Bronx-born photographer and filmmaker Lisa Leone came of age in the 1980s with hip-hop and a camera. Leone is revisiting her early portraiture work in a solo exhibition on view at the HVW8 Gallery in Los Angeles through June 10. Her candid portraits capture iconic hip-hop artists at the early stages of their careers including Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige and A Tribe Called Quest.

For Leone, these portraits were only the beginning of her work as a cinematographer. She has shot music videos for TLC, D’Angelo and The Brand New Heavies. Leone was mentored by Stanley Kubrick on the film Eyes Wide Shut, and has gone on to direct the films Exactly, Good Morning Baby, and the documentary Just For Kicks. She co-directed Woinshet, with Marisa Tomei and shot the film in Ethiopia. Most recently she was the cinematographer on director Nancy Savoca’s 2011 film  Union Square, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Leone spoke with Life + Times about her roots in New York hip-hop culture and her upcoming film and photography projects.

Life+Times: How did you first become interested in photography and filmmaking?
Lisa Leone: I became interested in photography at a very young age. My uncle set up a darkroom in his bathroom, so at the age of eight I developed my first photo with him. It was a black-and-white photo of me sitting on a carousel in Central Park.

L+T: You grew up in the Bronx. What drew you to document the New York scene in the ’80s and ’90s?
LL: I moved to Manhattan when I was 15 and went to the High School of Art + Design, otherwise known as high school of graffiti and breakdancing. MARE 139, FABEL, WIGGLES and DOZE were some of the legends to come out of there. I majored in photography so I just started to shoot my friends. When [breakdancing crew] Rock Steady began to tour they needed photos, so they asked me, from there it branched out.

L+T: How would you describe the aesthetic of your work then and now?
LL: My work now is very different, but the same feelings do come through. People have described the work as intimate, raw, while bringing beauty through.

L+T: How did you start shooting for Vibe and British Vogue?
LL: I was on Snoop’s first video “What’s My Name,” which Fab 5 Freddy directed. It was my first time in Long Beach and my first experience with LA gangs. In the middle of shooting the video there was a shootout. People scattered everywhere; helicopters flew overhead. Fab and I ran to my car and took off. Filming resumed three days later, at an interior location. When I got back to New York I wrote about it, then showed the photos to Rob Kenner at Vibe. He published the article and photos. From there it became a monthly column lasting two years. British Vogue started with a photo of Shabba Ranks I took for them.

L+T: What is your most vivid memory of your time working with your mentor Stanley Kubrick?
LL: So many amazing memories and learning experiences, like learning how to light with practicals. We would stay at the studio until 2 am testing different lamp scenerios with his Arri 2C. I (remember) his sharp, witty personality, his teachings on producing and being economical with budgets, to us getting to a set and him saying “I don’t know what to do.” That was a huge lesson — to be confident enough to say “I don’t know”.

L+T: At the time you took these photos, were you aware that you were documenting history?
LL: I still look back and can’t believe where the culture went. I never thought of it as documenting history. I was just capturing moments of creativity and beauty. I always loved photographing artists, whether they’re musicians, painters, filmmakers. When I was young I was obsessed with the photographs of Arnold Newman.

L+T: You said that you used Leica M6. Was this the camera that you always used?
LL: I had two Leicas and still do, an M6 which I’d keep color film in and an M4P which I’d use for black and white. I love using the Leicas because they’re small, quiet and not intimidating. I think it let’s people open and become more relaxed, or it can have the opposite effect like when I shot Big Daddy Kane and he made fun of my M6 because it wasn’t big and flashy. Little did he know.

L+T: How did you decide which photos to include the exhibit?
LL: It was extremely hard to pick which photos to use. I scanned a bunch and made little 4×6 prints, which I played around with for a year, showing people, looking at. Finally I said, “ok, this is it.” I enlarged the ones that spoke to me, brought me back to a particular memory, very personal. There are many more. They’ll just have to wait until the next show.

L+T: How has your process changed over the years, and been influenced by the film work?
LL: My process has definitely been influenced by my film work. When I work with someone now, I work with them as if I were directing them as an actor in a film, to bring out a particular feeling or emotion. We’ll both decide on the feeling and then I’ll work with them to hold that feeling. Also, how does the camera see a particular feeling and emotion, the lens, angle, light. When it all comes together it’s quite powerful.

