Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Smith conceived of this piece based on the idea that "we are all just passing through life. We come in at birth and go out at death, during which time we play our part and learn our lessons." The video is a combination of pre-recorded segments, live broadcast, and re-staged photographs from Smith's past. Smith described the voiceover as four distinct personas: "one was a sort of tour guide, who described what was seen; another was a narrator, who told stories of my past; a third was a startled child (me); and the fourth was a 'teacher' who exhorted the viewers and critiqued their interpretation of the images...I wanted to pit performance art against television, the past versus the present, and to invoke this spirit of a female goddess."
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
Smith conceived of this piece based on the idea that "we are all just passing through life. We come in at birth and go out at death, during which time we play our part and learn our lessons." The video is a combination of pre-recorded segments, live broadcast, and re-staged photographs from Smith's past. Smith described the voiceover as four distinct personas: "one was a sort of tour guide, who described what was seen; another was a narrator, who told stories of my past; a third was a startled child (me); and the fourth was a 'teacher' who exhorted the viewers and critiqued their interpretation of the images...I wanted to pit performance art against television, the past versus the present, and to invoke this spirit of a female goddess."
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
