What Is Art Good For?

Civilizations was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Anne Ray Foundation.

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NARRATOR: WHAT CAN ART DO WHEN HORROR COMES CALLING?

WHAT CAN ART DO WHEN CIVILIZATION ITSELF IS LOST?

TEREZIN IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC IS ABOUT AN HOUR'S DRIVE FROM PRAGUE.

A CLASSICALLY-DESIGNED, 18th-CENTURY GARRISON TOWN, IT WAS ALSO THE STAGE FOR AN EVIL CHARADE.

FROM 1941 ONWARDS, TEREZIN WAS FILLED WITH JEWS, 150,000 IN ALL, FROM ALL ACROSS CENTRAL EUROPE.

TO DECEIVE THE WORLD, THE NAZIS FILMED STAGED STREET SCENES, SOCCER GAMES, EVEN OPERA, AS THOUGH THE INHABITANTS WERE TREATED HUMANELY.

WHAT THE CAMERAS DID NOT RECORD WERE THE BEATINGS, HANGINGS, AND SHOOTINGS.

AT THE HEART OF THIS DECEPTION WERE THE CHILDREN-- CHILDREN WHO WOULD BE AMONG THE FIRST TO BE SENT TO THE GAS CHAMBERS.

IN DECEMBER 1942, A JEWISH ART TEACHER NAMED FRIEDL DICKER-BRANDEIS ARRIVED.

TRAINED IN THE BAUHAUS, SHE FILLED HER MEAGER LUGGAGE ALLOWANCE NOT WITH CLOTHES, BUT ART MATERIALS-- ART THAT WOULD ALLOW THE CHILDREN A MOMENTARY ESCAPE, IF ONLY IN THEIR IMAGINATIONS.

[BELL TOLLS] AFTER THE WAR, TWO SUITCASES FRIEDL HAD HIDDEN WERE FOUND IN THE CAMP.

THEY CONTAINED 4,500 PIECES OF ART MADE BY THE CHILDREN.

SIMON SCHAMA: THESE PICTURES ARE FULL OF FLIGHTS, LITERALLY, OF FANCY.

THIS IS A DREAM OF FLYING.

WHEN WE WANT TO BE SOMEWHERE ELSE, WE DREAM OF FLIGHT.

AND THERE'S THIS FIGURE WHO IS NOT A WITCH WHO'S FLYING OVER A BED.

AND THERE'S A LITTLE FIGURE WITH RED HAIR WHO'S HAVING THE DREAM, AND WITH AN ARM EXTENDED LIKE A CONDUCTOR CONDUCTING CELESTIAL MUSIC.

WHO IS SHE?

SHE'S ELLA STEINOVA, AND SHE LIVES, SHE SURVIVES.

GOOD FOR HER.

ONE IN THE BLOODY EYE FOR THE DAMN NAZIS.

SHE SURVIVED, BLESS HER.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF ENORMOUS BUTTERFLIES THAT HAVE LANDED ON A HUGE LOOM OF GLORIOUS COLOR.

THIS IS RUTH--OH!

RUTH GUTMANNOVA, WHO DOES NOT SURVIVE, WHO IS MURDERED IN PRESUMABLY AUSCHWITZ.

AND WE HAVE SLIPPERY THINGS, JELLYFISH AND EELS AND SEAWEED AND SEA ANEMONES, AND IT'S ALL SUSPENDED BEAUTIFULLY IN A PLACE THEY CAN'T GET AT YOU-- UNDERWATER.

AND THE FLIGHT CONTINUES.

THERE'S ANOTHER VERY POIGNANT VIEW BY A 9-YEAR-OLD LOOKING OUT OF A WINDOW TOWARDS AN IMAGINARY LANDSCAPE OF LIGHT AND AIR.

YOU KNOW, ONE OF TRAINS HERE.

IT'S AMAZING.

AND THERE'S NO SENSE YET THAT TRAINS ARE THE ANGEL OF DEATH, REALLY.

IT'S SO, SO PROFOUNDLY MOVING.

AND ONE I REALLY LOVE, IT'S A CUTOUT AT THE BOTTOM HERE BY HELENA MANDLOVA, WHO ALSO DOESN'T MAKE IT.

AND IT'S AGAIN AN AERIAL VIEW OF AN IMAGINARY LANDSCAPE OF TREES AND MOUNTAINS, BUT THE IMAGINARY LANDSCAPE IS MADE FROM A PIECE OF OFFICIAL FILING PAPER OF SOME SORT AND DATES AND COLUMNS, SO THE WHOLE OF THE MACHINERY OF MASS KILLING IS AN ACT OF BUREAUCRACY.

AND HERE THE MATERIAL OF BUREAUCRACY, FILING PAPER, HAS BEEN TURNED BY ART INTO A PLACE THESE CHILDREN COULD GO TO FOR A WHILE AND FEEL ALIVE AND FEEL FREE.

NARRATOR: OF THE 15,000 CHILDREN WHO PASSED THROUGH TEREZIN, BARELY 150 SURVIVED.

FRIEDL DICKER-BRANDEIS WAS MURDERED AT AUSCHWITZ ON 9th OF OCTOBER, 1944.

WHAT WAS ART TO DO IN THE FACE OF A CENTURY OF TOTAL WAR AND GENOCIDE... OF REVOLUTION AND PROFOUND SOCIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE... NEIL ARMSTRONG: THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND.

NARRATOR: IN WHICH SO MANY RULES OF ART AND CIVILIZATION WERE TORN UP AND THROWN ASIDE?

IS THE ART OF OUR OWN TIME JUST SO MUCH BUZZ AND FASHION, A HOT INVESTMENT FOR THE RICH, OR IS IT AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY, THE LIGHT FROM HUMANITY'S VITAL SPARK?

NARRATOR: ONE ANSWER ART GIVES TO THE UPHEAVAL OF THE MODERN WORLD CAN BE FOUND AT NAOSHIMA IN JAPAN.

AND IT'S A VERY ZEN ANSWER.

IN 1987, THE JAPANESE ENTREPRENEUR SOICHIRO FUKUTAKE DECIDED THAT JAPANESE CITIES HAD BECOME LIVING HELLS OF ALIENATION AND CONSUMERISM.