L+T: Your film Just for Kicks documents another aspect of culture — the style. Do you have plans to revisit hip-hop culture in film work?
LL: Yes, I co-created a story with Matt Levy and am producing a feature called “Once Upon a Rhyme” starring Rakim. We hope to begin filming later this year.

L+T: What are you working on next?
LL: As far as the photography goes, I’m working on a series of women artists, investigating the complexity, beauty and rawness of real feelings within women. I also have another film in development about love, family and sex in the Bronx.

Just landed on the O2, literally.

“It ain’t safe in the city, Watch The Throne.”

In the ‘80s, I loved two things in life: Saturday morning cartoons and the New York Mets. In those days, tickets to attend a baseball game were dirt-cheap and my mother would purchase nosebleed seats at Shea Stadium for her and I to go crazy over the Amazin’s. Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden became my idols. Davey Johnson was the manager who kept them in line and helped to engineer one of the greatest sports memories of my life, when the Mets won the 1986 World Series. I was six.

Since then, my love for America’s favorite pastime has been replaced with my affinity for all-basketball-everything. My feelings for the game returns ever so often– especially when the Yankees reign triumphant– when I reminisce of the ’86 Mets. So it was to my surprise while I was in Los Angeles a couple weeks back, that a blast from the past would help to rekindle my baseball fervor.

I had the opportunity, courtesy of Harley-Davidson, to ride out and attend a Dodgers game with the legendary street-artist Mr. Cartoon and his low-rider Lifestyle crew. We rolled to Dodger Stadium in style –hitting switches along the way– and were ushered to an executive suite once we parked. The suite was a nice upgrade from my days of drinking hot cocoa to stay warm in the bleachers at Shea with my mother. As I grabbed a beer from the fridge and proceeded to take my seat to watch the Magic Johnson-Group owned L.A. Dodgers take on the surging Washington Nationals, I realized that this perhaps was the biggest game of the new season thus far.

Matt Kemp was off to an MVP start and the Nationals’ young pitcher Stephen Strasburg was throwing heat like no other in his 22nd career start. It was two of the majors’ biggest names going head-to-head. That would have been enough to make any fanatic jump for joy, but what delighted me the most was to see old Davey Johnson back in the dugout– in his first full season as manager of the Nationals. But, what I discovered next was better than the last sip of beer from my cup; because 19-year-old phenom Bryce Harper was making his major league debut with Washington that warm night in April, and I was fortunate to be seated in the sky box directly next to his family– witnessing his parents most proudest moment.

Harper was baseball’s first preordained hero, invading a space previously occupied by LeBron James. At the age of 16, he hit the longest home run in the history of Tropicana Field –home of the Tampa Bay Rays– that measured 502 feet, but would have traveled further had the ball not smashed off the back wall of the dome. In 2009, Sports Illustrated headlined Harper as “The Chosen One,” issuing the same bold prediction and cover story that sparked James’ rapid ascent in ‘02. Every big leaguer knew his story, and every major league scout wanted to sign the 6’3”, 205-pound man-child left-handed hitter. Harper was so good, that he received his GED after his sophomore year of high school in Las Vegas, enrolled in junior college to be exposed to better competition and to accelerate his eligibility for the 2010 MLB draft. When asked what his goals were by S.I. “The Chosen One” stated, “Be in the Hall of Fame, definitely. Play in Yankee Stadium. Play in the pinstripes. Be considered the greatest baseball player who ever lived. I can’t wait.” At age 17, Harper left the JUCO College of Southern Nevada early and was selected as No.1 overall pick in the 2010 draft by the Nationals. A year after taking Strasburg – who was similarly hyped coming up– as the top pick and anointing him as their ace, the Nationals’ made Harper their heavy-hitter signing him to a five-year, $9.9 million contract, which included $6.5 million in signing bonuses.

