“Things on a very small scale behave like nothing that you have any direct experience about.” -Richard Feynman, Six Easy Pieces
The world as we think we know it is little more than an illusion. The deeper truth about things we have come to feel we understand is far more bizarre than most of us can even begin to imagine. Nothing is what it seems; solid objects that ground us to the earth, our lives, our homes, and each other are, in truth, collections of particles, none of them still and none of them touching on a quantum level. Indeed, the universe is a strange place, and we have simply curated a comfortable way of existing within it.
Omari Douglin joined us to talk about his recent two-person show alongside Lukas Quietzsch, Scam Likely, which ran through early November at Ramiken Crucible. The title comes from a time when Quietzsch, who lives in Germany, attempted to call Douglin who missed his call. When Douglin called back, the message “scam likely” popped up on screen. A screenshot later, the two had found the name for their exhibition. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.
Ava Werner discussed her show, Shadowtime, at the Shirley Project Space. The two-person show with Melissa Capasso derives its title from another artist’s website filled with neologisms, including “shadowtime.” What it means is a feeling of living simultaneously in two different temporal scales. In other words, we live our lives going through the daily routine, but we have the sense that something is off. That something is climate change. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.
Outings
Join me at Mmuseumm, 4 Cortlandt Alley, NYC
A few words to keep in your pocket
Does knowing this – that the universe in which we live and feel at home is, in fact, as alien as another planet – make you feel uneasy or perhaps even more inclined to embrace the miracle of our existence?
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.
More books to read
Ours is a community of readers. Tell us what books you’re into these days by adding your titles to our reading list here. Praxis user Beatriz is reading The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt’s Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.
Artists at Wave Farm’s 10-day residency create transmission artworks using the research library, equipment, and on-site support. In 2024, the program focuses on “Live Performance for an Expanded Studio Audience,” concluding with a public event and live radio broadcast on WGXC 90.7-FM. Residents receive a $1,000 artist fee. Learn more and apply at the website. Deadline for applications is February 1.
Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis Center for Aesthetics and is currently faculty at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. He has written six books for artists, most recently Making it in the Art World. He also has a new book coming out in the Spring of 2024, The Problems in the Art World: An Artist’s A-Z Action Guide, which is available for preorder.