NAOSHIMA IS MEANT TO BE A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME AND IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN ITS AESTHETIC POWER AND SPIRITUAL PURITY, AWAY FROM THE UGLINESS AND VIOLENCE OF SO MUCH CONTEMPORARY LIFE.

[FUKUTAKE SPEAKING JAPANESE] NARRATOR: FOR MANY, IT IS A SHRINE TO GREAT WORKS OF MODERN ART AND ONE OF THE CENTRAL TENETS OF WHAT WE CALL MODERNISM, NAMELY ITS BELIEF THAT THE RENEWAL OF CIVILIZATION IS DEPENDENT ON CLEARING AWAY THE CLUTTER OF THE PAST.

NARRATOR: MODERN ART BEGAN THE TASK OF WIPING THE SLATE CLEAN A CENTURY AGO, TURNING ITS BACK ON THE OLD RULES OF THE HUMAN FIGURE AND FACE, THE DRAMA OF NATURE'S ABUNDANCE, AND THE ENDLESS TREASURY OF STORIES SACRED AND PROFANE.

MODERNIST ART WOULD PUT IN THEIR PLACE JUST THE THINGS INTRINSIC TO MAKING ART ITSELF-- LINE, FORM, AND COLOR.

THIS, AT ANY RATE, WAS WHAT THE DUTCH PAINTER PIET MONDRIAN CAME TO BELIEVE, AND IT BECAME HIS LIFE'S PURSUIT.

HE BEGAN IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE 20th CENTURY IN ZEELAND IN THE SOUTHWEST NETHERLANDS.

HERE, AN OLD LIGHTHOUSE BECAME A SCREAM OF EXPRESSIONISTIC COLORS, THE PAINT STABBED ON IN TILE-LIKE SQUARES.

SAND DUNES BECAME TURQUOISE UNDULATIONS VEINED IN GOLD.

MONDRIAN WAS ALREADY ON A MISSION TO TURN HIS BACK ON WHAT HAD BEEN THE CRUCIAL POINT OF ART, TO GET AS CLOSE TO NATURE AS POSSIBLE.

NOW, MONDRIAN THOUGHT IT WAS A LIE.

THIS ABSOLUTELY COULDN'T BE DONE.

AND BESIDES, WHAT A FEEBLE IDEA, THIS COPYING OF THE WORLD.

NOW, WHAT HE WANTED TO DO WAS TO ADD TO THE WORLD'S SUPPLY A VISION, AN ILLUMINATION CONSTRUCTED OUT OF ART'S OWN MATERIALS.

TROUBLE WAS, HE COULDN'T FOR THE LIFE OF HIM THINK HOW THIS COULD BE DONE.

NARRATOR: IN PARIS IN 1912, HE BECAME INFLUENCED BY CUBISM.

IT BROKE OBJECTS AND PEOPLE APART IN AN EFFORT TO SEE THEM IN A NEW WAY, BUT MONDRIAN'S PAINTINGS WERE STILL ABOUT THEIR SUBJECT MATTER.

IT WASN'T UNTIL AUTUMN 1914 THAT MONDRIAN HAD THE EPIPHANY WHICH WOULD BRING TRUE ABSTRACTION INTO THE WORLD.

THE OUTBREAK OF WAR HAD STOPPED HIM FROM GOING BACK TO FRANCE.

HOLLAND WAS SAFE.

IT WAS NEUTRAL.

BUT IN SOME DEEPER SENSE, IT WAS ALSO HOME.

HE WAS ALONE WITH HIS SKETCHBOOK AND THE SEA.

AND IT WAS, I THINK, BECAUSE OF THAT SOLITUDE THAT NOW SOMETHING REALLY DRAMATIC HAPPENED.

NARRATOR: CAPTIVATED BY THE LIGHT ON THE WAVES AND THE LINES OF THE PIER STRETCHING INTO THE SEA, MONDRIAN TRANSLATED THEM INTO SIMPLE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL STROKES.

THIS WAS A WHOLLY NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE.

SCHAMA: IT WAS ART ALONE NOW.

AND MONDRIAN WAS PRETTY MUCH ON HIS OWN-- NO SUBJECT, NO MODEL, JUST SHEETS OF PAPER AND LENGTHS OF CANVAS IN A PLACE NO ONE HAD BEEN BEFORE, THE GREAT, BOUNDLESS SPACE OF ABSTRACT VISION.

NARRATOR: WHEN HE GOT BACK TO PARIS, MONDRIAN SIMPLIFIED AND MAGNIFIED AGAIN.

SCHAMA: PANELS OF PRIMARY COLORS WERE HUNG ON A GRID.

DEPTH WAS IRONED FLAT.

EVERYTHING ON THE GRID WAS SO PERFECTLY CALIBRATED FOR BALANCE THAT YOU COULD STARE AND STARE AND CROSS A THRESHOLD OF SENSATION INTO MONDRIAN'S SELF-CONTAINED UNIVERSE.

NARRATOR: BUT MONDRIAN'S GRIDS WERE MORE THAN JUST DECORATIVE GAMES.

THEY WERE MEDITATION EXERCISES... A WHOLE PROGRAM OF VISUAL RE-EDUCATION.

[HORN HONKS] IN 1940, MONDRIAN MOVED TO NEW YORK, A CITY BUILT ENTIRELY ON A GRID.

ITS LIGHTS AND STREETS AND BUSINESS THROBBED WITH MUSICAL ENERGY.

SCHAMA: THE PAINTING REPRESENTS AS REVOLUTIONARY A DEPARTURE FOR MONDRIAN AS "PIER AND OCEAN" DID ALL THOSE YEARS AGO.

IT TAKES THE CLASSIC FORMULAE OF HIS GRID PAINTINGS, AND IT THROWS IT OUT OF THE 30th-STORY WINDOW.

THIS IS A PICTURE ABOUT ANIMATION.

OF COURSE, IT'S AFFECTED BY, IF NOT REALLY ABOUT NEW YORK.

OF COURSE IT PULSES WITH ENERGY.

WHY ARE THOSE LINES BROKEN IF NOT TO MAKE THE PAINT PULSE AND FLICKER AND SHINE AND SHIMMY?

ABSTRACTION HAD BEEN UNDER MONDRIAN'S PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY, A VERY SOBER, AUSTERE, DELIBERATE KIND OF BUSINESS.

