Carmen Argote discusses her film "Last Light"

Jul 21, 2020

Carmen Argote discusses her film Last Light with Hammer associate curator Erin Christovale. Shot during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Argote's first film is a meditation on walking and memory in Los Angeles. Argote describes her walking habit as synonymous with thinking, a way of taking in and digesting the conditions of her environment. Through walking, the artist "deconstructs and reconstructs my ideas, thoughts, and self." Combining video and still images of an evacuated city with an intimate voice-over, the narrator reflects on feelings of vulnerability and betrayal, and draws on childhood memories to make sense of a city transformed. Over the course of the piece, day moves to night as the artist traces a path from demolition and sickness to envisioning a different world. Copresented with Clockshop Support for this project is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Pasadena Art Alliance, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.