Johnny
Johnny
Artist
Susie J. Lee
(born 1972)
Date2013
MediumHigh-definition video portrait
Dimensions50 × 34 × 4 in. (127 × 86.4 × 10.2 cm)
Duration: 15 minutes, 24 seconds
Duration: 15 minutes, 24 seconds
ClassificationsTime-Based Media
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2020.95
Accession number
2020.95
On View
On viewLabel TextTo make her time-based portraits, Susie J. Lee asked her subject—a worker in the oil and natural gas “fracking” industry in her native North Dakota—to sit silently for her video camera for up to 30 minutes at a time. The image becomes an act of observation. This portrait draws attention to Johnny’s human physicality: breaths, scratches, small adjustments, smiles, and piercing blue eyes. The video can be uncomfortable, but once the awkwardness has passed, the image creates a powerful awareness of shared humanity.
Para hacer sus retratos basados en el tiempo, Susie J. Lee le preguntaba a su sujeto—un trabajador en la industria de “fracking” para petróleo y gas natural en su nativo Dakota del Norte—que se sentara silenciosamente en frente de la cámara de video por 30 minutos a la vez. La imagen se convierte en un acto de observación. Este retrato destaca la fisicalidad humana de Johnny: respiraciones, arañazos, pequeños ajustes, sonrisas, y penetrantes ojos azules. El video puede ser incómodo, pero una vez pase la incomodidad, la imagen crea una poderosa conciencia de la humanidad compartida.