PEOPLE HAVE TREATED HIM ALMOST AS IF HE WAS A KIND OF HIGH PRIEST OF PHILOSOPHICAL PURITY.

AND HERE HE IS ESSENTIALLY ALL ABOUT WHAT?

HE IS ABOUT PLAY.

SCHAMA, VOICEOVER: "BROADWAY BOOGIE WOOGIE" WAS FOLLOWED BY "VICTORY BOOGIE WOOGIE."

THOUGH IT WAS UNFINISHED AT MONDRIAN'S DEATH IN FEBRUARY 1944, WHEN VICTORY WAS FAR FROM A DONE DEAL, THE PATCHES AND STRIPS OF COLOR PAPER, WHICH MONDRIAN COULD MOVE AROUND TO FINE-TUNE THE COMPOSITION, GIVE IT A JUMPING, FLICKERING ENERGY, ALMOST AS THOUGH HE COULD SENSE THE CELEBRATION THAT WERE TO COME.

[CHEERING] ANNOUNCER: IT'S OFFICIAL.

IT'S ALL OVER.

IT'S TOTAL VICTORY.

SCHAMA: THAT HIT OF LIBERATED, JUBILANT ENERGY WAS SUSTAINED BY THE ABSTRACTIONS PAINTED IN NEW YORK AFTER THE WAR.

JACKSON POLLOCK'S PICTURES WERE MONUMENTAL IN SCALE AND FEROCIOUSLY PHYSICAL IN EXECUTION.

MONDRIAN'S CALCULATED FINESSE HAD BEEN SWEPT ASIDE BY INSTINCTIVE WHIPLASH DRIPPING AND STAINING.

WHAT THE BEST POLLOCKS DELIVERED WAS A RHYTHMICALLY ORCHESTRATED WEB OF LINE AND COLOR.

POLLOCK AND THE OTHER GIANTS OF ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM WERE HAILED AS HEROIC INDIVIDUALISTS, THE ANSWER TO THE PRODUCTION LINE TECHNICOLOR GLAMOUR OF AMERICAN LIFE.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYING] NARRATOR: THOSE ARTISTS WHO CHOSE TO EMBRACE POPULAR CULTURE OWED A DEBT TO MARCEL DUCHAMP.

HE CLAIMED ANYTHING COULD BE ART IF IT WAS LABELED AS ART.

FOR ANDY WARHOL AND OTHER POP ARTISTS, THIS MEANT TURNING HOLLYWOOD AND THE EVERYDAY INTO AN NEW KIND OF ARTISTIC ICONOGRAPHY.

BUT FOR THE HIGH PRIESTS OF ABSTRACTION, NONE OF THIS REALLY COUNTED AS ART.

IT'S THIS VISUAL GREEDINESS, ALONG WITH THE SENSE THAT THE QUALITY OF ART IS NOT COMPROMISED BY PLAYFULNESS, WHICH I THINK ACCOUNTS FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY CONQUESTS THAT CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS MADE FROM ONE END OF THE WORLD TO THE OTHER.

BUT OF COURSE, ENJOYING POP ART DOESN'T MEAN TO SAY YOU CAN'T ALSO SURRENDER TO THE GREAT ABSTRACT MACHINES.

EVERYTHING, ALL OF THIS FEEDS INTO THE SPECTACULAR ART UNIVERSE OF TODAY, BUT THERE ARE SOME CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS FOR WHOM NEITHER ABSTRACTION NOR POP ART IS QUITE ENOUGH BECAUSE THEY WANT TO RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL MORALLY-CHARGED MISSION OF MODERNISM TO RESCUE US FROM THE NUMBING ROUTINE OF DAILY LIFE.

THEY WANT TO BRING US UP SHORT, BRING US CLOSE TO THE DRAMA OF THE HUMAN CONDITION TO MAKE US SEE, FEEL, AND THINK IT INTENSELY ALL OVER AGAIN.

AND IT TURNS OUT THAT IN ORDER TO DO THIS, THEY HAVE TO RETURN AND ENGAGE WITH EXACTLY ALL THOSE THINGS THAT MODERN ART THOUGHT IT HAD BANISHED FOREVER-- THE HUMAN FIGURE, THE MATERIALS OF NATURE, AND ABOVE ALL, THOSE ENDLESS, HAUNTING STORIES WHICH NEVER EVER GO AWAY.

NARRATOR: ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF PARIS ARE THE STUDIOS OF AN ARTIST WHO'S DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO RECOVERING THE MEMORY OF HISTORY.

AN OLD PARKING LOT IS NOW FILLED WITH MODELS OF CRASHED FIGHTER PLANES ALL MADE OF LEAD... AND THE SITE IS REPEATEDLY OVERFLOWN BY LIGHT AIRCRAFT FROM A NEARBY AIRFIELD, AS THOUGH THE WAR IS STILL GOING ON.

BORN IN 1945, ANSELM KIEFER GREW UP IN A BOMBSITE CULTURE WHERE RECENT HISTORY WAS OFTEN LEFT UNSPOKEN.

KIEFER: I CAME LATE TO THE GERMAN HISTORY.

IN SCHOOL, WE HAD NOT SO MUCH ABOUT GERMAN HISTORY.

IT WAS LIKE ALEXANDER THE GREAT, AND THEN CAME THE BAROQUE AND THEN THE RENAISSANCE, BLAH BLAH.

AND THEN FOR THE NAZI, FOR THE THIRD REICH, IT WAS ONE OR TWO WEEKS, TOO, YOU KNOW.

BUT YOU HAD SOME OF IT 'CAUSE I THOUGHT YOU TOLD ME THAT-- YEAH, YEAH.

AND THEN LATER WHEN I WAS ALREADY IN THE ART SCHOOL, I FOUND BY ACCIDENT, I DON'T KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED, A DISC, WHAT THE AMERICANS PRODUCED TO EXPLAIN WHAT GERMAN HISTORY WAS, THE LAST 15 YEARS.

NO!

YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT.

SO A RECORD.

AND THERE WAS A VOICE OF HITLER.

[HITLER SPEAKING GERMAN] AND I WAS SO IMPRESSED AND SO FASCINATED AND SO, UM... [SPEAKING GERMAN] REPELLED.

YES.

REPELLED AND FASCINATED FROM THE VOICE OF HITLER, YOU KNOW.

