Mark Bradford is an artist who always seems to capture my attention and interest. At the beginning of the segment he expresses how he considers himself not an artist but a "maker". He speaks about his childhood and how he would have to work with signs and help make things for his mothers store. It was since then that Bradford practiced calligraphy and using his hands to create things. Mark expresses how he loves and practices coulage and decoulage but never one without the other.
Bradford finds so much joy in adding matter and certain elements as well as removing it. The product of this is often very beautiful and creative, yet unpredictable, which is something Mark Bradford yearns for in all of his pieces. An example of this process is when he took a bunch of signs that were previously hung on a fence in the hood in downtown L.A. and outlined the text in string and other material. He then paints the sign solid black and sands the elevated text to produce a creative and artistic form of the original message.
Another project that Bradford speaks about is when he played basketball in an atibellum dress made into a lakers uniform. He had trouble dribbling, moving, and shooting, etc. He describes how all of these obstacles were in his way whether they were cultural, racial, sexual, or mental. Bradford even fell down many times and expressed how you must keep going, you must keep going and you will always "make the shot" in the end.
