stay
on top of himself
1138
01:15:09,906 --> 01:15:14,978
and not completely
pull back from society.
1139
01:15:15,011 --> 01:15:17,146
And then
an odd thing happened.
1140
01:15:17,180 --> 01:15:21,985
My stepmother died
unexpectedly of breast cancer
and we had to move my dad in.
1141
01:15:22,018 --> 01:15:24,854
So he was no longer alone,
and that was huge.
1142
01:15:27,123 --> 01:15:30,193
Lance didn't bat an eye.
He was getting ready
for a show,
1143
01:15:30,226 --> 01:15:32,228
and he stopped everything
and built,
1144
01:15:32,261 --> 01:15:35,599
added a room onto our house
for my father,
1145
01:15:35,632 --> 01:15:39,135
and we had him moved in
with us in about
three months' time.
1146
01:15:41,237 --> 01:15:43,873
My dad was a pilot
in World War II.
1147
01:15:43,907 --> 01:15:46,910
He flew corsairs,
he was in the Marines.
1148
01:15:46,943 --> 01:15:49,012
So, one night we're sitting
in this TV room
1149
01:15:49,045 --> 01:15:51,280
and Lance is going
through the Internet
looking at things,
1150
01:15:51,314 --> 01:15:54,250
which he does every night
on eBay,
1151
01:15:54,283 --> 01:15:57,286
he's curious about
what people are selling,
and he sees this glider.
1152
01:15:57,320 --> 01:16:00,890
He's fearless
in what he's willing to do.
1153
01:16:00,924 --> 01:16:07,230
If he decides to do a project,
he just simply goes for it.
1154
01:16:07,263 --> 01:16:09,966
I mean, the plane,
I don't know
1155
01:16:09,999 --> 01:16:13,737
how many thousand dollars
the plane cost to buy
off the Internet,
1156
01:16:13,770 --> 01:16:17,607
but he made
a decision to do it,
and it was gonna happen.
1157
01:16:17,641 --> 01:16:19,843
It was delivered
to the studio.
1158
01:16:19,876 --> 01:16:24,013
It was longer
than the studio, really,
there wasn't room for it.
1159
01:16:24,047 --> 01:16:26,182
And the wings weren't on it.
1160
01:16:26,215 --> 01:16:29,385
But we went back there
and Dad knew exactly
what it was,
1161
01:16:29,418 --> 01:16:33,256
and him and Lance
just talked nonstop about it.
1162
01:16:33,289 --> 01:16:35,058
LETSCHER: It was
a Laister Kaufman,
1163
01:16:35,091 --> 01:16:38,862
and the one that I bought was
built in 1941
1164
01:16:38,895 --> 01:16:42,732
and all wood construction
covered with fabric,
1165
01:16:42,766 --> 01:16:44,901
but it also had
a steel sub frame.
1166
01:16:44,934 --> 01:16:47,270
The wingspan of
the glider was 50 feet
1167
01:16:47,303 --> 01:16:49,105
and the plane
that I ended up building,
1168
01:16:49,138 --> 01:16:51,274
the wingspan is 25 feet.
1169
01:16:51,307 --> 01:16:53,943
What the plane eventually
became is based on
1170
01:16:53,977 --> 01:16:57,046
this airplane that was
in World War II.
1171
01:16:57,080 --> 01:17:00,049
The Me163 was
a rocket-powered plane,
1172
01:17:00,083 --> 01:17:02,251
very short, single-seater,
1173
01:17:02,285 --> 01:17:07,123
and these two highly volatile
chemicals were mixed
1174
01:17:07,156 --> 01:17:10,126
at the plane
at the point of take-off.
1175
01:17:10,159 --> 01:17:12,696
And most of the people
that got killed
1176
01:17:12,729 --> 01:17:16,132
in relation to this plane
weren't pilots
that got shot down,
1177
01:17:16,165 --> 01:17:19,803
they were actually people
that were pouring
the two chemicals together
1178
01:17:19,836 --> 01:17:22,672
because they were
so highly volatile that
they would explode.