After a brief stint with the Nationals’ minor league affiliate in Syracuse, Harper made his major league debut at Dodger Stadium on April 29, where the prodigy was teamed with the 23-year-old Strasburg for the first time. As his family proudly cheered on, Harper, who rocks a Mohawk under his helmet, doubled and had a sacrifice fly in the ninth-inning, that briefly put Washington ahead of L.A. 2-1, in his first start. The thrilling game ended going into extra innings and Strasburg received a no decision, after Kemp’s tenth-inning home run gave the Dodgers a 4-3 victory. What most impressed me about the 19-years-old performance was not his ability –an irresistible, potent mix of power, speed, youth and sure-fire confidence– but his level of maturity on the field. Under a clear blue Southern-California sky, the Dodgers faithful rained down boos at Harper’s first at-bat. By the time the game was over, L.A. fans acknowledged and respected what many experts have been raving about for past three years.

In his 17 games with the Nationals, Harper was quickly moved from seventh to second to third in the batting order. He hit .300 with a .905 OPS through his first nine games after hitting .250 in 20 games at Triple-A Syracuse. After Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels beamed the new kid on the block in the back with a pitch, in a ‘welcome to the big league’s’ sort of way. Bryce took the heat-check and ended up stealing home a few plays later, on Hamels’ watch, as an ‘I arrived and you can’t stop me’ retort. Others took noticed, and the Phillies walked him three times, and right-handed pitcher Kyle Kendrick admitted to pitching around him.

Despite some exhilarating plays, including packing a rocket for a throwing arm, Harper hit the rookie wall, hitting .238 in his first 17 games, though he has gone 5-for-16 (.313) in his last four games. This week, the left-field rookie hit logged his first two homeruns against the San Diego Padres on Monday and Tuesday, helping to raise his batting average back up after it bottomed out at .213 over the weekend in Cincinnati– where his batting frustration became evident when he ended up with ten stitches above his left eye, when he slammed his bat into a dugout wall and it bounced back and hit him. The ebbs and flows of his rookie season are expected and Harper’s learning curve on how to become a complete player increases with every game, à la King James during rookie season in Cleveland in ’03.

What happens next? I would say the most compelling narrative in baseball since the Amazin’ Mets debuted Strawberry and Gooden in ‘84. With Johnson calling the shots from the dugout, Strasburg on the mound and “The Chosen One” in the batter’s box, Washington is already in control of the National League East with a half-game lead over the Atlanta Braves at 23-14. The Nationals’ own the rights to Strasburg through 2016, and Harper through 2018, and the duo are already two of the biggest draws in baseball. It’s safe to say that the future of the Nationals, if not the game itself, has already begun.

JAY Z talks about the presence and drive of Roc Nation‘s Rita Ora.

The ability to present music with keen versatility in bass thumping tempos and unpredictable variations of sounds is fitting for the genre that is recognized by most as the “American Dubstep King.” The Los Angeles based DJ, producer and crowd surfing crusader, John Dadzie, better known as 12th Planet, consistently approaches his sets with larger-than-life stage presence, winsome words to the crowd and an ardent passion for the music. Dadzie has partnered with fellow dubstep giant and friend, Skrillex, on tracks featured on both their latest albums. He even has an impending track with Dizzee Rascal, Machine Gun Kelly and the Madden brothers of Good Charlotte. With such a deeply entrenched involvement in dubstep, why would 12th Planet tell Life + Times that dubstep isn’t music and it’s here to stay?

Life + Times: What was the gig that you think really set you up to the scene as a dubstep DJ?
12th Planet: Before I started producing dubstep, I was touring as a drum and bass DJ and a drum and bass producer. So, I was always in England; in London, like, right when dubstep, well, before dubstep was even called dubstep. I think it wasn’t until this party; it was called Digital Mystikz or DMZ. I went to the two year anniversary about four or five years ago and it was the first time I saw how hot dubstep was –  not in America – but all over the world. It was the first time I saw people from Norway, Sweden, South Africa and New Zealand, Canada, America, Mexico, South America. Everyone flew in and that was what really, really inspired me to keep going with it.

