WPKN Archives Archive Feed: art Archived radio content http://www.wpkn.org/ Thu, 21 Nov 2024 16:39:22 GMT WPKN Archives Archive Feed: art http://www.wpkn.org/ http://archives.wpkn.org//banners/7.png 850 192 Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis Episode 58: A conversation with Power Boothe! http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/282876 <p>&nbsp;Live Culture 58:<br /> A conversation with Artist Power Boothe!</p> <p>This month onThis month on Live Culture I am delighted to welcome artist, educator and thinker Power Boothe to the program. The program promises to be a heady mix of art, technology, ideas and books as well voyaging from the past to the NOW and the future, talking life in the New York artworld that was, and getting an advanced look at some of his upcoming exhibits and projects here in Connecticut.</p> <p>Power Boothe has exhibited his paintings for over four decades. His work is represented in public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the British Museum in the UK, as well as many private collections nationally and internationally. In addition to his studio practice, Power has spent years working in the theater- notably for Richard Foreman and the Ontological-Hysterical Theater Company in NYC . He has received awards for his designs for experimental theater, dance and video productions, including a Bessie Award for set design, a Film/Video Arts Foundation Award for film, and several Art Matters Grants for theater. He came to New York as a student in the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in 1967, He continued to live and work as an artist for the next three decades in New York City. He studied classical archeology at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece and linguistics and philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1989 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from Colorado College for his mid-career accomplishments.</p> <p>Locally, he exhibits at Fred Giampietro Gallery in New Haven and has a forthcoming exhibit at Five Points Gallery in Torrington. Boothe is currently Professor of Painting at the Hartford Art School, University of Hartford. He served as Dean of the Hartford Art School from 2001 to 2010, where he led a successful campaign to build the Ren&eacute;e Samuels Center, a studio facility focused on teaching art and technology. As Director of the School of Art at Ohio University from 1998 to 2001 he produced a symposium on cognitive theory and the arts: Art/Body/Mind. As Co-director of the Mount Royal Graduate School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art from 1993 to 1998, he curated the exhibition, Art + Necessity. Boothe served as Lecturer in the Humanities at Princeton University from 1988&ndash;1994 and served on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts from 1979 -1988.</p> <p>Among his other talents Power can also list RADIO. A former radio presenter himself, we welcome him back to the live airwaves as we welcome in 2020!</p> <p>To see some of Power's work online and to find out more please visit: https://www.powerboothe.com/</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/282876 Sat, 25 Jan 2020 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis Episode 57: Glad Tidings! http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/280470 <p>This month on <strong>Live Culture</strong> we end the year on a positive note with a tour and discussion with <strong>Hugh French</strong>, Director and <strong>Kristin McKinlay</strong>, Director of Exhibitions and <strong>StudioWorks</strong> Residency Coordinator for <strong>The Tides Institute and Museum of Art</strong> in Eastport Maine. This is a success story of a small institution revitalizing its community through art, using a variety of inventive and forward-thinking methods. Join me on an audio tour with Hugh and Kristin through their newly renovated <strong>StudiosWorks</strong> residency space, and the very-much-under-construction renovation of the old Masonic Building downtown, which will give them expanded exhibition space, collection storage, a museum shop and restaurant.</p> <p><strong>The Tides</strong> is dedicated to bridging borders and exploring boundaries. While many small arts institutions are struggling to survive in today's market-driven climate, <strong>TIMA</strong> offers a model for creating collective goods for artists and local residents, while preserving historic buildings and using green innovations with their construction projects. Located directly on the U.S./Canada border between New England and the Atlantic Provinces, the <strong>Tides Institute &amp; Museum of Art </strong>weaves together a range of regional and international interests, resources, and initiatives to build critical mass, synergy and connectedness. Founded in 2002 in Eastport Maine, the T<strong>ides Institute &amp; Museum of Art</strong> offers initiatives and programs to foster new innovative and cross-sector works; through its wide ranging collections, education and preservation e?orts; and through its partnerships and endeavors to strengthen the region&rsquo;s economic prosperity, vitality and wider connections.</p> <p><strong>TIMA's StudioWorks Artist-in-Residence Progra</strong>m is now in its seventh year. Facilities include an 1887 downtown <strong>StudioWorks </strong>space, an 1819 <strong>North Church Project Space </strong>plus two historic buildings for artist housing. <strong>By the end of 2019, 57 artists from 17 different states and three foreign countries </strong>will have participated in the program.</p> <p><strong>TIMA's</strong> collections are extensive and wide ranging &ndash; from historical to contemporary, from the 18th century to today. The collections have a particular focus on art, broadly conceived, but also have strong interests with architecture and history. The focuses of the collections are on the U.S./Canada northeast coast with connections to the broader world.