Liliana Porter: “Humor is a Tool”

Liliana Porter has mastered the art of the deep joke. Beginning in the 1960s as a printmaker and conceptual artist, the Argentine-born Porter has evolved a distinctive approach to photography and video that employs the arrangement of tableaus using figurines and toys she collects and then photographs. These short takes - poignant, hilarious, ridiculous, and profound - are on view in an exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art (through February 18). Actualidades / Breaking News presents video work composed of many short scenes as well as several photographic pieces. The following interview has been edited to keep the laughter to a minimum.