L+T: Your initial name was Infiltrata, then you ended up switching to 12th Planet and that’s when you began doing dubstep. What made you switch your name?
12th Planet: I kind of wanted to keep the genres separated. At that time, people that made dubstep or listened to dubstep were kinda looked down upon by the drum and bass community. A lot of people in the drum and bass community thought [dubstep] was just really slow drum and bass. So, everyone would make fun of you and call you a traitor and all this stuff. So, I was just like “Fuck that, I’m just gonna switch my name and no one will even know that it was me.” But then, a couple of years later, people just started jumping on the train. It didn’t make a difference after that. I should have just kept the name, but I really just didn’t want to get hated-on on the message boards. That’s why I switched the name to have a bit of anonymity.

L+T: For someone who doesn’t exactly “get” the definition of drum and bass and dubstep. How would you describe the difference?
12th Planet: The major difference is beats per minute. Drum and bass is at 175 beats per minute and dubstep is at 140 beats per minute. If you listen to an old Timberland and Aaliyah song, like “One In A Million”; that’s like 140 [beats per minute] right on the dot. A song like “Bombs Over Baghdad ” has 175 beats per minute. That’s the difference between drum and bass and dubstep.

L+T: Going into BPM and DJs, I know that songwriters write their lyrics inspired off of life experiences. As a DJ, your music is comprised of BPM, bass and overall sound. What are some of the muses for the music that you create?
12th Planet: I like TV and l like bacon a lot. That’s pretty much what inspires me the most. And my friends that also produce. Yeah, that’s my main inspiration. My friends will make a song and that’ll make me think like, “Damn, how did they make that sound?” So, I’m gonna go to the studio and I’m gonna try and make that sound, but I’m gonna make it better and that’s how the cycle keeps going. Then you make a song and your friends are like, “Damn, how did you do that?” That’s pretty much how it goes. That’s my main muse, I guess.

L+T: For some of the critics that claim that dubstep isn’t music. What would you say in response to them?
12th Planet: I’d say they’re right. Dubstep is not music. Dubstep is like fun, in an audio form. It embodies everything about having fun and just being young and gettin’ heady. Yes, I guess it’s not really music. It’s kinda just a fun time.

L+T: I hear that you’re doing a remix with Dizzee Rascal? Is that true?
12th Planet: No, I’m not doing a remix. I’m doing an original track with him and the Madden brothers who are in this band, Good Charlotte, and also Machine Gun Kelly.

L+T: Is it a track altogether or are those separate projects?
12th Planet: No, the track is altogether. I’m just trying to finish it right now, but I’m not sure if it’s gonna be on my project or on the Maddens’ project. I just gotta finish it.

L+T: So, who else are you working with? Can you shed some light on 2012 projects?
12th Planet: My next EP that I’m working on will have some collaboration with the usual suspects. Hopefully, that drops before summer. That’s pretty much all I’m working on. I’m not really writing for anyone right now other than myself.

L+T: You and Skrillex have some sick tracks together, like on your album, The End Is Near, you have “Burst.” Then, on his album, it’s “Right on Time”. Is there any chance you guys will actually do an entire collaboration album together?
12th Planet: With our opposing work schedules, I think it seems impossible. Every time we get the chance to work on songs, we work on it. We’re not gonna stop writing music together or when the time arises it’s not like we won’t collaborate. I just don’t really foresee an album coming from both of us or a co-project. Although, that would be awesome! I’d be totally down to do it. I’m gone like 275 days a year and he’s gone 345 days a year. Of those twenty days off, it’s hard to get in the studio together.

L+T: Do you think dubstep is a trend that will just fade out within the next five years or so?
12th Planet: No. With the way the roots of dubstep are, especially in America, its origins come from drum and bass. So, that mentality is kind of like this “fuck you” mentality, it’s like “us against the world” really. I think that’s also the appeal of dubstep in America. It’s not like this pretentious genre where you have to dress a certain way or look a certain way and act a certain way. You can be rich, you can be poor, black, white, whatever; it’s just all about having a good time. For that party, everybody is just one and that’s why there’s really not that many fights at dubstep shows. It’s getting a bad flack at some shows, because there’s a lot of dude-bros that go to the shows, like a lot of frat boys that take their shirts off. They’re having fun and that’s what it’s all about. If that’s the way they act to have fun, then so be it. You don’t really have to partake of it. It’s welcome to everyone and that’s what’s gonna keep it around for a long time. Even with drum and bass, drum and bass has been around since ’94, ’93. It was really strong like ’98 to about 2002 and then it fell off, then it came back around 2005-07. Then it fell off and it came back and resurfaced. I think that’s what’s gonna happen to dubstep. It’s just always gonna be around, it will always be an alternative option to house music. That’s just the way it is.

L+T: It just keeps evolving.
12th Planet: It’s like if house music is rock n’ roll, then dubstep is like hip hop, it will always be here.

I remember the Friday nights from my pre-school days in the ’70s thusly: My parents had a waterbed in the living room. Said waterbed was covered with a velvet crushed black blanket. My babysitter, who used to iron her blonde hair with an iron on the ironing board would create a disco ball out of carefully cut aluminum foil and my god sister and I would perform Donna Summer‘s “Hot Stuff” in my mom’s platform wedges, which were better than her spiked heels, because they wouldn’t puncture the waterbed, which of course, was our stage.

Awwww, toot-toot.

In a week where discussions of slut-shaming self-proclaimed “bad girl” Rihanna have surfaced, I’m reminded that Donna Summer was a sex positive role model before I knew what sex was. Donna Summer was big sexy hair and red lips and long legs poured into spandex. She was disco’s first and biggest pop queen. And disco was permissive, and tolerant and about pleasure. Her signature classic, “Love to Love You” was practically sex in real time, seventeen minutes of ecstasy and abandonment. She was a pop star pleasure activist who made possible Madonna and Prince. Like her maxi single, Donna Summer’s double length albums broke chart records and earned her a dozen Grammy nominations and five wins. Later, like Prince, Donna would disavow her young, free self for religion. She was forced by lifelong fans to perform her raunchier disco songs, even if she did so, as I saw her do five years ago in Atlantic City, in a Sunday perfect white pantsuit.

Gone too soon at 63, her battle with breast cancer was a private one. It’s not entirely fair that she remain frozen in our minds as a 20-something sex positive feminist hero; her real life was undoubtedly as complicated and rich as our own. Still, tonight, I’ll do a dervish disco twirl in Donna Summer’s honor, praying that she rest in pleasure.

Cinco De Mayweather has come and gone with reigning pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather turning in a career defining performance against Miguel Cotto as his record improved to an astounding 43-0 with 26 of his victories coming by way of knockout. Mayweather, who is known for his impeccable defense, movement and boxing ability found himself standing toe to toe with Cotto and exchanging punches at a freakish pace. It wasn’t your usual Mayweather fight as he had to dig deep to outgun the resilient Cotto. We saw a Mayweather that we weren’t used to; a bloodied nose that had been tagged far more than any of us can remember. Regardless, the man known as “Money” put together a masterful performance and walked away with the unanimous decision victory and the ability to call himself not only one of the greatest boxer of our era, but one of the greatest fighters of all-time.

As Mayweather stood at the podium during the post-fight press conference, flashing his illuminating million dollar smile, he was asked who he would fight next if it weren’t for Manny Pacquiao (who Mayweather won’t fight unless Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is out of the picture).

“There really isn’t anybody out there for me to fight,” Mayweather said. “So I really don’t know where my career is going to go from here. … I’ve been feeling like [I want to retire] before this fight.

Honestly, I would have no qualms if Mayweather were to announce his retirement tomorrow. Sadly, the rest of the world would brand him as a coward who ducked Pacquiao rather than a brilliant boxer that has earned his place amongst the all time greats. Boxing has this skewed point of view when it comes to when a fighter should call it quits. 99.9% of the time they urge boxers to fight for their entertainment until they lose and then turn around and say “He should have retired after his last win.” Mayweather will, undoubtedly due to the ire he draws from fans, suffer from this same dilemma.

However, the difference between somebody like Roy Jones — who should have retired after beating Antonio Tarver the first time — and Mayweather is that the fighter formally known as “Pretty Boy” could give a damn about what you think. He has enough money to make most of us his indentured slaves and just might be smart enough to realize that leaving the sports with his wits and a bulging bank account is more significant than fighting to please a bunch of fickle fans who don’t care about you.

There is absolutely no reason for Floyd Mayweather to continue fighting…unless it’s against Manny Pacquiao.

At this point in his career, there are no real opponents for Mayweather that anyone cares about outside of Pacquiao. Not a single fighter has the resume to coerce Mayweather out of his extended vacation. Sergio Martinez is “new” to the boxing greats list but is too much of an unknown here in the state and heavier than Mayweather. Andre Ward is still a young pup who will perhaps be great one day, but not at Mayweather’s expense. Nobody really wants to see Mayweather-Ortiz II. Unless Mayweather hops in his DeLorean and heads back to the 80′s to fight Hagler, Duran and Leonard, if it doesn’t say Pacquiao, it doesn’t makes sense.

So, here’s the question, if Floyd Mayweather were to retire, would you put him on your all-time pound-for-pound list?

I’ll tell you what, he’ll certainly be on mine. Comparing Mayweather’s boxing prowess to the likes of Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, Duran, Johnson, Chavez, Robinson, Ali, Louis, Pep, Dempsey and Armstrong may sound ludicrous at first. But upon further inspection, Mayweather has earned the right to be amongst these names, with or without Pacquiao.

Name a fighter that has shown the kind of dominance Mayweather has had throughout his career. When tasked with opponents that could give him trouble (Diego Corrales, for instance), Mayweather rose to the occasion and pitched virtual shutouts. Say what you want, but what Floyd Mayweather has accomplished is unprecedented in boxing when it comes to being undefeated for an extended period of time.

The gold standard of undefeated fighters, Rocky Marciano, went 49-0 in a career that started in 1948 and ended in 1955 (ages 24-32). Julio Cesar Chavez went undefeated in 90 professional fights from 1980-1994 (age 18-31) before losing to Frankie Randall. Sugar Ray Robinson won 91 fights in a row from 1943-1951 (age 21-30). Joe Calzaghe retired undefeated in a career that spanned from 1993-2008 (21-36) as he went 46-0.

Floyd Mayweather started his career in 1996 at the age of 19 and hasn’t lost in 43 fights as of 2012 at 35 years of age.

There are two key points that make “Money” stand out amongst the rest. For one, no fighter has gone undefeated for longer. Mayweather has gone sixteen years being undefeated. Only Calzaghe can say he was undefeated for almost as long at fifteen years. However, we can all agree that Mayweather has fought better competition than his UK counterpart. No, Mayweather will never touch the 90+ fight winning streaks that Chavez, Robinson, Jimmy Wilde and Pedro Carrasco put together, but he doesn’t have to fight nearly as often as they did to keep the lights on.

Notice something else different about Mayweather and the others? None (sans Calzaghe) have been able to remain undefeated past the age of 32. According to Wired, French researchers have defined the age of peak performance hovering around 26 (with the range of reaching the athletic prime gauged between 27-30). Most agree that after 30 there is an irreversible downturn in physical ability and the game then becomes much more cerebral.

Mayweather is 35, in a far more physically demanding and dangerous sport and has yet to show any signs of slowing down. For anyone who believes that Mayweather may have lost a step against Cotto, I would argue that his half-step lost is still four steps ahead of the competition.

At this point, without a Pacquiao fight, what will he gain? Anyone he beats is because he was supposed to. The only person that can beat him right now convincingly is Father Time, and he’s been waiting on Mayweather’s doorstep and is on the verge of breaking in.

Mayweather has to pick and choose wisely, should he decide to continue his career.

Photos: Courtesy of Hogan Photos

Lauren Kelley is a Texas-based artist, whose imaginative and engaging work includes animated video, sculpture and collage. Kelley attended the High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston and studied art at Maryland Institute College of Art. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited at the New Museum, Spellman College Museum of Fine Art and most recently in a solo exhibition at The Kitchen in New York City. She also oversees the art gallery at Prairie View A&M University.