AND THEN THIS WAS THE MOMENT I STARTED TO STUDY ABOUT THE GERMAN HISTORY.

[HITLER SPEAKING GERMAN] [CHEERING] NARRATOR: ONE OF KIEFER'S EARLY WORKS CALLED "OCCUPATIONS" SAW HIM ATTACK THE CONSPIRACY OF FORGETTING WHILE WEARING HIS FATHER'S LUFTWAFFE UNIFORM.

BUT SATIRICAL PROVOCATIONS ALONE WOULD NEVER HAVE MADE KIEFER A GREAT ARTIST.

THIS DID...

PAINT PHYSICALLY ENCRUSTED WITH THE DEBRIS OF HISTORY...

IMAGES THAT RECALLED BOMBED-OUT CITIES, NAMES WRITTEN IN KIEFER'S HAND OF THE GREAT HISTORICAL FIGURES OF GERMANY'S PAST.

IT RECALLS THIS-- THE WALHALLA NEAR REGENSBURG FINISHED IN 1842, BUT WHICH, IN THE 1930s, BECAME A PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE FOR THE NAZIS.

THE PET PROJECT OF LUDWIG, KING OF BAVARIA, HE TOOK THE NORSE IDEA OF WALHALLA, LAST RESTING PLACE OF WARRIORS, AND GERMANIZED IT.

THEN HE FILLED THIS NEOCLASSICAL PANTHEON WITH PORTRAIT BUSTS, HEROES OF GERMAN CULTURE, THE VERY SAME NAMES THAT KIEFER INCLUDES IN HIS PAINTINGS.

INSTEAD OF RUNNING AWAY FROM GERMAN HISTORY OR JUST BLOWING GERMAN RASPBERRIES AT IT, HE EMBRACED THE ENTIRETY OF GERMAN MYTHOLOGY, ALL ITS GODS AND HEROES, HISTORICAL NORSE AND TEUTONIC, AND REAWAKENED THEM.

THIS WAS SO TABOO.

SO WE HAD WALHALLAS.

WE HAD HALLS OF HEROES.

WE HAD FLAMING SWORDS.

BUT THIS WAS MYTHOLOGY THAT WAS BROKEN, DAMAGED, HALF-DESTROYED.

NOW, IN ORDER TO BRING BACK THE SLUMBERING GODS OF GERMANY IN THEIR KIND OF MUTILATED STATE, PEOPLE SAID, "YOU'RE A LITTLE BIT TOO MUCH IN LOVE WITH THAT YOU PROFESS TO DESPISE."

HIS ANSWER WAS, ACTUALLY, "WHAT ELSE ARE WE GOING TO DO? "

AN EXORCISM IN A WAY IS NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND HOW HISTORY, EVEN THE MOST VILE HISTORY, IS INESCAPABLE VISUALLY, AND IN TERMS OF OUR MEMORY, WE HAVE TO PLUNGE RIGHT IN.

NARRATOR: KIEFER'S WAR AGAINST WILLFUL FORGETTING HAS BEEN FOUGHT ON SEVERAL FRONTS.

SOMETIMES THE VANISHING POINT OF HIS PERSPECTIVE IS ALSO A VANISHING PLACE FOR PEOPLE.

[TRAIN WHEELS CLACKING] WELL, WELCOME TO THE INSIDE OF ANSELM KIEFER'S BRAIN.

QUITE A PLACE, ISN'T IT?

HE CALLS IT HIS ARSENAL, BUT THE ONLY WEAPONS WE'VE GOT HERE ARE THE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST TO KIEFER--MEMORIES, AND THERE THEY ARE PRINTED ON SPOOLS OF LEAD.

HE LOVES LEAD AS A MEDIUM.

IT'S A VERY UNUSUAL CHOICE, AND A SENSE IN WHICH IT'S KIND OF DANGEROUS IS PERFECT FOR KIEFER.

IT BEARS THE IMPRESSION OF ALL SORTS OF CATASTROPHES AND CALAMITIES ON THOSE GREAT SPOOLS AND RIBBONS HANGING DOWN.

THIS IS ALSO AN ARCHIVE, ISN'T IT?

IT'S AN ARCHIVE OF HIS OWN PARTICULAR WORKS.

WE'VE GOT THE TITLES OF HIS FAVORITE STORIES, BUT WE ALSO HAVE THE NAMES OF HEROES.

THERE TOGETHER WITH THE KIND OF RAW BLOND HANK OF HAIR, WE HAVE LORELEI, THE RHINEMAIDENS WHO LURED SAILORS TO THEIR DEATH ON THE ROCKS.

WE HAVE FREIA AND HODOR, ALL SORTS OF GODS AND HEROES CLASSED HERE.

I MUST SAY THIS ACTUAL PLACE MAKES EVEN MY OWN STUDY LOOK QUITE NEAT BY COMPARISON.

BUT THIS IS THE SORT OF PLACE THAT YOU FEEL YOU'VE STUMBLED INTO AFTER A BOMB HAS DROPPED ON IT.

YOU KNOW, YOU'VE JUST BEEN ABANDONED.

YET THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT THIS PLACE, WHICH IS NOT JUST AN ARCHIVE, NOT JUST AN ARSENAL FOR ME, IT ABSOLUTELY IS A CHAPEL, AND THERE'S THE ALTAR.

ISN'T IT?

AND THOSE LEAD SPOOLS OF PRINTED PHOTOGRAPHS ARE SUPPORTED BY THE OTHER INSTRUMENT OF MEMORY-- A PRINTING PRESS.

NARRATOR: ANSELM KIEFER IS NOT ALONE IN TRYING TO KEEP THE PAST FROM OBLIVION.

MEMORIES AND HISTORIES ARE OFTEN EDITED AND CUSTOMIZED, AND ONLY THE BRAVEST ARTISTS DARE ENTER SUCH BATTLE ZONES.

KARA WALKER WAS BORN IN CALIFORNIA, BUT GREW UP BENEATH THE SHADOW OF A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF CUSTOMIZED MEMORY.

STONE MOUNTAIN RISES JUST OUTSIDE ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

ON THE FACE OF THE MOUNTAIN, THE LARGEST RELIEF CARVING IN THE WORLD COMMEMORATES THE LEADERS OF THE AMERICAN CONFEDERACY-- JEFFERSON DAVIS, ROBERT E. LEE, STONEWALL JACKSON.

