Conversations: Deborah Berke and Titus Kaphar
This conversation between Dean Deborah Berke and Titus Kaphar (MFA ’06), a founder of nonprofit community incubator NXTHVN, was originally published in the book Transform: Promising Places, Second Chances, and the Architecture of Transformational Change (Monacelli, 2023), written by Berke with Thomas de Monchaux.
Deborah Berke When you first conceived of NXTHVN as an idea, did you think that reusing an old building was a necessary part of what you were going to do? And if so, why was that? Money, community sensibility, the history of artists’ lofts?
Titus Kaphar Definitely.
DB But what got you there?
TK Place. Place was more important than any of those other things. But it wasn’t just that it was place; it was location. It was people. It was community. This needs to exist here.
DB In Dixwell.
TK In Dixwell. Our site is one of the largest remaining sites in our neighborhood. We looked at other places. We looked at other buildings. We went around and found better buildings. But it was that place. It was that location right there, a block from our high school. That made a huge, huge difference. That’s what it was about for me. That’s a lot of what inspires these renovations anyway, right?
DB Absolutely. It is the character of the place [the buildings are] in; and then it is [the buildings’] character in and of themselves. I’m wondering about the fact that test tubes were made in one building and ice cream was made in another building: Does the idea of making mean anything to you?
TK It means a lot to me. You’ll be in the studio and you’ll make something. This happens right there. Perfect example: I made this thing, a silhouette of George Washington that’s cut out. Behind that silhouette is a drawing, an engraving, a photograph of an engraving of two twins inside of the womb. There is a reference to Courbet, and a man is standing with his hand extended and the hat in his hand is pointing at these infants in the room. And behind that, within the silhouette of Washington’s head, is a Black woman, just her eye, and almost in the center of the silhouette. I started making this thing again, not knowing precisely where it was going. “Just trust me!” At this point I’ve learned to trust myself, and if it doesn’t work in the end, that’s okay. I learned something in the process.
This took me back to one of my professors in undergrad. Someone was asking a question about intentionality, and he said, “Everything is intentional.” And someone responded, “Everything is not intentional. There are accidents that happen.” The professor answered, “It’s intentional because I choose to leave it.” There’s nothing in the process of making something that I cannot say, “I’m going to remove that; I’m going to change that.”
We are blessed in the process of making with these surprises. We can decide to build on that surprise to allow that surprise to remain in the composition and speak to whatever your intention was. The process of making is my mind being open to things that you didn’t intend but are fundamental to the end result.
DB You chose Dixwell. To be in Dixwell. I love that thought, and it really resonates. I will remember that when I talk about the building in the future.
