Dear Reader,
A single moment of warmth, tucked into memory, will always promise footing in powder snow. The interviews showcased this week plunder the recesses of experience on the behalf of the perpetual present, augmenting the book of life with rigorous footnotes and unfinished epilogues.
Multidisciplinary artist Giuseppe Licari suggests that the great tree of civilization has lost sight of the roots that anchor it to the ground. Whether transplanting the charred remains of a forest to the sterile walls of a gallery space or stamping a stretch of Tuscany with an enormous registered trademark symbol, Licari accosts the human family for coating the natural world with the sticky residue of political agendas. Drawn to the intersection of organic landscapes and urban inclinations, Licari’s concepts starkly reflect the longevity of metropolitan habits in the poetic and physical conditions of surrounding verdure. At the core of Licari’s practice is a defense of the extraordinary and priceless, from awe-inspiring natural formations to enigmatic trails of memory. Listen to his scintillating interview to consider how green thumbs could ever cultivate a gray world.
The taxing cerebral undertakings of photographer and multimedia artist Ève K. Tremblay are difficult to categorize, and even more difficult to perceive. Tremblay pursues a methodology where portfolio and life are one in the same, with each new experiment tracing the footsteps of past curiosities. In her placid interview, Tremblay speaks openly about submitting her subconscious to arduous dissection, laying bare the mechanism of memory and seeing her thoughts flicker in front of her eyes like a silent film. Inspired by the invisible bustle of the microbial world, Tremblay’s elusive craft mimics the silent turns of a planet from afar, and exudes the eternity of monuments in the details.
Additional interviews include: Bob Gruen, Mary Temple, and Ivana Smiljanić.
Let us know what you are reading! Verena Johannsmann is perusing Going Public by critic and philosopher Boris Groys, a series of essays that assesses the function and social obligations of art through a technical and poetic lens, discouraging the consumptive attitude that has arisen from the ubiquity of aesthetic stimulation. Eva Davidiva, another one of our users, is engaged with the equally revelatory Conversations Before the End of Time by Suzi Gablik, a set of ardent dialogues capturing the diversity of responses to a demanding question concerning the meaning and future of art, should art be denied its temporal virtues and forced to defend its existence in the present.
The World Photography Organization is hosting its second iteration of the ZEISS Photography Award ‘Seeing Beyond.’ Photographers from around the globe have until February 7th to assemble a small photo series that embodies the theme, “Meaningful Places.” Applicants are tasked with reading between the lines of the daily narrative, to view the familiar sites of social and personal rituals with a nascent, intuitive eye. This open call is free to apply and boasts a generous set of awards, including a ceremony invitation and funding for a specialized project in Europe.
Command the light that has been left to dim, and forever decide the beholder from the beheld.
As always, here are the links to the interview archive and free resources page.