WALKER: YOU KNOW, FRIENDS OR COLLEAGUES WOULD TALK ABOUT STONE MOUNTAIN JUST AS RECREATION, YOU KNOW, GO TO STONE MOUNTAIN.

SCHAMA: PLACE TO HAVE A PICNIC.

YOU GO TO A LASER SHOW.

YEAH, YOU GO-- THEY HAD SOME RIDES AND GAMES.

DID YOU GO TO A LASER SHOW?

WELL, NOT UNTIL I WAS 16 WITH SOME HIPPIE FRIENDS, AND WE ALL GOT DIRTY LOOKS.

WE SHOULD ALSO SAY THAT THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE THE MODERN KU KLUX KLAN WAS FOUNDED-- EXACTLY.

IN 1915.

1915.

NARRATOR: WHILE THE STARS AND STRIPES SAYS EVERYTHING'S OK, STONE MOUNTAIN HAS BECOME THE SITE FOR ANNUAL GATHERINGS OF THE KLAN.

AND YOU DIDN'T SIT AROUND AND TALK ABOUT IT AT SCHOOL OR IN FAMILY?

NO, NO.

WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IT WHEN WE GOT AMERICAN FLAGS WITH KU KLUX KLAN FLIERS ATTACHED TO THEM IN OUR MAILBOX, 'CAUSE EVERYBODY DID.

IT WASN'T A DEATH THREAT.

IT WAS JUST A REMINDER, YOU KNOW.

I THINK THAT WAS-- I WAS PERPLEXED BY IT, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER ANYBODY SAYING ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR ABOUT IT.

AND IT WASN'T THE FIRST TIME THAT I GOT KLAN FLIERS IN MY LIFE.

IT JUST KIND OF BECAME LIKE A REGULAR, UM... THAT'S GOOD THAT WE CAN--YOU CAN, ESPECIALLY, KIND OF CHUCKLE ABOUT IT, REALLY, BUT IT'S DEEPLY SINISTER.

YEAH.

WALKER: WHEN I WENT TO GRADUATE SCHOOL, I WAS 22 YEARS OLD, AND I HAD NEVER REALLY, REALLY ASKED MYSELF "WHY AM I MAKING ART?"

IN SOME WAYS, I KIND OF RECOGNIZED THAT I HAD BEEN GIVEN SOME KIND OF CREED.

WHAT WAS THE CONTENT OF THAT CREED?

PART OF IT HAD TO DO WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF SELF THAT COMES THROUGH THIS CREATIVE PROCESS, AND ANOTHER PART OF IT HAD TO DO WITH THAT SELF BEING BLACK IN AMERICA, AND THEY ALL SEEMED TO BE KIND OF AT ODDS WITH ONE ANOTHER IN SOME WAY.

AND I DECIDED TO LOOK AT OTHER STARTING-OFF POINTS.

AND BECAUSE I'D GONE TO RHODE ISLAND, IT WAS THE FIRST TIME REALLY THAT I HAD SEEN GENRE PAINTING, THE EARNESTNESS.

YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT 19th-CENTURY PAINTING?

19th CENTURY, YEAH, AND ALSO SOME EARLY COLONIAL, MORE FOLKSY.

MANNEQUIN-LIKE, PERSONAL, YEAH.

EXACTLY.

COPYING WHAT WE MIGHT KNOW FROM EUROPE.

SO I REALLY HAD THIS KIND OF REVELATION THAT I REALLY WAS INTO SORT OF WESTERN PAINTING AND I COULD BE OK WITH THAT AND CREATING AN IDEA OF SELF THAT IN ITSELF WAS A CONSTRUCT.

NARRATOR: WALKER HAS BEEN MAKING A SHOCKINGLY DEFIANT ART OF RESISTANCE SINCE THE 1990s, USING THE INESCAPABLE BLACKNESS OF THE SILHOUETTE.

INSTEAD OF THE KIND OF SILHOUETTES YOU MIGHT SEE IN CHILDREN'S BOOKS, WALKER'S DEPICT THE VIOLATIONS AND TORMENTS OF SLAVERY.

WALKER: THAT'S THE DILEMMA THAT'S ALWAYS PRESENT FOR ME IN MAKING ART.

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT PLEASURE IN THAT, LIKE EMBEDDED IN THE MAKING, THAT SORT OF RUNS COUNTER TO THE THING THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.

AND BEING ABLE TO HOLD ONTO THAT LITTLE GLIMMER OF JOY IN THE MIDST OF LIKE KNOWING WHAT I HAVE TO DO, IT MAKES THE MAKING HARD, AND IT ALSO MAKES THE REFLECTION HARD.

NARRATOR: IN A SUBTLETY, THE BITTER HISTORY OF SUGAR PRODUCED BY SLAVE LABOR IS EMBODIED IN A COLOSSAL, SPHINX-LIKE FIGURE SCULPTED FROM SUGAR PASTE.

SURROUNDED BY MOLASSES-DRIPPING ATTENDANTS, IT WAS MADE IN THE EMPTY SHELL OF AN OLD SUGAR FACTORY.

MORE RECENTLY, WALKER CREATED A COLLAGE OF DRAWINGS DONE IN SUMI INK-- A SHOW LAST AUTUMN PORTRAYED IN THE VEIN OF HORROR COMEDY, THE ENDLESS THEATER OF AMERICAN VIOLENCE PAST AND PRESENT.

THE CENTERPIECE OF THAT SHOW WAS A HUGE ANSWER TO THE HYPERBOLE OF STONE MOUNTAIN.

ON IT, STONEWALL JACKSON POINTS HIS REVOLVER AT JAMES BROWN.

[GUNSHOT] THERE ARE RAPIST SLAVE MASTERS AND BLACK PANTHERS AND A COMMENTARY ON HOW SHE SEES THE PRESENT STATE OF POLITICAL CULTURE.

WALKER: I SAT DOWN TO WRITE.

I OPENED UP THE FILE ON THE COMPUTER, AND I FOUND THAT I HAD WRITTEN 18 PAGES ALREADY ABOUT TRUMP, AND I JUST LET IT SIT THERE.

AND SO I HAD TO OPEN THAT UP.