1179
01:17:22,706 --> 01:17:25,141
It had 60 seconds of thrust.
1180
01:17:25,174 --> 01:17:27,777
Four seconds of thrust
to take off,
1181
01:17:27,811 --> 01:17:31,180
and then 56 seconds of thrust
to go straight up
1182
01:17:31,214 --> 01:17:36,920
and fly into a...
A squadron of B-17s
1183
01:17:36,953 --> 01:17:40,323
that were going to Berlin, and
then the plane with level off
1184
01:17:40,356 --> 01:17:43,092
and shoot its missiles out
of the back of the plane
1185
01:17:43,126 --> 01:17:45,929
into the flight of the B-17s,
1186
01:17:45,962 --> 01:17:49,866
and then it would run out
of gas and it would
coast back down.
1187
01:17:49,899 --> 01:17:53,069
Very radical, life-or-death,
kind of Kamikaze airplane.
1188
01:17:55,204 --> 01:17:58,407
FRASHER: He changed
the shape of everything,
every aspect of it.
1189
01:17:58,441 --> 01:18:02,746
Cut the wings down
to a manageable size.
1190
01:18:02,779 --> 01:18:05,114
LETSCHER: Also, the wings are
swept so they're angled back
1191
01:18:05,148 --> 01:18:07,116
for higher speed stability,
1192
01:18:07,150 --> 01:18:10,153
so I had to change the root
of the wing
1193
01:18:10,186 --> 01:18:13,022
so that that angle
would be achieved.
1194
01:18:13,056 --> 01:18:16,392
Then I cut out a section
of the tail in back
of the cockpit
1195
01:18:16,425 --> 01:18:18,494
and moved the tail forward.
1196
01:18:18,527 --> 01:18:21,164
I ended up kind of cutting
this part down
1197
01:18:21,197 --> 01:18:24,033
as well and
reshaping the nose,
1198
01:18:24,067 --> 01:18:26,169
reshaping the lower section,
1199
01:18:26,202 --> 01:18:29,038
and then built a wooden
lattice over it
1200
01:18:29,072 --> 01:18:31,207
to create the structure
of the outside
of the airplane,
1201
01:18:31,240 --> 01:18:35,812
and covered that with
eighth-inch birch plywood.
1202
01:18:35,845 --> 01:18:37,881
People would say,
"Why are you doing that?"
1203
01:18:37,914 --> 01:18:40,316
and I went,
"'Cause he can
and he wants to."
1204
01:18:41,785 --> 01:18:44,220
ZOUBOK: I was very keen
to have him really do
1205
01:18:44,253 --> 01:18:49,258
whatever was going to make
this first show back
in New York
1206
01:18:49,292 --> 01:18:53,429
as auspicious a beginning to
our working relationship
as possible.
1207
01:18:53,462 --> 01:18:55,464
So when he came to me
and asked
1208
01:18:55,498 --> 01:18:59,268
how I felt about showing
the glider which is, you know,
1209
01:18:59,302 --> 01:19:03,106
it's a whole airplane,
a small airplane,
but it's an airplane.
1210
01:19:03,139 --> 01:19:07,043
We had to crane the piece,
in sections of course,
1211
01:19:07,076 --> 01:19:10,379
through the gallery window.
And we're on the second floor.
1212
01:19:10,413 --> 01:19:12,448
GABE: That was
an amazing show.
1213
01:19:12,481 --> 01:19:14,517
He filled the whole
gallery space.
1214
01:19:14,550 --> 01:19:17,987
It was like 40 or 50 pieces
and a sculpture.
1215
01:19:18,021 --> 01:19:20,890
ZOUBOK: People were
kind of delighted by it.
1216
01:19:20,924 --> 01:19:22,959
It's a beautiful object first
and foremost,
1217
01:19:22,992 --> 01:19:25,361
but it's also almost as if
this kind of magical
1218
01:19:25,394 --> 01:19:28,331
collaged bird had landed
in the gallery.
1219
01:19:36,105 --> 01:19:38,541
LETSCHER:
I think a lot of humor
is about insanity
1220
01:19:38,574 --> 01:19:41,177
and a lot of art
is about insanity
1221
01:19:41,210 --> 01:19:43,913
and a lot of your life is
about insanity
1222
01:19:43,947 --> 01:19:47,316
in trying to stay balanced
and to not be hurtful
1223
01:19:47,350 --> 01:19:53,122
and to be lucid
and cognizant and present.
1224
01:19:53,156 --> 01:19:57,160
You know, it's like
you're fighting all the chaos
inside of you
1225
01:19:57,193 --> 01:19:59,829
in order to present
yourself as a sane person
all the time.
1226
01:20:01,197 --> 01:20:04,233
And in art you don't really
have to do that.
1227
01:20:04,267 --> 01:20:07,136
Doing a collage, you can be
as crazy as you want to be.
1228
01:20:22,952 --> 01:20:25,421
This one really does have
a strong narrative to me,
1229
01:20:25,454 --> 01:20:28,057
it's autobiographical,
it's about somebody
I know.
1230
01:20:28,091 --> 01:20:33,429
And this person was
a very exaggerating person.
1231
01:20:33,462 --> 01:20:36,599
He made up stories,
he made up lies.
1232
01:20:36,632 --> 01:20:38,234
Now, are you making
this all up?
1233
01:20:38,267 --> 01:20:39,869
-No, this is true.
-This is true?
1234
01:20:39,903 --> 01:20:41,237
This is somebody you know?
1235
01:20:41,270 --> 01:20:46,475
Yeah. Yeah, my dad, actually.
It's about my dad.
1236
01:20:46,509 --> 01:20:52,648
Um and there's two
main stories going on
about this boat.
1237
01:20:52,681 --> 01:20:55,051
Maybe he was shipwrecked.
1238
01:20:55,084 --> 01:20:57,620
Um, and one story is
a very romantic story
1239
01:20:57,653 --> 01:21:02,225
about this beautiful
three-masted schooner
1240
01:21:02,258 --> 01:21:06,329
and there's all these ladies'
hands kind of
framing that aspect.
1241
01:21:06,362 --> 01:21:09,198
So it's very romantic,
it's very beautiful.
1242
01:21:09,232 --> 01:21:14,203
And maybe the true story,
or the truer story,
is based on this boat.
1243
01:21:14,237 --> 01:21:17,173
It's kind of a rundown
tramp steamer
1244
01:21:17,206 --> 01:21:20,543
and the only hand
is floating in the water.
1245
01:21:20,576 --> 01:21:23,112
-WHITENACK: A sinking ship.
-Yeah.
1246
01:21:23,146 --> 01:21:26,582
And the truth of the matter is
that he probably wasn't
ever shipwrecked,
1247
01:21:26,615 --> 01:21:29,452
he probably wasn't even ever
on a ship,
1248
01:21:29,485 --> 01:21:32,521
um, but that's the story.
1249
01:21:32,555 --> 01:21:35,324
And the movement
of the shoes is...
1250
01:21:35,358 --> 01:21:37,260
I was thinking of
dancing around,
1251
01:21:37,293 --> 01:21:41,130
you know, dancing manically
to get somebody's attention
1252
01:21:41,164 --> 01:21:43,967
and to keep
somebody's attention.
1253
01:21:44,000 --> 01:21:47,636
And the title of this piece is
The Greatest Dancer
in the World.
1254
01:21:47,670 --> 01:21:49,605
Yeah, The Greatest Dancer
in the World.
1255
01:21:49,638 --> 01:21:50,940
I thought about naming it
Mr. BB.
1256
01:21:50,974 --> 01:21:55,611
But, um, yeah, The Greatest
Dancer is pretty good.
1257
01:21:57,146 --> 01:21:58,681
-Yeah.
-Wow.
1258
01:22:06,589 --> 01:22:08,157
LETSCHER:
We're mutually supportive.
1259
01:22:08,191 --> 01:22:09,558
You know, her job
is really hard,
1260
01:22:09,592 --> 01:22:11,727
her job is a lot harder
than my job.
1261
01:22:11,760 --> 01:22:15,164
She deals with kids with
cancer and I deal with myself.
1262
01:22:17,333 --> 01:22:19,468
FRASHER: I believe in love at
first sight because of Lance.
1263
01:22:20,369 --> 01:22:22,705
It just happened.
1264
01:22:22,738 --> 01:22:24,273
To this day, we'll look
at each other and go,
1265
01:22:24,307 --> 01:22:27,710
"Do you know how many
miracles it took
for us to get together
1266
01:22:27,743 --> 01:22:29,378
"and to stay where we are?"
1267
01:22:33,349 --> 01:22:36,452
LETSCHER: It's been
five years, coming up
on the sixth year
1268
01:22:36,485 --> 01:22:37,653
since he committed suicide.
1269
01:22:40,056 --> 01:22:43,459
And I'm in a different space
mentally about it,
1270
01:22:43,492 --> 01:22:45,261
I mean, I can talk about it,
1271
01:22:45,294 --> 01:22:49,532
I couldn't even have talked
about it two years ago
or three years ago.
1272
01:22:49,565 --> 01:22:53,169
But I think that it's...
It's important to talk about
1273
01:22:53,202 --> 01:22:56,172
because of the relevance
to the work
1274
01:22:56,205 --> 01:23:00,543
and the relevance to just
about every aspect of my life.
1275
01:23:00,576 --> 01:23:04,247
It's one of those things
that comes along
and changes everything.
1276
01:23:10,319 --> 01:23:14,757
LETSCHER: Sorry, I didn't have
my phone. I'm in the back.
Is everything okay?
1277
01:23:14,790 --> 01:23:16,392
Yeah, I'm cool.
1278
01:23:16,425 --> 01:23:18,494
Doing good.
1279
01:23:18,527 --> 01:23:20,196
All right, love you. Bye.
1280
01:23:23,566 --> 01:23:28,504
FRASHER: His background has
really enabled him to do
the art that he does.
1281
01:23:28,537 --> 01:23:30,539
He makes it very,
very difficult,
1282
01:23:30,573 --> 01:23:32,475
but that's what makes
his collages interesting.
1283
01:23:34,777 --> 01:23:38,414
Sheri came over and was
asking about how are you
gonna do it?
1284
01:23:38,447 --> 01:23:42,351
They're close enough
where he's like, "I'm having
a hard time with it."
1285
01:23:42,385 --> 01:23:44,620
And she said, "Remember
those pieces you did
1286
01:23:44,653 --> 01:23:46,122
"where you
stapled them together?
1287
01:23:46,155 --> 01:23:49,092
"You know, the paper.
Those are really,
really thick."
1288
01:23:49,125 --> 01:23:52,428
And I just saw that light bulb
go off above his head.
1289
01:23:52,461 --> 01:23:54,297
Finally he said,
I know what I'm doing.
1290
01:23:54,330 --> 01:23:56,199
Everything was laid out
on the floor,
1291
01:23:56,232 --> 01:23:58,767
and Mary said, "Why don't you
staple it or something?"
1292
01:23:58,801 --> 01:24:02,205
And I was like, "Oh!"
It would be less work
1293
01:24:02,238 --> 01:24:05,674
to individually staple every
single piece one-by-one
1294
01:24:05,708 --> 01:24:09,378
than have all that glue
and the potential for it to
change when it gets hot.
1295
01:24:10,813 --> 01:24:13,782
He had spent months
collecting metals
1296
01:24:13,816 --> 01:24:16,152
and colors
and cutting out shapes.
1297
01:24:16,185 --> 01:24:18,421
They were laid out on
a pallet in that wood shop.
1298
01:24:20,623 --> 01:24:23,192
From then on he was a madman.
1299
01:25:00,196 --> 01:25:01,864
(SHUSHING)
1300
01:25:03,332 --> 01:25:05,033
Go sit down.
1301
01:25:05,067 --> 01:25:09,205
FRASHER: It really started
changing and getting
much more complicated.
1302
01:25:09,238 --> 01:25:11,640
I'd call every day.
"How's it going?" "I'm done."
1303
01:25:11,674 --> 01:25:15,778
Well, that went on for about
a week and a half before
he finally was done.
1304
01:25:16,845 --> 01:25:18,381
LETSCHER: Mary leaves
at 9:00,
1305
01:25:18,414 --> 01:25:20,783
I come out here, turn on
the compressor,
find my sheers,
1306
01:25:20,816 --> 01:25:21,917
look at it for a second,
1307
01:25:21,950 --> 01:25:24,420
and then I cut one piece
and then staple.
1308
01:25:24,453 --> 01:25:26,555
And the next thing I know,
it's like 3:00
in the afternoon.
1309
01:25:27,690 --> 01:25:29,858
It's that kind of work.
1310
01:25:29,892 --> 01:25:31,727
FRASHER: Then he calls me
at work one day and says,
1311
01:25:31,760 --> 01:25:34,697
"Okay, you've got some
tins in the kitchen
that I really want."
1312
01:25:34,730 --> 01:25:36,632
And I said, "They're yours,
you can do it.
1313
01:25:36,665 --> 01:25:40,903
"I love them but it's for
your art. Yeah. Go for it."
1314
01:25:40,936 --> 01:25:42,371
LETSCHER:
She's completely supportive.
1315
01:25:42,405 --> 01:25:44,807
I've never had
anybody in my life,
1316
01:25:44,840 --> 01:25:47,943
anybody in my life that's done
that before.
1317
01:25:47,976 --> 01:25:51,614
She wants me to succeed,
to thrive and excel.
1318
01:25:51,647 --> 01:25:54,683
FRASHER: He'd get up at night,
walk out and look at it
1319
01:25:54,717 --> 01:25:57,220
and come back in
and say, "Okay, I know what
I'm gonna do tomorrow."
1320
01:25:57,253 --> 01:25:59,021
(CHUCKLES)
1321
01:25:59,054 --> 01:26:02,791
LETSCHER: It's really
so pleasurable to look at it
and tack something up.
1322
01:26:02,825 --> 01:26:05,428
You're moving it in tiny
little increments every time.
1323
01:26:05,461 --> 01:26:07,263
And if it's worse, then you
get the pliers and you...
1324
01:26:07,296 --> 01:26:10,566
(MIMICKING USING PLIERS)
You know, pull the staple out.
1325
01:26:11,567 --> 01:26:13,236
So this is a box of staples,
1326
01:26:15,003 --> 01:26:20,809
and what does it say?
"Quantity 10,000 Staples."
1327
01:26:20,843 --> 01:26:23,279
This is the fourth box
of staples I've gone through.
1328
01:26:23,312 --> 01:26:24,713
Feel how heavy that is.
1329
01:26:24,747 --> 01:26:28,817
It drew in his interest
and curiosity
1330
01:26:28,851 --> 01:26:33,222
and satisfied a lot
of anxiety, you know,
1331
01:26:33,256 --> 01:26:37,860
about doing something
he'd never done before,
to the point of,
1332
01:26:37,893 --> 01:26:40,796
"When am I gonna
let myself stop?"
1333
01:26:40,829 --> 01:26:44,233
LETSCHER: I had a dream
that I was painting this huge
painting of the ocean.
1334
01:26:44,267 --> 01:26:45,901
You know, kind of, like,
loading the brush up
1335
01:26:45,934 --> 01:26:49,305
and making these big marks
and stepping back
and looking at it
1336
01:26:49,338 --> 01:26:51,240
and studying it,
and it was huge.
It was big.
1337
01:26:51,274 --> 01:26:56,512
And I woke up and I was like,
"Man, I would love to do
a big painting like that."
1338
01:26:56,545 --> 01:27:00,916
In a way this is
the fulfillment of that
because it feels like that.
1339
01:27:00,949 --> 01:27:03,552
It's starting to get a texture
like a painting would
get texture,
1340
01:27:03,586 --> 01:27:05,821
you build it up real slow.
