High Art Page #3

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[Cheering]

Happy Birthday!

Thank you.

I'm gonna make a run.

Luce, you got any?

'Cause...

Yeah, in the bag.

Did he say

he's making a run?

I think, yeah.

He better be.

I'll bring change.

Whatever.

All right.

Happy birthday, bro.

Thank you.

And don't go getting lost, man.

We're havin'a party.

Who else is coming

to the party?

No one.

Hey, looky here.

How much do we

love you, baby?

Zoe!

Something from Siberia.

[Mumbles]

Here you go, baby.

Ooh, such a big box

for an old man.

You don't think

I'm old, do you?

[Sniffs]

I don't think you're old,

Arnie.

Oh.

An animal.

[Zoe]

It won't bite.

It has flaps.

Looks good.

It's so dead.

[Delia]

Arn, I didn't realize

you had such a skinny head.

[Zoe]

He's a lean man, baby.

Definitely big.

Hey, that's not

what she said.

Norton can tell you that.

That's not what I heard.

But it's your birthday.

Joan.

Yeah.

I might go to Berlin next week.

That director keeps calling me

and I said that I might come.

You want me to come with you?

[Laughs]

Gimme.

I don't think you should go.

[Arnie]

They're putting the wall back up.

I like the way the wall is.

[Conversation Continues, Indistinct]

No, butJoan, maybe

you could come with me.

[Delia]

You're gonna take 'em both?

[Greta]

Oh, Luce will come.

She loves Berlin.

I don't know know.

But maybeJoan would

come with me.

I wonder if you would come with me.

You know, or stay home. I don't know.

[Arnie]

What the hell are we

supposed to do?

Syd.

I'd need you to help me.

You just stay home.

I'll stay home with you.

I'll play with myself.

We'll be here.

I'll play with you... maybe.

Doing okay?

Yeah.

I don't know.

Maybe I'll just go to China.

I like China.

We had fabulous opium there.

Didn't we, Luce?

Baby?

Hmm?

Are you f***ed up?

Hmm?

Yeah.

Yeah?

Mmm, kinda f***ed up.

Yeah.

You seem kind of...

f***ed up.

You want me to stop?

No!

Not necessarily.

Hey. Are you sick?

I don't know.

Is it the tequila?

[Moans]

I did a line of heroin.

I don't think I'm used to it.

[Sighs]

Oh.

It's, uh, sweet.

I mean...

[Sighs]

What's...

What's that about, Syd?

I just did a line, that's all.

No, I mean, is that what's

so fascinating upstairs?

I mean, is that what

that photography woman is into?

It was only a line, James.

Oh. What, am I being uptight?

Mm-hmm.

You are, kind of.

Yeah.

Dominique Peugeot wants you

to do a piece for the next issue.

Dominique Peugeot

was the receptionist

at Interview.

Yeah, but she's

the executive editor

at Frame now.

She really wants

you to do a piece...

probably the cover.

Wow.

She really climbed up.

This is what I was talking

to you about the other night.

They really want

to meet with you.

They want to take

you to lunch on Thursday.

I appreciate it,

but I don't do that anymore.

Don't do what?

Industry work.

Well, it's not industry work.

I mean,

it's not like an assignment...

you can do whatever you want.

Can I take pictures of you?

Right now?

[Laughing]

No.

I feel like sh*t right now.

I'm kinda wrecked.

You look really sexy, actually.

I stopped working commercially

It was kind of a mental-health decision.

Actually, no.

It wasn't a decision.

I just made it impossible

for myself to continue.

Impossible? How?

I mean, what did you do?

I stopped showing up.

For what?

I mean, why?

I don't know why, exactly.

I mean, why do people f*** up?

It just seemed sort of punk at the time.

I don't understand

that exactly.

I don't really know how

to explain it to you, Syd.

There just stopped being a line

between me and work.

People were glomming on

to something I was doing then,

and I just... got trapped.

I mean, I loved the attention

but I just couldn't handle the impact.

I felt sort of pigeonholed...

um, sort of like

I couldn't breathe anymore.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

The people at Frame think

you're an amazing photographer.

Theyjust want

to see you work again.

I don't think

that they want to trap you.

I think they want

to support you.

[Dominique]

So, it's just this one woman

under water and your mother?

Right.

That's what I'm doing now.

And who's the woman?

Greta Krauss.

She's a German actress.

I've actually done

a lot of work with her.

You done with that one?

Just a second.

[Harry]

Could we have some

more water, please?

Right.

[Harry]

I'm sorry, are they portraits?

Right.

Underwater portraits.

I have to say, Lucy,

I love your older work.

I find the realism incredibly honest.

Lucy, I think your work

has a certain allure right now...

a cultural currency

that we'd like to explore with you.

- A cultural currency.

- A certain cachet.

If I can interrupt, Lucy,

I think Dominique is saying...

that the public can appreciate

the rigor of your work now...

the intimacy and desolation

of your subjects.

Lucy, we'd like to offer you

the fall cover.

We think the best way

to bridge the gap...

Well, to reintroduce...

Right, reintroduce you publicly,

is to revisit some of your older themes.

We are thinking of an essay,

Lucy, rather free-form...

sort of an examination

of your friends and your life.

You'd like me to examine my life.

[Harry]

We'd like you to go back

to the place where you left off.

I know deadlines are

a horrible sort of nuisance...

but we would need to

move on this immediately.

Right. Well, let me think about it.

We're usually not solicitous,

Lucy.

I mean, we receive thousands

of submissions a year.

But we'll put some very promising

photographers on hold for you.

You know, it's flattering.

And it sounds interesting.

Um, but, I really have to see

about my other obligations.

Well, we would need

a commitment from you today.

Otherwise, we'd have to give

the space to another photographer.

It's just that close,

unfortunately.

It's really yours to define, Lucy.

I mean, I hope we've

impressed that on you.

This is not an assignment.

Of course,

we'll help you shape it

and select images.

But we really need

to know now.

[Sighs]

Okay.

I want to work with Syd on it.

Brilliant.

Syd's in the office every day.

She's involved

in all of our projects.

I mean, she can certainly

give some feedback.

We always encourage that from her.

No, I want Syd to be my editor.

So, did you get a raise?

It's not about a raise.

What do you think

of this shirt?

Is it too tight?

No.

No?

I think it's sexy.

How 'bout this color?

You like the color?

I like it.

Yeah?

I don't want to

stay too long, okay?

Okay.

Really.

Yeah.

Syd mentioned to me

that you were retired?

Yeah, I stopped working

for a few years.

What, um...

What made you decide

to get started again?

I don't know. It just seemed

like the right thing to do.

Excuse me.

It was nice meeting you.

Yeah, you too.

[Greta Sniffs, Sighs]

I'm gonna feel so f***in' good

in about one f***in' second.

I thought that was for me,

Arnie.

[Sniffs]

No.

That was definitely for me.

That's for you.

You're such a gentleman,

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