AND I SAID, "WELL, WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH THIS?"

AND THE PERSON I WAS WRITING TO SAID, "WELL, YOU'RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO SAY IT WITH YOUR PAINT."

SO THAT PIECE KIND OF GREW OUT OF THE IDEA OF WRITING SOMETHING, BUT ACTUALLY DOING IT WITH IMAGES AND NOT JUST SORT OF FALLING BACK INTO THIS REALM WHERE I JUST SAY LIKE, "TRUMP IS A VERY BAD GUY."

YEAH.

THERE WAS A SEMI-COMMON GOODWILL SOMEWHERE OUT THERE IN THE PERIOD OF TIME SINCE--AT LEAST IN MY LIFETIME.

IT WAS THE ELECTION OF 2008 AND 2012.

EXACTLY.

WELL, 2008, 2012, THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT FELT LIKE, YES, YES, WE ARE BETTER THAN THE SUM OF ALL OF THESE EVENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED, THESE RACIST EVENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED OVER THE DECADES, OVER THE CENTURIES, BUT, YEAH, THAT THAT COULD BREAK DOWN SO QUICKLY, SO CATACLYSMICALLY-- SO VIOLENTLY.

AND SO VIOLENTLY.

I JUST DON'T WANT TO BE DISHEARTENED BY IT, AND I ALSO FIND MYSELF NOT WANTING, OF COURSE, TO REACT TO IT AND JUST WANTING TO PUT MY HEAD IN A CAVE SOMEWHERE OR UNDER A ROCK AND JUST WAIT TILL IT'S ALL OVER, AND THAT DOESN'T WORK.

[LAUGHS] YEAH.

NARRATOR: NOT ALL OF THE ART ENGAGING WITH THE ENDURANCE OF TRADITION ENDS UP IN A BRUTAL, COMBATIVE PLACE.

THE GHANAIAN ARTIST EL ANATSUI LIVES AND WORKS IN NIGERIA.

HIS ROBE-LIKE HANGINGS SEEM TO FLOW DOWN THE WALL AS IF THEY WERE MADE OF SUMPTUOUSLY SOFT FABRIC.

ANATSUI: IN ART SCHOOL, WE WERE INTRODUCED TO ALL THE AREAS OF ART, AND THE ONE THAT LEAST ATTRACTED ME WAS TEXTILES, YOU KNOW.

[LAUGHS] BUT THEN I FIND IT INTRIGUING THAT WHAT I DO NOW IS VERY MUCH LIKE-- IT'S SORT OF LIKE ME TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM TEXTILE, BUT TEXTILES IS FOLLOWING-- [LAUGHS] FOLLOWING ME.

I DON'T KNOW.

ANATSUI: AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE, I DO NOT PROVIDE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR MY WORKS.

THERE'S NO ONE PARTICULAR WAY THAT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE INSTALLED.

GO TO THE LEFT.

ANATSUI: SINCE THEY ARE SO FREE AND SO LOOSE AND SO FLEXIBLE, IT'S DIFFICULT TO HAVE A SPECIFIC FORMAT FOR ANY ONE OF THEM AT ANY TIME.

SCHAMA: THIS IMMENSE, MANTLE-LIKE ROBE IS MADE OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FLATTENED BOTTLE TOPS FROM BOTTLES OF BOOZE-- WHISKEY, RUM, AND BEER, BUT THEY'RE TREATED ALMOST AS IF THEY WERE THE WORK OF A MEDIEVAL MOSAIC MAKER.

THESE ARE GLOWING, SHIMMERING TILES, AND THEY'RE CONNECTED OR WIRED JUST BY COPPER WIRING.

SO WHAT YOU HAVE, ACTUALLY, IN THIS EXTRAORDINARY PIECE OF WORK IS SOMETHING THAT OPERATES ON SO MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS.

EL ANATSUI'S FATHER IN GHANA WOVE KENTE FABRICS WHICH WERE MADE AS STUPENDOUS, ORNAMENTAL ROBES FOR FESTIVE OCCASIONS.

SO BURSTING FROM THIS PHENOMENAL ARRAY OF COLORS IS THAT SENSE OF MEMORY AND PRACTICE OF REJOICING.

BUT ALSO, THESE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF BOTTLE TOPS IS ABOUT URBAN WASTE.

SO WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS THE EXPERIENCE OF THAT AFRICAN CULTURE IN THIS HUGE, METROPOLITAN BEEHIVE SWARM OF THE MODERN WEST AFRICAN CITY.

AND IT DOES SOMETHING ELSE THAT IS QUITE HARD TO FIND SOMETIMES AMIDST THE SELF-CONSCIOUS WITTICISMS AND POSES AND INTELLECTUALISM OF CONTEMPORARY ART.

IT DOES NOT HOLD ITS NOSE AT THE IDEA OF BEAUTY.

NOT AT ALL.

IT REINVENTS IT.

NARRATOR: SOME OF THE STRONGEST CONTEMPORARY ART HAS THIS MAGICAL POWER OF TRANSFORMATION, TURNING THE EPHEMERAL AND DESTRUCTIVE INTO SOMETHING MORE ENDURING.

AND IN THE MOST ARTFUL HANDS, THE VERY MATERIALS OF DESTRUCTION CAN TURN INTO THE ELEMENTS OF CREATION.

THESE COLORED POWDERS LOOK LIKE PAINT PIGMENT, BUT IN FACT, THEY'RE GUNPOWDER.

AND THE MEDIUM OF CAI GUO-QIANG'S ART IS EXPLOSION.

WOMAN: 3, 2, 1.

NARRATOR: CAI GREW UP IN QUANZHOU ACROSS THE STRAIT FROM TAIWAN, WHERE BOMB BLASTS AND FIREWORKS WERE THE BACKGROUND NOISE OF HIS YOUTH.

IT'S IN THE NATURE OF HIS CHOSEN MEDIUM THAT SUCH EFFECTS, WHILE SPECTACULAR AND ENTERTAINING, ARE ALSO SHORT-LIVED.

BUT SOMETIMES CAI WANTS TO MAKE SOMETHING WHICH WILL ENDURE.

AND THIS IS HIS AIM ON A HOT SUMMER'S DAY ON LONG ISLAND.