Kelley’s 2011 animated video “Froufrou Conclusions” is part of the exhibition “Twisted Sister,” which opens at Dodge Gallery in New York on May 19 and runs through June 24. Works by Life+Times-featured artists Wangechi Mutu, Xaviera Simmons and Mickalene Thomas are also included in the group show. “Froufrou Conclusions is a short video work that explores ideas about the space between what is acquired verse notions of desire,” she says. “The notion of desire is woven into four nonverbal vignettes. The work is fun to digest, but stems from a discontent place.”

Kelly’s work has narrative structure that is both humorous and heart-wrenching, inspired by literature that places historical events in modern-day context. Here, she speaks to Life + Times about her process.

Life+Times: What kind of short stories do you look at?
Lauren Kelley: Things run across the gamut. I have a lot of respect for [author] Octavia Butler. The series of short stories in “Bloodchild” are fertile. Norton Anthology hips me to a lot of really beautiful people that I didn’t pay attention to in high school, a few [Franz] Kafka short stories. I’m really all over the map with how to figure out how to craft an image and what it means to be a storyteller. I’m always hungry for things with fabulous imagery and pace.

L+T: What about the story inspires you to make visual work?
LK: I don’t know if I’ve ever had a linear approach to developing a story. Paying respect to literature at large, I’ve kind of taken it for granted. I’m trying to incorporate a writer’s genius to what I’m doing now. Before all of that, it might start very basically with materials, just tinkering in the studio — be it running across a set prop, and building a story around that set prop and giving that object a voice, a greater spirit.

L+T: How does that process change? Or is there an aspect that remains consistent in all of your work?
LK: I believe a major consistent thread is the love of the materials. Intuitively working has always been intrinsic to my practice. That’s where it starts, the desire to touch things, the desire to engage with the kind of blind, mindless making. Some artists do not need a studio. Deena Lawson, the photographer, doesn’t need a studio. Her studio is the world. I’m really the opposite. I really need an interior space that’s private and allows me to process what’s out in the world in a private place. That defines my process -– the decision to collage, to make objects, and sometimes return back to the video and animate. I’ve always been an interdisciplinary artist; there’s so many thing to digest. I have to experience everything with my hands.

L+T: Tell me about your subject matters. There’s a question, there’s irony and wit and a bit of magical realism in your videos. You’re teasing the imagination.
LK: All of the work is originally started under a very specific umbrella, informed by a specific moment in history. What does it mean to assess the image of black people or black women at large? As I continue to make this work, why the dolls in the first place? Speaking to this moment of integration and what it means now —Brown vs. the Board of Education and the shift in perception and studying the sense of black perception, via psychological perception and use of these dolls. There was a famous study done that revealed on paper that there was a massive inferiority complex amongst people of color. That test was done again fifty years later. The test was conducted in 2004 and the results were too similar. That was a catalyst for me to play with the zany nature of all of these issues. I don’t feel compelled to stick so staunchly to that particular moment, but what remains now is the residue of the effort, the human strength and the bizarre parameters that people have to exist within that. What becomes more provocative is homage to history, larger conversations about scale and space — human space and world space. I feel freer when I have to room to play.

L +T: How about your sculptural works? These are much more textured and conceptual.
LK: They are expansion in the name of space. They gave me opportunity to elaborate on things that are less obvious in the videos. I’m in love with exploring. All of those things are wildly delicious. I get to play with that more when I work sculpturally and with collage. Sometime the objects and sculptures are opportunities to redo video work. I adore movement and opportunities to make a dot.

L+T: You approach collages as storyboards at times, there’s a suggestion of motion as opposed to stillness. There’s a sense that something is happening in your work.
LK: I adore movement. I don’t think that art is supposed to stand still. Artists are constantly frustrated about not having a response from viewers. I love the idea of movement occurring between stories or the ricocheting that can happen with a viewer. “The Kitchen” show was optimal where I got to have the video in the same space as a collage and the wall mural.

Beginning in the early 1900s, banker Henry Graves, Jr. amassed perhaps the greatest collection of watches in the world, specifically Patek Philippe Swiss timepieces. After passing into possession of his grandson, Pete Fullerton, a selection of 13 watches—some valued as much as $800,000—will go on auction at Sotheby’s in New York on June 14th. Here, Life + Times takes a look at the utterly timeless treasures.