1341
01:27:05,854 --> 01:27:07,122
You know,
what Mary told me was,
1342
01:27:07,155 --> 01:27:09,825
you know when you really feel
affection for somebody
1343
01:27:09,858 --> 01:27:12,761
and you're talking to them,
your pupil dilates really big.
1344
01:27:12,795 --> 01:27:15,264
I don't know, it's about love.
1345
01:27:15,298 --> 01:27:17,766
When you love somebody,
you feel the love,
1346
01:27:17,800 --> 01:27:20,869
and when you're talking to
them your pupil
gets really big.
1347
01:27:33,749 --> 01:27:36,419
I got there at 6:45
and he was already there
1348
01:27:36,452 --> 01:27:39,655
pacing around and we both had
the same idea, that we wanted
1349
01:27:39,688 --> 01:27:41,890
to put the first panel up
before anybody got there
1350
01:27:41,924 --> 01:27:44,927
because we weren't sure
that it was gonna work.
1351
01:27:47,062 --> 01:27:48,697
Yeah, it doesn't look
too good down there.
1352
01:27:49,832 --> 01:27:52,701
Uh, but I think
we'll be able to fix it.
1353
01:27:52,735 --> 01:27:55,571
BRENT HOWELL: My original idea
was that Lance and I
sneak down there
1354
01:27:55,604 --> 01:27:58,641
early in the morning
and put it up like
guerrilla art, like graffiti.
1355
01:28:00,008 --> 01:28:02,578
If anything goes wrong
it can't go too wrong.
1356
01:28:03,612 --> 01:28:05,881
This is about 500 pounds,
1357
01:28:05,914 --> 01:28:08,817
the wall's not gonna fall
over, hopefully.
1358
01:28:08,851 --> 01:28:10,319
When you make stuff at home
1359
01:28:10,353 --> 01:28:11,954
expecting it to work
somewhere else
1360
01:28:11,987 --> 01:28:14,823
that's not exactly
plumb and level,
1361
01:28:14,857 --> 01:28:17,893
it doesn't really work
most of the time.
1362
01:28:19,462 --> 01:28:21,830
This is one
of those instances.
1363
01:28:21,864 --> 01:28:24,433
Now they won't fall off on us
when we're messing around
down there.
1364
01:28:25,868 --> 01:28:26,869
(DRILLING)
1365
01:28:27,403 --> 01:28:28,003
Yeah.
1366
01:28:28,737 --> 01:28:29,972
Now we're talking.
1367
01:28:35,444 --> 01:28:36,479
-Success!
-You got it.
1368
01:28:37,980 --> 01:28:38,981
(GROANS)
1369
01:28:47,456 --> 01:28:49,892
All right. Let's bring the top
out and the bottom in.
1370
01:28:50,726 --> 01:28:52,528
Let's bring the top out.
1371
01:28:52,561 --> 01:28:53,596
(GRUNTING)
1372
01:28:54,563 --> 01:28:55,631
(DRILLING)
1373
01:28:59,702 --> 01:29:02,004
-(LAUGHS) Whoo, it worked!
-It worked!
1374
01:29:02,037 --> 01:29:03,506
-Your design worked.
-(LAUGHS)
1375
01:29:04,907 --> 01:29:07,676
Do you want to do it
in stages, lift it up,
1376
01:29:09,044 --> 01:29:11,614
-set it on the ladder...
-Right.
1377
01:29:11,647 --> 01:29:13,148
...and then go
the rest of the way?
1378
01:29:13,181 --> 01:29:14,349
LETSCHER: Right.
1379
01:29:15,017 --> 01:29:16,752
Up.
1380
01:29:16,785 --> 01:29:18,086
BRENT: We knocked
the ladder over.
1381
01:29:19,722 --> 01:29:20,523
(LETSCHER GROANS)
1382
01:29:24,693 --> 01:29:27,496
-It's still not easy, is it?
How's your back?
-It's okay.
1383
01:29:27,530 --> 01:29:30,733
Let's try to get it up here
in one swell foop.