</p> <p>TIMA has received two awards from the national <strong>ArtPlace</strong> initiative based in New York City that is a partnership of 16 of the largest private foundations in the U.S.. In the first nine years of <strong>ArtPlace's</strong> existence, <strong>TIMA </strong>remains the only institution in Maine to have received <strong>ArtPlace</strong> funding.<br /> More about <strong>TIMA</strong> and the <strong>StudioWorks Residency Program</strong> can be found here: <a href="https://www.tidesinstitute.org/">https://www.tidesinstitute.org/</a></p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/280470 Sat, 28 Dec 2019 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis replay of Episode 53: protest Readings http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/278063 <p>This month of Live Culture offers an interview with Gallerist <strong>Jeff Bergman </strong>about his ongoing <strong>Learn-As-Protest</strong> project which has people reading out loud to each other at Trump Tower. Popular with artists and writers, this protest has a wide roster of participants and texts and adapts itself as current events unfold. We discuss creative forms of peaceful resistance, share stories about reading in the tower and discuss why even carrying a book into the building is a powerful act. Jeff has been leading this event weekly since 2016 and has been featured in the <strong>Guardian, the New Yorker</strong> and <strong>The New York Times</strong> to name some of the press this action has garnered.</p> <p>More about the project here:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/learnasprotest/">https://www.facebook.com/learnasprotest/</a></p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/278063 Sat, 30 Nov 2019 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis Episode 53: protest Readings http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/267245 <p>&nbsp;This month on Live Culture- an interview with Gallerist Jeff Bergman about his ongoing Learn-As-Protest project which has people reading out loud to each other at Trump Tower. Popular with artists and writers this protest has a wide roster of participants and texts and adapts itself as current events unfold. We discuss creative forms of peaceful resistance, share stories about reading in the tower and discuss why even carrying a book&nbsp; into the building is a powerful act. Jeff has been leading this event weekly since 2016 and has been featured in the Guardian, the New Yorker and The New York Times to name some of the press this action has garnered.&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/267245 Sat, 27 Jul 2019 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis Episode 52: Digital Stitches http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/264874 <p>This month join me as I discuss artmaking, embroidery and the influence of the internet with artist <strong>Michelle Beaulieu-Morgan</strong>. Michelle can be defined many ways, including being a queer Mainer who is now based in CT and who - through her embroidery- is a self-proclaimed <em>&ldquo;Purveyor of Excessiveness&rdquo;.</em> Additionally, she is an Activist/Doyenne of Social Media/Visual Artist /Radio DJ /Writer/Spouse and Parent. Michelle has a PhD. in American Studies from <strong>Yale University</strong> and currently works as a Digital Accessibility Specialist.</p> <p>Our discussion was recorded on a recent rainy afternoon, where we met to verbally unravel some of the complex interlacings formed by these various threads. Michelle - who began embroidering about 4 years ago- has had a meteoric rise through social media, and we talk about how <strong>Instagram</strong> has nourished her practice from its inception. This includes her first foray in digital needlework with her 1 year of stitches embroidery project, which used crowd-sourced content and went viral, giving a head-start to the over 24,000 followers she has today. We pick up with most recently, the story behind her commission by 4-time<strong> Grammy-Award winning artist Keb Mo</strong>, to make original art for his latest album cover. <em><strong>Oklahoma</strong></em>, which came out this month and features Michelle&rsquo;s detailed custom embroidery, plus a variety of logoed items and memorabilia inspired by her images.</p> <p>We peruse the how&rsquo;s, when&rsquo;s and why&rsquo;s of what she does, the materiality involved, as well as the therapeutic aspects of hand-work and discuss her first- ever, brick-and-mortar solo art exhibition, coming up, IRL, this fall at the <strong>Whitney Humanities Center</strong> in New Haven. Her story is an inspiring tale of traditional needlecrafts, hard work, internet communities and a genre-breaking vision that connects them all.<br /> <br /> More about Michelle here: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mutuallyassureddeconstruction/?hl=en">https://www.instagram.com/mutuallyassureddeconstruction/?hl=en</a><br /> More about Michelle&rsquo;s radio show can be found here: <a href="https://www.wpkn.org/shows/michelle-morgan/">https://www.wpkn.org/shows/michelle-morgan/</a><br /> More about Keb Mo&rsquo;s Oklahoma here: <a href="https://kebmo.limitedrun.com/store">https://kebmo.limitedrun.com/store</a><br /> More about the Whitney Humanities Center Art Gallery here: <a href="https://whc.yale.edu/gallery-whitney">https://whc.yale.edu/gallery-whitney</a><br /> <br /> see this episode's live culture Press Release&nbsp;<a href="https://mailchi.mp/c0ad1a89d463/this-month-on-live-culture-episode-52-digital-stitches-2935681?fbclid=IwAR2ryKjwkqboGV6dnv3iy5PoFXnoS48syFZHeCcBdDrJJ45cDahRL12">&nbsp;here</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/264874 Sat, 29 Jun 2019 11:00:35 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis Episode 41: Cultural Reckoning http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/231804 <p><br /> This month features a conversation with the <strong>Arts Council of Greater New Haven</strong> Director <strong>Daniel Fitzmaurice</strong> about <strong>Create the Vote CT</strong>, a nonpartisan public education campaign to raise awareness and support for the arts among voters and candidates running for public office. Daniel is one of the co-founders of this initiative which attempts to bring together CT's many arts organizations to<br /> collectively make their voices heard.