MY NEXT GUESTS ARE A GROUP OF ANONYMOUS, FEMINIST ART
ACTIVISTS.
PLEASE WELCOME THE GUERRILLA GIRLS, EVERYBODY.
( APPLAUSE ) THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE.
I FEEL TERRIBLE.
I DON'T HAVE ANY CANDY LEFT.
( LAUGHTER ) WHO ARE YOU AND HOW LONG HAVE
YOU BEEN DOING WHAT YOU DO?
WHAT ARE THE GUERILLA GIRLS?
>> WE'RE THE GUERILLA GIRLS.
IN 1985, WE WERE BABY ARTISTS -- SOME OF US WERE BABY ARTISTS.
AND WE LOOKED AROUND AND WE SAW THAT ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES AND
ALMOST ALL THE MONEY IN THE ART WORLD WAS GOING TO WHITE MALES.
AND NO ONE REALLY CARED ABOUT IT, SO WE DECIDED WE WOULD PUT
UP SOME PROVOCATIVE POSTERS ON THE STREET AND GET PEOPLE TO
TALK ABOUT THEM.
>> Stephen: HERE IS ONE OF THEM RIGHT HERE.
DO WOMEN HAVE TO BE NAKED TO GET INTO THE MET MUSEUM?
IT SAID ONLY 5% OF THE EXHIBITION--
( APPLAUSE ) IT SAYS THAT ONLY 5% OF THE
ARTISTS IN THE MODERN ART SECTIONS ARE WOMEN BUT 85% OF
THE NEWS ARE FEMALE.
HY I IMPORTANT TO PROTEST TO GET MORE WOMEN INTO AN ART MUSEUM?
WHY CHOOSE ART AS A PLACE FOR FEMINISM, WHEN I GO TO AN ART
MUSEUM, I-- I DON'T KNOW A LOT ABOUT ART, BUT I KNOW WHAT'S IN
THE MUSEUM.
AND I DON'T NECESSARILY KNOW WHETHER THE PERSON PAINTING IS A
MALE OR A FEMALE.
CAN ART SPEAK FOR ITSELF, OR DOES IT HAVE TO BE GENDER
IDENTIFIED?
>> WELL, I MEAN, EVERY DECISION, AESTHETIC DECISION, HAS A VALUE
BEHIND IT.
AND IF ALL THE DECISIONS ARE BEING MADE BY THE SAME PEOPLE,
THEN, YOU KNOW, THE ART WILL NEVER LOOK LIKE THE WHOLE OF OUR
CULTURE.
AND RIGHT NOW, THE ART WORLD IS KIND OF RUN BY, YOU KNOW,
BILLIONAIRE ART COLLECTORS WHO BUY ART THAT APPEAL TO THEIR
VALUES.
AND WE SAY ART SHOULD LOOK LIKE THE REST OF OUR CULTURE, YOU
KNOW, UNLESS ALL THE VOICES OF OUR CULTURE ARE IN THE HISTORY
OF ART, IT'S NOT REALLY HISTORY OF ART.
IT'S A HISTORY OF POWER.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: YOU'VE BEEN DOING
THIS-- YOU'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 30 YEARS NOW.
AND I IMAGINE IT'S GETTING FAIRLY STEAMY IN THOSE MASKS AT
THIS POINT.
( LAUGHTER ) WHY DID YOU CHOOSE GORILLA?
IS IT BECAUSE-- IS IT DEHUMANIZING OR BECAUSE THEY'RE
SCARY?
>> WELL, FIRST, WE WERE FREEDOM FIGHTER GORILLAS, AND THEN WE
GOT SOME PRESS REQUESTS AND WE WANTED TO HAVE OUR PICTURES BUT
WE WERE ANONYMOUS.
WE WANTED TO HIDE OURSELVES.
SO ONE OF OUR EARLY MEMBERS WAS A REALLY BAD SPELLER, AND WE
WERE SITTING AT A MEETING ONE DAY, AND SHE SPELLED GETTY
GORILLA.
>> Stephen: SO ORIGINALLY IT WAS GUERILLA LIKE GUERILLA
FIGHTER, AND SHE MISSPELLED IT LIKE THE ANIMAL, AND YOU WENT
WITH IT?
>> WELL, IT WAS A MESSAGE FROM HEAVEN.
>> Stephen: HAVE YOU GUYS EVER BEEN FOUND OUT?
>> THAT'S A REL GOOD QUESTION.
>> Stephen: THANK YOU.
>> PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO FIND OUT WHO WE ARE, BUT THIS WHOLE
ANONYMITY THING IS SO DELICIOUS, AND IT'S WEIRD IN ONE WAY
BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW WHO WE ARE, BUT IT ATTRACTS ATTENTION
TO OUR CAUSE.