HE'S MAKING A WORK OF ART ESPECIALLY FOR OUR CAMERAS AND PROPOSING TO DO SOMETHING HE'S NEVER DONE BEFORE.

HE BEGINS IN THE WORLD OF TRADITION, THE ELEMENTS OF HEAVEN OR A FAIRYTALE PARADISE, FLUTTERING BIRDS, OVERSIZED FLOWERS, DEER TRIPPING THROUGH AN ENCHANTED WOODLAND.

[GUO-QIANG SPEAKING CHINESE LANGUAGE] NARRATOR: FOR GOOD MEASURE, ACTUAL LEAVES AND FLOWERS ARE REVERENTLY LAID DOWN FOR FIERY IMMOLATION.

FUSES ARE PLACED AROUND THE CANVASES TO IGNITE THE POWDER.

LAST OF ALL, WEIGHTED CARDBOARD SHEETS GO ON TOP TO CONTAIN THE EXPLOSION.

[FUSE HISSING] SHAMA: OH, IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER] NARRATOR: THE EFFECT OF THE EXPLOSION IS BREATHTAKING, BUT ALSO SURPRISING.

AGAINST THE BLACKENED GROUND, THE NATURAL FORMS STAND OUT WITH INTENSIFIED BRILLIANCE.

THE PARADISE GARDEN STILL LIVES, BUT NOT FOR LONG.

I DON'T WANT YOU TO DO ANYTHING MORE TO IT.

[SPEAKING CHINESE LANGUAGE] NARRATOR: FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, CAI IS GOING TO SUBJECT HIS OWN WORK TO A SECOND ACT OF VIOLENT CONSUMMATION BY FIRE.

NARRATOR: AND HE HAS NO IDEA HOW IT WILL TURN OUT.

BUT WHATEVER HAPPENS, HE WANTS A PRINT OF IT.

SO 5 BLANK CANVASES ARE LAID ON TOP OF THE ALREADY SCORCHED UTOPIA.

[FUSE HISSING] THE LITTLE SPRAY OF--YOU KNOW, THAT IS JUST SO BEAUTIFUL.

[SPEAKING CHINESE] I VERY MUCH LIKE THIS PART, TOO.

YEAH, YEAH.

ME, TOO.

IT LOOKS VERY MYSTERIOUS.

YES, IT IS.

SCHAMA, VOICEOVER: WITH HIS SECOND EXPLOSION, CAI HAS TAKEN THE WORK AND US INTO A DIFFERENT WORLD.

DEEP, BITUMINOUS DARKNESS NOW MANTLES EVERYTHING.

ALL OF NATURE SEEMS HIT BY CHOKING STORMS OF SOOT OR THE BLACK RAIN OF A NUCLEAR WINTER.

AND ON THOSE PRISTINE WHITE CANVASES APPEARS THE GHOST OF THE EXPLOSION.

NARRATOR: THE RISKS CAI HAS TAKEN HAVE PAID OFF BEYOND ANYTHING HE'D HIMSELF IMAGINED.

[SCATTERED APPLAUSE] IT IS BEAUTY, BUT OF THE TERRIBLE KIND.

CHINESE HISTORY, DISTANT AND PRESENT, IS FULL OF GRIEVING AS WELL AS REJOICING.

FOR SOME ARTISTS, THE WOES NOT JUST OF CHINA BUT THE WHOLE WORLD BECOME THEIR ART'S DRIVING FORCE.

[PEOPLE SCREAMING] SCHAMA: THERE'S SOME CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS FOR WHOM ART FOR ART'S SAKE IS NOT ONLY NOT ENOUGH, IT ACTUALLY AMOUNTS TO A KIND OF BETRAYAL OF THEIR VOCATION, FOR AS OUR OWN WORLD SLIPS EVER MORE INTO DESTRUCTION AND DISTRESS, THEY WANT ART TO MOUNT A RESISTANCE TO COMPLACENCY, TO CATASTROPHE FATIGUE.

THEY WANT TO SHOCK US OUT OF OUR EXPECTATIONS THAT EVERY DAY ON THE NIGHTLY NEWS AND EVERY DAY ON NEWS PROGRAM WE'RE GOING TO SEE DEAD BODY AFTER DEAD BODY.

NOW, FOR AI WEIWEI, THE CALAMITY OF OUR TIME RIGHT NOW IS THE DISASTER, THE MULTITUDES OF DISPLACED, THOSE WHO ARE UPROOTED THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN, CAST ADRIFT ON AN INFINITE OCEAN OF TERROR AND DESPAIR.

NARRATOR: AI WEIWEI'S "LAW OF THE JOURNEY" PACKS 258 INFLATABLE FIGURES, LARGE AND SMALL, INTO AN INFLATABLE RAFT.

THEY ARE THE SHIPWRECKED OF CIVILIZATION.

THE FATE OF THE UPROOTED AND THEIR CEASELESS WANDERING IS ALSO AT THE HEART OF THE WORK OF THE ISRAELI ARTIST MICHAL ROVNER.

ON THE WALLS OF HER STUDIO IN A FARM VILLAGE, LONG LINES OF FIGURES, NOT COMPUTER GENERATED, BUT ANIMATED INDIVIDUAL PHOTOGRAPHS MOVE INCESSANTLY ACROSS UNFORGIVING ARID LANDSCAPES.

IT SAYS SIMPLY "SETTLEMENT DENIED."

CIVILIZATION ASSUMES A SETTLED POPULATION AND A HOME, BUT ROVNER'S ART EXPLORES THE STATE OF BEING FOREVER TRAPPED BETWEEN PLACES.

THERE ARE PROJECTIONS ON STONE IN WHICH HEBREW LETTERS MORPH INTO PEOPLE WHO DIP AND BOW, AS THEY DO IN FERVENT JEWISH PRAYER.

OTHERS ARE GHOST DOCUMENTS COVERED IN A SCRIPT OF TINY HUMANS, SUGGESTING WE ARE WHAT WE WRITE, THAT LANGUAGE DEFINES US.

TODAY, SHE'S WORKING ON AN INSTALLATION SHE CALLS "MAKOM."

[SPEAKING HEBREW] NARRATOR: IT MEANS "PLACE" IN BOTH HEBREW AND ARABIC AND IS A SERIES OF STRUCTURES OF DIFFERENT SIZES AND SHAPES.

ROVNER: THE "MAKOM" SERIES STARTED IN 2007 WHEN THERE WAS A VERY STRONG MOMENT, INTIFADA, GOING ON WITH BUSES EXPLODING, AND IN JERUSALEM, THAT I WAS SO SCARED TO EVEN DRIVE NEXT TO ANY BUS FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.

[SIREN] AT THAT POINT, I STARTED TO COLLECT STONES FROM ALL THESE PLACES-- JERUSALEM, HAIFA, HEBRON, NABLUS.

NARRATOR: EACH MAKOM IS MADE FROM STONES TAKEN FROM A RUINED ISRAELI OR PALESTINIAN HOUSE, BLENDING THEIR HISTORIES TOGETHER.

DIFFERENT TIMES, DIFFERENT IDENTITIES, DIFFERENT TRADITIONS BECOME ONE.

NARRATOR: EACH STONE IS CAREFULLY LABELED SO THAT THE MAKOM CAN BE DISMANTLED AND BUILT ELSEWHERE.

LIKE THE MIGRANTS WHOSE MOTIONS ROVNER ANIMATES, THE MAKOM HAVE THEMSELVES BECOME NOMADIC.

THEY HAVE TRAVELED TO THE COURTYARD OF THE LOUVRE, CLOSE TO THE ECHO OF ANOTHER ANCIENT STRUCTURE-- I.M.

PEI'S GLASS PYRAMID.

NARRATOR: THE MASONS ARE THEMSELVES A MIX OF PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THIS COUNTRY-- ISRAELI ARABS, JEWS, DRUZE, AND PALESTINIANS.

ROVNER: I WANTED TO DO THIS WORK WITH ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS.

I WANTED TO TRY TO TAKE ALL THE STONES AND FRAGMENTS OF DIFFERENT PERIODS OF TIME, AND THEN AFTER I BUILD ONE, WHICH WAS SO COHERENT AND COMPLETE, ALMOST LIKE A LIBRARY, ALMOST LIKE AN INDEX OF PLACES, OF TIMES, OF STORIES, A MOSAIC OF DIFFERENT PLACES THAT FIT TOGETHER WHICH ARE DISPLACED.

HOW CAN YOU TALK ABOUT ISRAEL WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT JERUSALEM, HAIFA, HEBRON, NABLUS?

NARRATOR: BUT THE MAKOM ALSO POSE PROBLEMS.

ONE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ENTER.

ANOTHER IS MARKED BY A WIDENING CRACK.

THEY SPEAK TO CONTEMPORARY ANXIETIES OF HOME AND HOMELESSNESS.

THEY ARE ALSO IMPRINTED WITH OLD MEMORIES OF ANCIENT HABITATION.

AFTER ALL, THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE THE EARLIEST CIVILIZATIONS MADE THEIR HOMES.

THESE BLOCKS ARE, IN A SENSE, PRIMAL BUILDING BLOCKS.

THERE IS THIS AMPLIFIED, YOU KNOW, BREAK GOING ON BETWEEN ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS, WHICH I'M AWARE OF AND I'M UPSET ABOUT AND I'M FEELING SOMETIMES THE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

AND THIS WAS KIND OF TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

AND YOU THINK ART CAN DO THAT OR...

SOMEONE HAS TO BELIEVE IN IT.

I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU GO VERY BACK IN TIME, WHICH IS THAT MOMENT-- THAT I'M ALWAYS MOVED BY THE MOMENT WHEN I SEE THESE VERY ANCIENT OBJECTS, YOU KNOW.

SOMEBODY AT FAR POINT IN TIME HAD THE URGE TO LEAVE A MARK ON A STONE, YOU KNOW, TO LEAVE A PERMANENT MARK, TO MAKE SOMETHING THAT WOULD LAST AND TO REALLY ACTUALLY SEND A COMMUNICATION TO AN UNKNOWN FUTURE.

NARRATOR: FOR 50,000 YEARS, HUMANS HAVE BEEN SETTING THESE MARKS DOWN, IMAGES AND PATTERNS ON EVERY CONCEIVABLE MATERIAL AND IN EVERY IMAGINABLE STYLE.

GREAT ART COLLAPSES THE TIME AND SPACE THAT SEPARATES US FROM ITS MOMENT OF CREATION.

IT MAKES US PAUSE.

IT MAKES US REIMAGINE THE WORLD AND OURSELVES IN COUNTLESS UNANTICIPATED WAYS.

THAT'S WHY EVEN AMIDST OUR MODERN LIVES OF DIGITAL SWIPES AND FLICKERING SCREENS, WE FIND IN ART SOMETHING THAT CAN'T BE FOUND ANYWHERE ELSE-- A RUSH OF EMOTION THAT CAN CONNECT US WITH THE ENDURING AND THE PROFOUND.

THAT'S WHY PEOPLE STILL COME IN THEIR MILLIONS TO SEE IT IN GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS.

"CIVILIZATION" IS SUCH A GRAND WORD, ISN'T IT?

BUT AS I THINK WE'VE SEEN, ITS TRUE STRENGTH LIES AS MUCH IN SIMPLE GIFTS, POTS AND PRINTS AND RUGS AND CARVINGS, AS IT DOES IN MIGHTY BUILDINGS AND FINE PAINTINGS.

AND THOSE THINGS SPRING LESS FROM THE OFFICIOUS DEMANDS OF STATE AND THE STATUS-HUNGER OF THE RICH THAN THEY DO FROM THE UNRULY URGES OF GIFTED ARTISTS FROM ONE END OF THE WORLD TO THE OTHER TO MAKE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.

AND BECAUSE THOSE THINGS ARE NOT DEPENDENT ON THE FATE OF EMPIRES, WHETHER MONEYED OR MILITARY, I THINK THEY WILL STICK AROUND, THEY WILL ENDURE, NOT FOREVER-- NOTHING SURVIVES FOREVER-- BUT AT ANY RATE, FOR THE NEXT MILLENNIA AS UNMISTAKABLE EVIDENCE OF THE BEST THINGS THAT OUR SPECIES WAS CAPABLE OF CREATING, THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE BY THE LIBERATED THOUGHT, THE ACUTE VISION, AND THE UNQUENCHABLE CREATIVE FIRE OF OUR SHARED HUMANITY.

Civilizations is available on DVD.

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