</p> <p>On <strong>July 31st</strong> the public is invited to attend <br /> <em><strong>Arts, Culture, &amp; the Future of CT&rsquo;s Economy: Gubernatorial Candidate Forum.</strong></em><br /> The event goes from 5:00 &ndash; 6:30 p.m.at the<br /> <strong>Co-Op High School's Mainstage Theater,</strong><br /> 177 College Street, New Haven, CT. and is free and open to all.<br /> Please RSVP <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/arts-culture-the-future-of-cts-economy-gubernatorial-candidate-forum-tickets-47562263009">here</a>.</p> <p>The Forum will be an opportunity for the creative community to show the candidates that their commitment to the arts, culture, and creativity matters. Each candidate was given a questionnaire with <strong>six questions</strong> to respond to.</p> <p>Confirmed attendees are: J<strong>oseph Ganim, Oz Griebel, Rod Hanscomb, Tim Herbst, Ned Lamont, Marisa Manley, and David Stemerman</strong>. The program will be hosted by <strong>WTNH-TV anchor Ann Nyberg</strong>, who is also a committed champion of the arts in Connecticut.</p> <p>This is a gubernatorial election year and thus an excellent moment to discuss the strengths and challenges the state faces and to collectively form a vision for our community. While candidates spend much time talking about jobs, the economy, and education, they rarely talk about arts and culture as part of their campaign. Seeing the need to make arts and creativity part of the discussion, <strong>Connecticut Arts Alliance (CAA)</strong> and the <strong>Connecticut Alliance for Arts Education (CAAE) </strong>have launched <strong>Create the Vote CT</strong>. and instigated <em><strong>Arts, Culture, &amp; the Future of CT&rsquo;s Economy: Gubernatorial Candidate Forum</strong></em> to get the public involved.</p> <p>Over 100 arts and culture organizations - including <strong>WPKN</strong>!- have signed up to be co-sponsors of this inspired event. Daniel knows all too well the challenges that face so many arts organizations throughout the state, as budgets get slashed, and yet it bears repeating that arts and culture are what bring so much revenue and other collective goods to our towns and cities. Join us as we discuss this exciting and timely project and the various candidates, questions and challenges that lie ahead in activating and informing the public before the election.<br /> <br /> Are you registered to vote?<br /> it's easy and it's online here at <a href="https://voterregistration.ct.gov">https://voterregistration.ct.gov</a></p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/231804 Sat, 28 Jul 2018 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis episode 40: Lost Again http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/228788 <p>During the summer I like to travel and this year is no exception. Being away from the station offers the chance to look back at past Live Culture episodes and to chose one for re-airing. This one seemed a natural fit: it is full of history, adventures, and stories of making art on the road, making it a great choice for summer listening. Lost Again is a re-broadcast of a show from January 2018 with British artist Abigail Reynolds about her BWW Art Journey- a prize that took her along the Silk Road on a motorcycle hauling a Bolex camera to document the sites of lost libraries. Her epic journey has resulted in a book, a film and an art exhibition. Abigail was live in the WPKN studios with me, during her recent US visit to libraries in New York, and was gracious enough to journey the extra miles to Bridgeport!</p> <p>Her book, now published by Hatje Cantz, and the film: Lost Libraries are a part of the current exhibition Wish You Were Here: Journals, Journies and Expeditions, a group show up at the Gallery Upstairs at the Institute Library in New Haven until August 31st. more information on that is at Institutelibrary.org.</p> <p>On her remarkable trip Abigail visited the following library sites:</p> <p>Stone Steles, Xian, China- found about 1080<br /> Xianyang Palace, Xian - lost 206BC<br /> Baisigou Pagoda, Yinchuan, China - lost 1970<br /> Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, China- lost 11th century, found 1900<br /> Palace Library, Khanate of Kokand, Uzbekistan - lost 1876<br /> Nishapur,Iran - lost 1154<br /> Hidden Libraries of Tehran - hidden 1979<br /> Roman libraries of Turkey: Celsus in Ephesus (lost 262AD) Pergamon (lost 41BC), Nysa (lost 1402AD)<br /> Library of the Serapeum in Alexandria, Egypt - lost 392AD<br /> Cairo Genizeh, Egypt - found 1900<br /> Institute of Egypt, Cairo - lost 2011<br /> Bibliotheca Ulpia, Rome, Italy - lost around 600AD<br /> Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum, Italy - lost 79AD, discovered 1752</p> <p>More on Abigail.<br /> More on the book Lost Libraries<br /> More on the BMW Art Journey</p> <p>Come arm-chair travel with us as we discuss her project.<br /> Live Culture will air live next month on July 28 with an all-new show....</p> <p>Thanks for Listening!