Laylah Ali in "Power" - Season 3 - "Art in the Twenty-First Century" | Art21

[Music] all right let's go into his face which is crazy well well well what other background blue do we have you know I was thinking for the billboard I just wanted it to play off the sky is an unreal sky blue mhm I spent a lot of I'm watching television I think for artists of my

generation it has to be some kind of influence I watched a lot of ctoons it wasn't unusual for things to be two-dimensional so when I use what looks to be sort of cartoon imagery in my work it's just part of what I grew up with when I talk about the work I don't want

to talk about it as if I believe in this alternative fantasy world which is my secret little world like a dollhouse right it doesn't really work that way for me it's not a Escapist fantasy I wish it was it would be much more pleasant and much more of a relief to be in here it's a little bit too connected

to the world's to my own life for it to be an Escapist um Endeavor over a course of time I collect images when I'm at home and I'm reading the newspaper I tear them out or in magazines and then then periodically I file them and my filing system is it's on the wall according to

categories that kind of make sense for my work it's like underlining when you read um for me it's cutting out when I read I think about what I am interested in that might feed the work in those okay I'll show you just the hands category hand gestures have been very important for my

work these are some Shiite muslims praying in their hands are of interest to me ah the uh this is from a few years ago 1994 these are the tobacco Executives swearing that they're telling the truth just even something like the difference between the way he swears and the difference between the way he swears and