1384
01:29:34,637 --> 01:29:35,771
There we go.
1385
01:29:35,804 --> 01:29:37,840
-LETSCHER: Right.
-I'm going to get
another grip.
1386
01:29:40,876 --> 01:29:42,110
All right, I'm on.
1387
01:29:43,579 --> 01:29:44,913
LETSCHER: Fuck.
1388
01:29:44,947 --> 01:29:46,582
We're going to try
a different way.
1389
01:29:46,615 --> 01:29:48,383
-That was better.
-It was better.
1390
01:29:54,156 --> 01:29:58,861
BRENT: All right, top out,
bottom in. Are you okay?
1391
01:29:58,894 --> 01:30:00,763
LETSCHER: Yeah.
1392
01:30:00,796 --> 01:30:02,765
All right.
To me about an inch.
1393
01:30:04,600 --> 01:30:06,635
That's perfect.
1394
01:30:06,669 --> 01:30:11,173
BRENT: Let's flip it over
kind of this way.
1395
01:30:11,206 --> 01:30:14,577
FRASHER: I knew
when I got there,
I saw the stress on his face.
1396
01:30:14,610 --> 01:30:18,447
Oh, my God. I was just like,
"Don't get hurt
and don't drop it!" (CHUCKLES)
1397
01:30:18,481 --> 01:30:20,483
LETSCHER: Okay,
that was the best one yet.
1398
01:30:22,985 --> 01:30:26,154
Oh, wait, look.
Look how off we are.
1399
01:30:27,189 --> 01:30:28,423
How about there?
1400
01:30:28,457 --> 01:30:32,795
You're a little bit out
but it's not that much,
that's good.
1401
01:30:34,863 --> 01:30:37,466
What do you think, Lance?
1402
01:30:37,500 --> 01:30:39,502
LETSCHER: I think it, uh,
looks all right.
1403
01:30:42,070 --> 01:30:45,674
BRENT: (GRUNTS)
I'll stick my corner.
1404
01:30:48,777 --> 01:30:50,445
-Oh, that's good.
-Okay, good.
1405
01:30:56,719 --> 01:30:58,120
It's beautiful.
1406
01:31:00,689 --> 01:31:03,125
LETSCHER: It's amazing
how much detail you can
see from this far back.
1407
01:31:05,060 --> 01:31:09,231
FRASHER: I saw Lance
do something I haven't seen
him do in a lot of years,
1408
01:31:09,264 --> 01:31:12,568
is to do a different medium
of work
1409
01:31:12,601 --> 01:31:17,172
and get completely,
passionately in love with it.
1410
01:31:17,205 --> 01:31:20,776
That turned out to be a gift
he didn't understand
1411
01:31:20,809 --> 01:31:24,212
when it first came to him,
and it changed a lot of him.
1412
01:31:28,851 --> 01:31:30,719
LETSCHER: I think that
that piece has
a different trajectory
1413
01:31:30,753 --> 01:31:32,688
than anything
that I've done before.
1414
01:31:32,721 --> 01:31:36,692
I didn't feel irritated
or angry or insecure about it,
1415
01:31:36,725 --> 01:31:40,696
I got it to where it felt
like everywhere was
kind of working.
1416
01:31:42,097 --> 01:31:44,800
I think it's going to have
an impact on people.
1417
01:31:44,833 --> 01:31:48,704
And I like that. I like
the idea that people that
are walking down the street
1418
01:31:48,737 --> 01:31:50,739
that I don't know and
I'll probably never talk to,
1419
01:31:50,773 --> 01:31:53,241
are gonna have an experience
with it somehow.
1420
01:32:01,784 --> 01:32:05,153
It's always been really,
really important to me
to be an artist.
1421
01:32:05,187 --> 01:32:07,956
Once I kind of realized
that I could be an artist
1422
01:32:07,990 --> 01:32:11,226
then that was
the main goal in my life.
1423
01:32:11,259 --> 01:32:14,062
I couldn't imagine anything
better than that.
116270
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