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/228788 Sat, 30 Jun 2018 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis: Episode 37: Structive (De, Con & In) http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/218865 <p>On this month's show the first guests are Artist/Curator <strong>David Borawski</strong> and Artist <strong>Liz Sweibel</strong> to talk about their exhibit <em><strong>Abductions and Reconstructions </strong></em>up now at <strong>Real Art Ways</strong> in Hartford. Featuring the artists <strong>Meg Hitchcock, Ryan Sarah Murphy, Liz Sweibel,</strong> <em><strong>Abductions and Reconstructions </strong></em>offers fresh takes on abstraction, collage, and sculpture with works that are at once intricate and tough. The three artists present a diverse range of aesthetic considerations: <strong>Meg Hitchcock</strong> often uses letters from one text, such as the Bible, to craft passages in another text, like the Quran. Regarding this process, Hitchcock says:</p> <p><strong>&ldquo;&hellip;by deconstructing and recombining the holy books of diverse religions, I undermine their authority and animate the common thread that weaves through all scripture.&rdquo;</strong></p> <p><strong>Ryan Sarah Murphy&rsquo;s</strong> cardboard reliefs could be aerial views of farmland, architecture plans, or political maps of imaginary nations. She crafts these objects with a sense of seriousness and play befitting the found, casual nature of her materials. <strong>Liz Sweibel</strong> uses both found and acquired materials in her precarious sculptures and assemblages. Sweibel says</p> <p><strong>&ldquo;The process is low-tech, immediate, and improvisational, and primarily takes form as spare, abstract sculpture, installation, and drawing.</strong>&rdquo;</p> <p><em><strong>Abductions and Reconstructions</strong></em> is at <strong>RealArtWays</strong>, <strong>56 Arbor St, Hartford</strong> and runs from <strong>Feb 15- April 8.</strong></p> <p>More about <strong>Real Art Ways</strong> <a href="https://www.realartways.org/event/abductions-and-reconstructions/2018-02-15/">here</a></p> <p>During the second half we talk on the phone with artist <strong>Aliza Shvarts</strong> whose forthcoming exhibit at <em><strong>Artspace New Haven, Aliza Shvarts: Off Scene </strong></em>runs from <strong>May 11 - Jun 30.&nbsp;</strong>. Aliza recently ran a workshop based on her <strong>Banners Project</strong> as a part of the current <em><strong>Code Breakers</strong></em> Exhibit at <em><strong>The Ely Center for Contemporary Art,</strong></em> which invited women and gender variant people to exchange of stories in which the internet left them vulnerable to public shaming, and how these individual experiences of shame can be transformed to galvanize a collective demand. The title <em><strong>Aliza Shvarts: Off Scene</strong></em>, references the artists&rsquo; investment in performance, one that shifts our attention from the center to the social, historical, and material surround. At once linguistic and bodily, &ldquo;off scene&rdquo; refers to the circulation of gossip, rumor, viral text, and other forms of knowing. Using text, video,and audio she explores issues of how the body means and matters, how the subject consents and dissents.</p> <p>The opening reception is <strong>Friday, May 18, 5-8pm.</strong> On <strong>Friday, May 18 </strong>from <strong>6-8pm</strong>, Shvarts will host a r<strong>oundtable discussion</strong> with <strong>Robert Post </strong>(Sterling Professor of Law, <strong>Yale Law School</strong>), <strong>Reva Siegel </strong>(Nicholas de B. Katzenbach Professor of Law, <strong>Yale Law School</strong>), which will consider the aesthetic, legal, and ideological frameworks that choreograph the body&rsquo;s capacity to produce meaning within the fictive or the real. This event is free and open to the public. <strong>Artspace</strong> is located at <strong>50 Orange Street </strong>in <strong>New Haven, CT.</strong></p> <p>more about Artspace <a href="https://artspacenewhaven.org/exhibitions/aliza-shvarts-off-scene/">here</a></p> <p>This episode of Live Culture also features a new song performed by <strong>Jody Stecher </strong>in protest of the gun violence t in this Country. Cousins <strong>Jay Feldman</strong> and <strong>Jody Stecher</strong> found they each were hit hard by the Florida school shootings. Jay began writing a song expressing his feelings about it. Jody helped him finish the song. Also on the show will be an excerpt of music from the soundtrack to the film <strong>Ladybird</strong>&nbsp; by Jon Brion, and a song from <strong>The Mammals.</strong><br /> &nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/218865 Sat, 31 Mar 2018 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis Episode 35: Lost Libraries http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/212015 <p>&nbsp;This month <strong>Live Culture</strong> offers an in studio conversation with British Artist <strong>Abigail Reynolds </strong>who is currently in the USA to launch her new publication <strong><em>Lost Libraries</em></strong> published by <strong>Hatje Cantz</strong>. Abigail, who <strong>Live Culture</strong> listeners will remember from <strong>Episode 18: The Mother's Bones</strong>, about her film project in a Cornwall Quarry, recently won the prestigious <strong>BMW Art Journey</strong>, a prize which sent her on a trip through China, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey, Italy, and Egypt following the <strong>Silk Road</strong> in search of destroyed libraries. She traveled for five months, visiting libraries that were lost due to political conflict or natural disasters. This book presents the photographs and recollections of her experiences.