Here is a perfect video interview project, in which nine abstract artists attempt to explain their works of art to their parents.
A fascinating theme in the series is the acute familiarity of the interviewer and interviewee, whereby it seems very difficult for most of these artists to maintain their composure when asked a question (there's plenty of squirming), much less to treat their parents' questions objectively or seriously (despite the fact that several of the questions are valid and well-articulated). Reminds me that the habitual nature of intimate relationships brings about a certain blindness towards the other.
There is a gracefulness that involves learning (or maybe loving) the esoteric vocabulary of a certain society well enough to perform it convincingly for the in-group. There is another, very different kind of gracefulness which is able to engage someone from the out-group, in spite of the inherent awkwardness (or nakedness) involved in setting aside jargon.
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