www.kategilmore.com
contact: kategilmore@earthlink.net

FP: I love your video work because they always represent to me the tireless WORK and sometimes fatigue of the feminist movement. But still the willingness to keep fighting. And sometimes not just that but the personal as well, fighting for love, self, etc. Where does the fight come from within you?

KG: Fight, struggle, conflict--these are pretty universal concepts. I think most people understand these simple human predicaments. The videos, of course, have a very strong female perspective in them, but I would also hope that they speak to a larger group as well. In response to the question, "Where does the fight come from within me", I would have to say that I was just born kind of pissed off. I am actually a pretty nice and a relatively sane individual, but I have a temper and I have always been very physically inclined. So, the combination of the two is, I guess, where the art comes in!

FP: Your new videos are unexpectedly close to my heart as my father was an architect and I grew up in an always-being-renovated Victorian in San Francisco...drywall showing, the sound of it being knocked down, the smell of the plaster. It's invigorating tearing down walls isn't it? (Which I know is part of your brilliant theme...)

KG: I am happy I can conjure up some good memories for you! Breaking "stuff" in general is always a pleasurable experience... That said, while I do enjoy breaking things, I really try to use destruction as a way of making something new. Taking a relatively uncontrolled form of physical activity and transforming it into a new entity, something unforeseen.

FP: It seems like such a timely work...everyone in the country right now has both their hopeful face on but yet also their most industrial hat on too, work needs to be done. Especially on the feminist front. Can you comment on the timeliness of it?

KG: Work needs to be done (period). The world is a mess. As we have seen in our recent election, new ways need to be constructed in order to change things-- make the world a better place! People don't fit into the same models they did 10, 20, 30 years ago. People need to make their own space.

FP: Let's talk about your choice of costume in "Walk This Way." I am quoting the NY Times:

"She wears a demure dark-gray dress with heels...Ms. Gilmore makes a point of dressing like a lady, color-coordination included, in all her short, methodical videos. Then she goes against type, parodying the task-oriented, implicitly macho Process Art pieces and performances of the early 1970s..." It's funny because this state of dress reminded me so much of the much-to-do-about-her-overspent-wardrobe matchy-matchy style of dressing of Sarah Palin. Which in one way was celebratory for a woman to be on the ticket, for women politicians who have struggled and paved the way for that ...and then on the other hand here is this non-starter woman who went against all of that. I see almost see both parts of that in "Walk This Way." On the same note, in "Between A Hard Place," the goal seems to be to break on through to get to the yellow wall that matches your yellow shoes...and particularly in "Higher Horse," In "Higher Horse," created in Rome, she appears atop a pyramid of white plaster blocks wearing a black skirt, pink top, and high heels. Two men dressed in manual-labor-appropriate dark jeans and white undershirts begin to strike the blocks deftly with sledgehammers, and almost immediately, the pyramid crumbles and the artist tumbles down with it, losing a shoe. She climbs back to the top of the rubble, where she mostly stands idle as her footing literally gives out from under her; it’s as if the trappings of modern femininity — the skirt, the heels — prevent her from either helping the men with their task, or, as they come closer with their sledgehammers, defending herself. " (–Artinfo.com, by By Kris Wilton, January 16, 2009)

It just feels so perfectly Palin to me again! Can you tell us a little about your choices of clothing and color, what they represent, and how you go about selecting them for the videos?

KG: I hate Sarah Palin and want nothing to do with that woman what so ever-- Hillary, on the other hand!!!

Color, form, structure--- all that formal stuff--- is really important to me. I make work with a strong aesthetic consideration. Usually, the clothing that I choose is picked out to match or to be in contrast with the installations so that I become a part of the sculpture. The sculpture is as active as the main character in the videos. Clearly, I am attracted to "girlish" colors like pink and yellow, but as I have gotten older, I seem to be moving into a lot of greys and blacks. These days, I am thinking more about a "generic" woman as a opposed to a specific character.

FP: Where do you think feminist art is at this time in history?

KG: I don't think we can make art about one thing. For me, I make work about my experiences in the world. I am a woman, so my work reflects that. I am also loud, uncouth, a bit obnoxious, big, kind of strange, etc., so I make work about that as well. I am interested in artists who are looking outwards-- using themselves as a reflection to what is going on in the world.

FP: Has extreme physical endurance always been a theme of yours, and what brought you to that? Did you ever play sports? And are you ever fearful that you'll get injured while performing? (Has that ever happened?) Or had a moment of panic or is each performance choreographed?

KG: Nothing is choreographed-- that would be to much like acting (and I am a horrible actress). I have always been very physical, naturally extremely strong, aggressive, etc. Growing up, this wasn't always seen as a good thing! That said, I have learned to use my body as a tool--like someone would use a drill or a saw. I know what my body can do, its power, its weaknesses, and I try and make work with all that in mind. When I go about creating these "difficult" environments in which the videos take place, I always assume that I will be able to accomplish the goal or task that is involved in the piece. I am not always correct in my assumptions, but I go about making my videos thinking that I will be successful in them. Luckily, I have only gotten a couple cuts and bruises. I am actually really careful-- I don't want to get hurt!

FP: How long does it take you to build each video, from conception to finished product?

KG: If I am lucky, I make 4 or 5 good videos a year. (Some are not so good and they do not get exhibited). I am slow. In order to invest physically in a piece, I have to be pretty convinced it is worth it.

FP: What are you working on next?

KG: I am doing a show in Turin, Italy at Franco Soffiantino Arte Contemporanea in February. There will be videos from 2007 and 2008 and I will be doing a new piece as well. It is a combo climbing/
breaking piece. Still working out some logistics!

FP: Thank you!

KG: Thank you!