</p> <p>About the<strong> BMW Art Journey</strong>:<br /> Two artists are awarded the prize each year: one from<strong> Art Basel</strong> in Hong Kong and one <strong>Art Basel</strong> in Miami Beach. An independent panel of judges shortlists three artists from each fair, who are then tasked with crafting an itinerary for their proposed journey. Reynolds was unanimously selected from the 2016 Hong Kong shortlist, for a project she titled <strong><em>&ldquo;The Ruins of Time: Lost Libraries of the Silk Road.&rdquo;</em></strong></p> <p>Reynolds is best known for her collages, which splice together archival images in geometric, three-dimensional patterns. She is particularly interested in the passage of time, scouring old bookstores and flea markets for encyclopedias or guidebooks that offer decades-old views of a given landscape. She also incorporates images of what she terms &ldquo;communal structures&rdquo;&mdash;protest marches, highways, colleges.</p> <p>On her New York visit Abigail will be participating in <em><strong>A Night of Philosophy &amp; Ideas</strong></em> at the<strong> Brooklyn Public Library</strong> on Saturday January 27th. This is part of a 12-hour marathon, of 20 minute lectures happening from 7pm to 7am. The event is open to the public, more information is here.</p> <p>As an accompaniment to our discussion this month's show features a selection of book and library themed music from&nbsp; James Horner ( for the film The Name of the Rose), Brian Anderson, Yellow Ostrich and My Morning Jacket.&nbsp; join us to find out more about this incredible adventure, the book, and the artworks that have resulted from the journey!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/212015 Sat, 27 Jan 2018 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis number 34: The Net Neutrality Episode http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/208941 <p>&nbsp;<br /> &quot;Net Neutrality&quot;-- what does this mean and why should you care?</p> <p>This month I am in discussion with Thomas Kadri, a Ph.D. in Law candidate at Yale University whose his research spans the intersection of media, technology, and the First Amendment.</p> <p>The FCC has repealed consumer protections that prohibit internet service providers - or ISP's- from discriminating against or favoring websites by blocking or throttling internet traffic. These ISP's will also be allowed to charge fees to websites and online services for faster and more reliable network access. We will discuss the ramifications of this, in particular for artists, non-profits and other small-scale producers of online content.</p> <p>To sweeten this rather sobering topic for our final show for 2017, I am including some musical selections from my picks for the top 10 albums and songs for the year. Please join us for this live interview in a bustling downtown cafe surrounded by people sipping lattes, talking and playing with their phones, laptops and other devices.We close out this year by looking ahead to the challenges of 2018 for WPKN, creative artists and all who use the internet.</p> <p>featuring music by Iggy Pop, Wolf Alice, Ezra Furman and Nadine Shah.</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/208941 Sat, 30 Dec 2017 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture Episode 31: Sound Objects http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/198945 <p>Guests: <strong>Huihui Cheng</strong> and <strong>Spencer Topel</strong>.</p> <p>During this September edition of the show I talk to two artists who experiment with sound and objects in very different ways. We begin with an interview with <strong>Huihui Cheng</strong>, an experimental composer I caught up with this summer at the <strong>Camargo Foundation</strong> in France. This is a recorded conversation in front of her prepared piano as she adjusts it for the premiere of a commission at the <strong>Royaumont Festival</strong> in France.</p> <p>For <em><strong>Messenger</strong></em> 2017, Cheng has taken apart an upright piano, created a kind of chained harness for the musician to wear, binding the instrument to the player and allowing for unique methods of interacting with the instrument. This was played by Pianist <strong>Claudia Chan</strong> in the premier which took place on the 7th of September.</p> <p>Cheng lives in France and Germany and has had her works performed internationally. In addition to deconstructing pianos, Her unique take on composing has included using the audiences to play the composition via their cell phones. <em><strong>Your Smartest Choice</strong></em> was a performance for four musicians, electronics, and an audience with smartphones which happened at the <strong>Eclat Festival</strong> in Stuttgart on February, 2017 with members of the <strong>2e2m Ensemble</strong> of an original composition by Cheng.</p> <p>We hear various selections from Cheng&rsquo;s oeuvre during the show including an opening a selection from <em><strong>Et&uuml;de@S</strong></em> played on T&aacute;rogat&oacute; and live electronics, and closing out with some pieces from&nbsp;<em><strong>Your Smartest Choice.</strong></em></p> <p><strong>Huihui Cheng </strong>studied composition with <strong>Guoping Jia</strong> and <strong>Caspar Johannes Walter</strong> and electronic composition with <strong>Marco Stroppa</strong> and <strong>Piet Johan Meyer</strong>. She attended <strong>SWR Vocal Ensemble Academy</strong> and <strong>Cursus</strong>, practical training in composition and computer music at <strong>IRCAM</strong>, Paris. Her music has been played by <strong>Ensemble Courage, Ensemble TIMF </strong>Korea, <strong>Ascolta Ensemble</strong> Stuttgart, <strong>New Ensemble</strong> Amsterdam, <strong>Ensemble Intercontemporain</strong>, <strong>Saarbr&uuml;cken radio symphony orchestra</strong>, <strong>Radio France</strong>, Vocal Ensemble <strong>EXAUDI</strong>. She has won the first prize of <strong>Con Tempo,</strong> 2007 in China and the Grand Prize of <strong>Isang Yun International Composition Competition </strong>2011, She received the <strong>Giga-Hertz Produktion Preis</strong> in 2016 , and she has a fellowship for <strong>Musiktheater der Heute </strong>from 2016-18. Recently she has been awarded scholarships from the <strong>Baden W&uuml;rttemberg Art Foundation</strong>, <strong>Schloss Wiepersdorf</strong>, <strong>K&uuml;nsterhaus Sch&ouml;ppingen</strong> and <strong>Foundation Camargo</strong>. She will publish her <strong>Portrait DVD</strong> by <strong>WERGO</strong> in the series &ldquo;<strong>Contemporary Music Germany</strong>&rdquo; in 2019.