Derrida

Template:KMBlog Derrida is the eighth video in the KateModern series.

Transcript

(Kate is in her room, sitting on the bed.)

Kate: There's this French philosopher, Jacques Derrida. He wrote this book, The Truth in Painting, but it’s not actually about painting. This is what he’s trying to say. We always put a frame around everything. It’s how we make sense of things. Everything has a beginning and an end. Right? Like this book, but categorizing things, delineating things. It’s useful but it causes a lot of problems, cause we put things in pigeon holes. Eventually the pigeon holes become invisible and we think things have always been that way. We think that what we believe is the truth is the truth and that things, people, names, can only ever be that one thing. Like a picture in a frame. You stare at it thinking there must be some truth in it but it’s all about the context. You’re appreciation for a picture depends on stuff that happens outside the picture. Where you see it, what you know about the person who did it, If it’s in your Grandma’s house or pretentious white art gallery. Whatever. See what I mean? (Kate is in the bathroom with the lights off, and the only light is from her camera.) I should brush more. (shot of a bandage on Kate's arm.) A present from my doctor. (rips it off) Thanks for that. I’ll have you framed. (shot of a man walking down the street) Hello, where’ve you been? Ex-girlfriend turf you out? (back in Kate's room) We judge everything, everybody with our preconceptions about them. No matter what their name is or what we know about their past. It’s cool stuff but it does your head in. (Kate is lit by a red light in front of a window.) I haven’t really slept much. Explaining to everyone that I wasn’t Kate was something I just felt like I had to do. I didn’t mean to hurt everyone. Especially someone I really like. (Kate is on the street, walking somewhere.) I grew up in a good family and I went to a good school and I was supposed to grow up to be a good girl. I had problems. Changing my name isn’t something I planned to make a habit of. I’m gonna be an artist. I’m Kate now. I’m Kate. You can trust me. I’m Kate now. (She sits in a doorframe.) Kate wasn’t haunted by dreams she didn’t understand. Until now. (Someone opens the door.) Tariq?

Notes

• Kate's talking about a philosopher is reminiscent of Bree's talking about scientists in her early videos.
• About every 5 seconds, the frame changes. This shows Kate's talent with editing or lack thereof.
• Kate again mentions Pigeons in this video.
• At the end someone opens the door. Kate says Tariq, so most likely it is Tariq.
• Kate has a band-aid on the same arm that Bree did and thanked the doctor for it.
• On Kate's Bebo profile, she says she is afraid of Doctors.