It is, I am chagrined to say, easy to become disillusioned these days. Who among us has not come up against an anger at the fundamentals of others so visceral, so pulsating that it seems as though it could rip apart the very air around us, break down the agreed upon walls of society – I have seen this and I wager you have, too. The question that strikes in my heart quite often is whether this is something new or perhaps it is just something old seen with a new lens. I do not know whether this anger has always been so pointed and so prevalent or whether we simply see it now.
Lila de Magalhaes joined us to talk about her show, Involuntary Earthling, which ran from January 6 – February 18 at Deli. While the title carries a heaviness, indicating that we do not ask to be born and find ourselves here fighting it out, it also rings true for de Magalhaes. For her, there is a sense of trying to find a sense of home as we move through our involuntary time on the planet and a nod to the absurdity of our location in the cosmos. To hear more about this mixed media exhibition, listen to the complete interview.
Victor Burgin spoke to us about his recent show, Photopath, at Cristin Tierney. The show was previously installed at the Art Institute in Chicago, but by its very nature, it is entirely different in every space it occupies. Photopath is devised of, in the artist’s own words: “A path along the floor, of proportions 1×21 units, photographed. Photographs printed to actual size of objects and prints attached to floor so that images are perfectly congruent with their objects.” To learn more about this exhibition, listen to the complete interview.
A few words to keep in your pocket
Perhaps we can learn to listen more, react less.
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. Learn more about the poetry of Joshua Beckman. When we spoke, Lila de Magalhaes was reading Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl G. Jung.
Deadlines:
Artists working in glass, fiber, clay, metal or wood are invited to apply for the Burke Prize. The winner receives an unrestricted $50,000 award and one Burke Prize artist will be selected for the biannual Burke Residency at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass. To learn more and apply, visit the website. Deadline is April 28.
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.