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>During the second half of the program&nbsp; we have a live conversation with <strong>Spencer Topel</strong> who is Assistant Professor of Music at <strong>Dartmouth College</strong>. From October 25th to November 3rd, 2017 his installation <strong>PART DES ANGES</strong> will be at the <strong>World Music Hall</strong>, of <strong>Wesleyan University</strong> in Middletown, CT.</p> <p>What drew me to Spencer for this month&rsquo;s show was his collaboration with musician <strong>Seth Parker Woods</strong> and the construction of a cast ice cello for the performance by Seth of<em><strong> ICED BODIES: Ice Music for Chicago</strong></em> which happened on August 12th at the <strong>Arts Club of Chicago</strong> in Illinois. In 1972, <strong>Fluxus</strong> artist/printmaker <strong>Jim McWilliams</strong> devised a piece for cellist <strong>Charlotte Moorman</strong> called <em><strong>Ice Music for London</strong></em>. It involved bags of frozen ice cubes fashioned in the shape of a cello, which Moorman, nude, &ldquo;played&rdquo; with a plexiglass &ldquo;bow&rdquo; for multiple hours. On the 45th anniversary of the original work, <strong>Seth Parker Woods </strong>and <strong>Spencer Topel </strong>readdressed McWilliams&rsquo; concept with an immersive experience. Woods, in a wetsuit, played an obsidian Ice Cello. As it melted, the amplified sounds of dripping water and falling ice filled the space. The audience was invited to come and go as they pleased during the 4 hours when Woods performed this epic work in its first major realization in 19 years.</p> <p>We will discuss this and Spencer's many projects involving sound and object-making.</p> <p><strong>Spencer Topel</strong> is an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore relationships between architecture, space, and form. He is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a <strong>Danish International Visiting Artist Residency</strong> in 2013 (<strong>DIVA</strong>), the <strong>Palmer Dixon Prize</strong> from the <strong>Juilliard School </strong>for best composition, <strong>BMI</strong> and <strong>ASCAP </strong>Awards, and was an artist-in-residence with the <strong>Meitar Ensemble</strong> in July 2014 (Tel Aviv). Topel has produced works for many of America's premiere music and art institutions, including the <strong>Drawing Center NY</strong>, the <strong>DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park</strong>, the <strong>Minnesota Orchestra</strong>, the <strong>Juilliard Symphony</strong>, <strong>Oregon Symphony</strong>, and the <strong>Aspen Contemporary Ensemble</strong>, <strong>TILT Brass</strong>, <strong>FLUX Quartet</strong>, and the <strong>Callithumpian Consort</strong>. Notable national/international collaborations include <strong>HUB New Music </strong>(Boston), <strong>FIGURA Ensemble</strong> (Copenhagen) <strong>the Contemporarte Ensemble</strong> (Venice) and the <strong>Meitar Ensemble</strong> and the <strong>Israeli Conservatory</strong> (Tel-Aviv). Topel received degrees from<strong> Cornell </strong>and <strong>The Juilliard School </strong>before joining the Tenure-Track Faculty at <strong>Dartmouth College</strong>, where he is currently an Assistant Professor of Music.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Links:<br /> <strong>More about Spencer Topel and his projects</strong>:<a href="http:// https://www.spencertopel.com/"> https://www.spencertopel.com/</a><br /> <strong>More about Seth Parker Woods and Iced Bodies: </strong><a href="http://www.artsclubchicago.org/exhibition/iced-bodies-ice-music-for-chicago/">http://www.artsclubchicago.org/exhibition/iced-bodies-ice-music-for-chicago/</a></p> <p><strong>More about Hui-hui Cheng and her music:<a href="https://huihuicheng.com/">https://huihuicheng.com/</a></strong><br /> <strong>more about the Royaumont Festival:</strong> <a href="https://www.royaumont.com/fr/presentation-festival-2017/presentation">https://www.royaumont.com/fr/presentation-festival-2017/presentation</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/198945 Sat, 30 Sep 2017 11:01:00 GMT Live Culture Episode 28: Summer Tastes, Summer Sounds http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/188732 <p>Join us on sun-drenched stairs facing the Mediterranean, for a program filled with the sounds of motorboats, sea birds and the odd power tool! &nbsp; Episode 28 features a discussion recorded on the C&ocirc;te d'Azur, with Anna Metcalfe, an American potter who makes works that invite the public to share food, talk about sustainability and the world bee crisis. We sat and chatted about her practice during her residency at the Camargo Foundation, and later I caught up with her at her &quot;potluck&quot; which brought together local food producers and fellow residents for an alfresco event on the Foundation's garden terrace, her first foray into an international version of the projects she spearheads in the USA.