SO WHILE PEOPLE DO TRY TO FIND OUT, THEY'RE ALMOST ALWAYS
WRONG.
>> Stephen: IT'S BEEN SAID THAT HISTORY IS WRITTEN BY THE
WINNERS.
AND HISTORY HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A RECORD OF VIOLENCE.
IS THE ART WORLD ALSO A RECORD OF VIOLENCE IN AND OF ITSELF?
>> YES.
>> Stephen: OKAY.
HOW SO?
( LAUGHTER ) IT'S MY METAPHOR, BUT EXPLAIN IT
TO ME.
( LAUGHTER ).
>> FOR YEARS, KINGS AND QUEENS TOLD US WHAT ART WAS ALL ABOUT.
WE DON'T LIVE -- >> PICTURES OF THEM.
IT WAS PICTURES OF THEM A LOT.
>> MOSTLY, YES.
SO NOW, YOU KNOW, WE ASPIRE TO, YOU KNOW, A DEMDEMOCRATIC
SOCIETY, AND ART SHOULD BE ABOUT THE CULTURE, ALL OF US.
IT SHOULD BE ABOUT ART PRODUCTION.
RIGHT?
>> Stephen: IN 1985, THE GUGGENHEIM HAD ZERO SOLO SHOWS
BY WOMEN ARTISTS.
THE METROPOLITAN HAD ZERO.
THE WHITNEY HAD ZERO.
AND THE MODERN HAD ONE.
OKAY.
30 YEARS LATER, THE GUGGENHEIM HAD ONE, THE METROPOLITAN HAD
ONE, THE WHITNEY HAD ONE, AND THE MODERN HAD TWO.
>> YEAH.
AND THAT'S THE PROGRESS WE'VE MADE IN 30 YEARS.
>> Stephen: 30 YEARS.
>> AND THAT'S THE WHOLE PROBLEM BECAUSE I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE
THOUGHT THAT IT WAS AN ISSUE IN THE 70s AND THE 80s AND THEN
IT GOT SOLVED, BUT IT HASN'T.
WE'RE STILL SEEING SUCH TERRIBLE NUMBERS, WHICH IS WHY, SADLY, WE
NEED TO KEEP DOING THIS.
>> Stephen: IS THE ART WORLD, LIKE, MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHER
ASPECTS OF-- FOR FEMINISM, OR IS IT MERELY YOUR FOCUS?
THERE ARE OTHER THINGS YOU COULD PROTEST.
YOU COULD PROTEST WOMEN THERE IS NOT A LOT OF REPRESENTATION IN
CONGRESS.
THERE IS NOT A LOT OF REPRESENTATION IN THE TECH
WORLD, IN THE MATADOR WORLD.
( LAUGHTER ) ON LATE NIGHT TV.
>> YES, YES!
>> Stephen: THERE'S NOT A LOT.
WHY CHOOSE ART?
>> WELL, WE WERE ARTISTS-- WE ARE ARTISTS.
SO WE STARTED OUT IN THE ART WORLD.
BUT VERY QUICKLY, WHAT WE DID WAS INVENT THIS WAY OF USING
FACTS AND HUMOR TO TWIST AN ISSUE AROUND AND PRESENT IT IN A
DIFFERENT WAY THAT MIGHT CHANGE PEOPLE'S MINDS.
SO WE HAVE SPREAD OUT TO POLITICS, FILM.
>> Stephen: A LOT OF THE ART MUSEUMS ARE SUPPORTED BY
BILLIONAIRE DONORS.
DO THEY MAKE THE CALL OF WHAT GOES INTO THE MUSEUMS?
>> OKAY, TODAY, MORE AND MORE, BILLIONAIRE COLLECTORS AND
BILLIONAIRE ART DEALERS, A FEW OF THEM CONTROL THE ART WORLD.
THEY SIT ON THE BOARDS OF MUSEUMS, AND THEY HAVE TO PAY
FOR WHAT THE MUSEUMS WANT TO COLLECT.
AND THEY'RE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO GIVE MONEY FOR ART THAT THEY
ALREADY HAVE.
AND MOST OF THEM HAVE THE SAME COOKIE CUTTER COLLECTIONS OF ART
THAT COSTS THE MOST.
THERE ARE SO MANY GREAT ARTISTS OUT THERE.
THERE'S TOO MUCH DISCRIMINATION.
( APPLAUSE ).
>> Stephen: WELL, THE GUERILLA GIRLS ARE TAKING OVER THE TWIN
CITIES STARTING JANUARY 18.
THE GUERILLA GIRLS, EVERYBODY.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )