“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
-Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein
As the seasons change profoundly here in the northeast, my thoughts turn to the tumult of the last few years. What a banquet of change we have feasted on, sometimes to unpleasant excess. It is easy to wonder if the world will ever be quite the same – whether it even should be. Change is perhaps the only constant in life, the only thing we can be sure of. What is today will not always be. Starting with this knowledge, we can prepare ourselves and strive perhaps to live more fully in each moment, knowing there will never be another quite like it.
Isaac Aden joined us to talk about his show, The Numinous Sublime, part II of which runs through October 7 at David Richard Gallery. Part I closed on September 7. The exhibition comprises paintings without much brushwork, and some are quite monumental in scale. The show’s title comes loosely from the European idea of the sublime relating to something that instills awe. Aden, who grew up in Alaska, also invokes nature, which can be both a destructive force or something uniquely personal. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.
Will Pappenheimer sat down with us to discuss his recent show, 404:error, which ran from June 16 to July 16 at iidrr Gallery. The work was based on computer glitch, speaking to the way in which computer error can sometimes be more interesting than their expected function. Pappenheimer investigated what can be created from these glitches – or errors. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.
A few words to keep in your pocket
Are you awake?
Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android, please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews is here.
Books to Read
What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. Praxis user Stephen Pare has been reading guidebooks about Venice, including Watermark by Joseph Brodsky.
Eyebeam invites artists to apply for their upcoming fellowship cycle, the theme of which is What is Human About Technology? In their own words, “In this digital-first fellowship cycle beginning February 15, 2024, through August 15, 2024, we call on artists to bring their innate mental, spiritual, and physical aspects of what it means to be human into play with technology to affirm humanity’s role as creators, not spectators, of our collective techno-future.” For more information and to apply, visit the website. Deadline for applications is October 1.
Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists, most recently Making it in the Art World.