</p> <p>Anna's work bridges ceramics and public art, exploring how art can be a vehicle for social change. A member of the Socially Engaged Craft Collective, Her work focuses on reframing our relationship to land and agriculture, and creating meaningful ways to connect with natural resources. Clay, an ancient medium that finds its way into every home - as a sink, a dish or a decorative object - is a ubiquitous and tactile material. She uses it as a springboard for public engagement, collaborating with community members who create the narratives that she weaves into the pieces specially made for the events she facilitates. Anna has been working as a public artist for 7 years and as a professional ceramic artist for 15 years.</p> <p>This episode includes music by&nbsp;Sabrina Malheiros and One Ring Zero.</p> <p>with thanks to Anna,&nbsp;Fleur Marin-Lamellet for her translations and all of the fellows and staff at the Camargo Foundation.</p> <p>More about Anna Metcalfe can be found at:<br /> <a href="http://www.annametcalfe.com">http://www.annametcalfe.com</a><br /> <a href="https://sociallyengagedcraftcollective.org">https://sociallyengagedcraftcollective.org</a><br /> and<br /> to help save the bees: <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/save-the-bees/">http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/save-the-bees/</a></p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/188732 Sat, 24 Jun 2017 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis -- Episode 27 Things that fly: Flags and Overpasses http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/185746 <p>This month&rsquo;s episode features a conversation with <strong>Dave Coon</strong>, one of the organizers of<em><strong> Broad Stripes and Bright Stars </strong></em> a major art exhibition opening in late June in New Haven, and, in the second half we offer a talk with <strong>Site Projects</strong>&rsquo;<strong> Laura Clarke</strong> and artist <strong>Robert Greenberg</strong> about the public artworks in the works for the highway underpass on state street, which is getting a major permanent installation by <strong>Shelia De Bretteville</strong>.</p> <p><em><strong><br /> Broad Stripes and Bright Stars</strong></em> is being organized by <strong>Dave Coon</strong> and <strong>Aicha Woods</strong> and will run from June 29- August 12 at the <strong>Ely Center For Contemporary Art. </strong>This large group show features national and internationally known artista and will occupy the whole building and will include pop-up shop of artist-made flag related goods.</p> <p>Ely Center of Contemporary Art<br /> 51 Trumbull Street, New Haven, CT&nbsp;</p> <p>More about it here: <a href="https://www.elycenter.org/events/broad-stripes-and-bright-stars">https://www.elycenter.org/events/broad-stripes-and-bright-stars</a></p> <p><br /> <strong>Site Projects </strong>is hosting an event which will feature <strong>Robert Greenberg&rsquo;s</strong> new film on June 10th at Union Station New Haven, free and open to the public.</p> <p>More about that here:&nbsp;<a href="http://siteprojects.org/events/2017/5/24/community-celebration-for-lighting-your-way-at-union-station">http://siteprojects.org/events/2017/5/24/community-celebration-for-lighting-your-way-at-union-station</a></p> <p>And more about the massive underpass project here:<a href="http://siteprojects.org/sheila-de-bretteville-lighting-your-way">http://siteprojects.org/sheila-de-bretteville-lighting-your-way<br type="_moz" /> </a></p> <p>This show features musical clips from <strong>Fleetwood Mac</strong> and <strong>Wilco</strong>.<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/185746 Sat, 27 May 2017 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis -- Episode 26 http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/182695 <p><strong>&nbsp;The nature of art :&nbsp;</strong><strong>This month we have two sets of guest who bring together the visual arts and music.</strong></p> <p>We begin with <em><strong>Home Winds</strong></em>, a book of photographs that comes with it's own song!</p> <p><br /> This new publication from <strong>Planthouse Gallery</strong> celebrates the trees on an old New Jersey Farm, and speaks of time, the importance of stewardship and the longing for home. I will be in discussion with acclaimed photographer <strong>Benjamin Swett</strong>, singer/songwriter <strong>Heather Woods Broderick</strong> about this project.</p> <p>Over the course of a year, Swett captured the essence of <strong>Home Winds Farm</strong> through a series of portraits of the maples, beeches, lindens and black cherry trees that have populated the land for decades. The farm has been preserved under the <strong>New Jersey Farmland Preservation Program</strong>, ensuring the land would be protected forever for agricultural use. Broderick&rsquo;s tribute song is a soulful ballad inspired by memories from her own upbringing on forested land in the Northeast. Proceeds from the release of the song <em><strong>Home Winds</strong></em> will bene&iuml;&not;&Acirc;&Acirc;&Acirc;&Acirc;t institutions devoted to &iuml;&not;&Acirc;&Acirc;&Acirc;&Acirc;ghting climate change. Home Winds, the book and record, come out on April 28, to coincide with the exhibition at <strong>Planthouse Gallery</strong>, April 28 &ndash; June 20, in New York City.</p> <p><strong>Benjamin Swett</strong> is a New York-based writer and photographer with an interest in combining<strong><em> photographs and text. His books include New York City of Trees </em></strong>(2013),<strong><em> </em></strong><strong><em>The Hudson Valley: A Cultural Guide</em></strong> (2009), <em><strong>Route 22</strong></em> (2007), and <em><strong>Great Trees of New York City: A Guide</strong></em> (2000). He has worked as a newspaper reporter and was a writer and photographer for the <strong>New York City Parks Department</strong> for thirteen years before taking up photography full-time in 2001. His book <em><strong>New York City of Trees</strong></em> won the 2013 <strong>New York City Book Award</strong> for Photography and his photographs are included in public collections such as the <strong>Museum of the City of New York</strong> as well as in corporate and private collections.