“FOR I CAN SEE THE BALANCE AND YOU HAVE LEFT THE WORLD MUCH BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT, AND IF YOU ASK ME, said Death, NOBODY COULD DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT. . . .”
Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd’s Crown
What will you leave? In this world of constant noise and engagement, perhaps it is best to leave nothing at all. There will be a zillion legacies of influence and nonsense, but what can you contribute that is of real value, worth, a way to break through the noise of the present moment? Consider how your existence may be of true value, not how you may glean likes and follows – but how you perhaps can reshape the world – or at least a small slice of it – in which you live.
Larissa Bates joined us to talk about her show, Outside/Inside, which ran until May 10 at Monya Rowe Gallery. Bates’ work began in college, while trying to find a way to express her family structure. While her father attended Yale, it became co-ed and the culture of the 1960s had a strong influence on him. Along with a group of Yale architecture students, he moved to Vermont to attempt to found a utopia. When Bates was a child growing up in this radical art community, her father kept the family living off-grid with no electricity until she was 10. All this, and the tragic loss of her Costa Rican mother, a devout mystical catholic, when Bates was an infant, appears in her work. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.
Stephen Bron spoke with us about his show, The Spider Holds A Silver Ball, which runs through May 31 at Tibor de Nagy Gallery. The work in the show represent a relationship with nature, not something one might expect from an artist who has lived in Bushwick, Brooklyn for over a decade. Bron grew up going to the Adirondacks where his parents have a home and he tries to visit often. This sort of split life means that he gains inspiration from the nature that surrounds him there, photographing it and taking it back to the city to create his work. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.
A Few Words to Keep in Your Pocket.
What do you have to contribute?
Outings.
Join me at Stephen Friedman Gallery for work by Sky Glabush
Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android, please click here. All weekly essay pieces are here in a shareable format. The full archive of interviews is here.
More Books to Read.
Ours is a community of readers. Tell us what books you’re reading now by adding your titles to our reading list here. Praxis user Bac Nguyen is reading Dan Brown’s The Davinci Code.
Opportunities.
This week’s Praxis resource blog post has several upcoming deadlines in early June for programs through Headlands Center for the Arts.