Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
For this performance, Smith exchanged positions with women who spent their days in MacArthur Park near downtown Los Angeles. While Smith took their place in the park, the women sat on a bench installed in an art gallery at the nearby Woman's Building. Smith wanted to explore her own fears of aging and homelessness. She wrote, "Why was I here and they were there? What made my life safe and theirs so desperate and vulnerable?" In this segment of the performance, a woman from the park named Olive is interviewed about her life.
This video is part of the Barbara T. Smith papers at the Getty Research Institute. View the finding aid for Smith's archive: https://primo.getty.edu/permalink/f/19q6gmb/GETTY_ALMA21155149520001551
Barbara T. Smith: The Way to Be is on view at the Getty Research Institute from February 28, 2023 through July 16, 2023. Learn more: https://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/barbara_t_smith/index.html
For this performance, Smith exchanged positions with women who spent their days in MacArthur Park near downtown Los Angeles. While Smith took their place in the park, the women sat on a bench installed in an art gallery at the nearby Woman's Building. Smith wanted to explore her own fears of aging and homelessness. She wrote, "Why was I here and they were there? What made my life safe and theirs so desperate and vulnerable?" In this segment of the performance, a woman from the park named Olive is interviewed about her life.
This video is part of the Barbara T. Smith papers at the Getty Research Institute. View the finding aid for Smith's archive: https://primo.getty.edu/permalink/f/19q6gmb/GETTY_ALMA21155149520001551
Barbara T. Smith: The Way to Be is on view at the Getty Research Institute from February 28, 2023 through July 16, 2023. Learn more: https://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/barbara_t_smith/index.html