<br /> <strong><br /> Heather Woods Broderick</strong> is a singer/ songwriter born in the state of Maine to a musical family, She currently lives in Oregon. A professional touring musician, Heather's work often invokes ideas of home and place. She sings, plays piano, cello, guitar and flute and has worked accompanying other artists as well as launching her solo career. She has two albums out: <em><strong>Glider</strong></em> and <em><strong>From the Ground</strong></em>.<br /> <br /> During the second half we speak with <strong>Fritz Horstman</strong> a visual artist who also has an audio component to his work-- writing, playing and singing as a part of the duo <strong>Spacelover,</strong> with <strong>Meredith Andrews</strong>. Much of Fritz&rsquo;s recent work has centered around water and fluid systems such as rivers. He has described his work as addressing &ldquo;the ever-moving seam between nature and culture&rdquo;. He currently has work up at<strong> ODETTA gallery</strong> in Brooklyn as a part of the show <strong><em>River Woman</em></strong>, and was selected to participate in the current <strong>deCordova Biennial</strong> at the <strong>deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park</strong>, where he has projects both in the gallery space and outdoors. He has also traveled to do work at residencies in Japan and in the Arctic Circle, and more locally as resident artist at the <strong>Yale Peabody Museum</strong>.&nbsp;</p> <p>More about this months guests can be found at:</p> <p>http://www.benjaminswett.com/<br /> http://www.heatherwoodsbroderick.com/<br /> http://planthouse.net/home-winds/</p> <p>http://www.fritzhorstman.com/<br /> https://spacelover.bandcamp.com/</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/182695 Sat, 29 Apr 2017 10:59:30 GMT Live Culture--Episode 25 BANISH THE TROLLS: MORE ART, MORE LOVE! http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/178844 <p><strong>Happy second Birthday to Live Culture!</strong><br /> This month we start the show with two guests to discuss their politically charged art exhibits in CT, and the role that gallery exhibits play in resistance. <strong>Lucy Q. McClure</strong>, one of the three main organizers of hugely popular <em><strong>Nasty Women New Haven</strong></em> and <em><strong>Joe Bun Keo</strong></em> curator of <em><strong>&quot;Alternative Facts&quot;</strong></em>, a smaller exhibition within a bigger event entitled <em><strong>&quot;In Grace We Trust&rdquo;</strong></em>. The <strong>Nasty Women'</strong>s art exhibits have taken off nationally and globally in reaction to the current administrations misogynist and violent comments and their curtailing of women's rights. New Haven is one of over 50 cities to join the movement to organize a <strong>Nasty Women</strong> exhibition. Over 300 artists have participated and the opening night drew a record breaking number of over a thousand into the exhibition space. This grass-roots project is raising money in support of <strong>Planned Parenthood </strong>and features a variety of events and activities including a reading room and a performance evening. <br /> <br /> <em><strong>&quot;Alternative Facts&quot;</strong></em>, a part of <strong><em>&quot;In Grace We Trust&quot;</em></strong> is up now at the newly established <strong>Ely Center of Contemporary Art</strong> in New Haven. Curator <strong>Joe Bun Keo </strong>writes : &ldquo;'Alternative Facts' are falsehoods. Critical media is now being called fake news. Lies are now accepted as truths. Think about the <strong>Rene Magritte</strong> painting, <em><strong>&ldquo;The Treachery of Images (This is Not a Pipe) &quot;</strong></em>... There is much uncertainty in a time when stability is needed. The works in this exhibition are physically presented, but how they settle in the viewer is up for conceptual debate.&rdquo;</p> <p>The two artist/organizers will discuss how the visual art world is manifesting itself locally in this critical moment in time.</p> <p>During the second half we speak with <strong>MILCK</strong> the singer songwriter of the hit <em><strong>&ldquo;Quiet&rdquo;</strong></em>which became the unofficial anthem of the Women's March in DC. and since has been the subject of many flashmob choral performances globally. Originally <strong>MILCK</strong> organised a group of 26 singers including members of the <strong>GW Sirens</strong> and the <strong>Capital Blend</strong> and sang a series of guerrilla performances around D.C. during Saturday's Women's March. Calling themselves the <em><strong>#ICantKeepQuiet</strong></em> <strong>Choir</strong>, they partnered with the <strong>Pussy Hat Project</strong> for the event. Once the videos of the song went viral online, they sang live on <strong>Samantha Bee&rsquo;sFull Frontal</strong>.<br /> <br /> Since then <strong>MILCK</strong> has launched a website and major social media campaign and website for <em><strong>#ICantKeepQuiet</strong></em> as a place to collect and share personal stories of inspiration. The campaign aims to raise awareness against abuse of women and minorities, and encourage empathy, tolerance and understanding towards one another. Proceeds from the project will benefit <strong>Step Up</strong>, a nonprofit that provides after school and mentorship programs for underprivileged teen girls. On April 8th, choirs and individuals will activate at 1pm in their respective time zones to sing out, speak up, and express themselves. One may participate both online and offline- more<a href="https://www.icantkeepquiet.org./"> here</a></p> <p>Additionally, <strong>MILCK&rsquo;</strong>s debut single,<strong><em> &ldquo;Devil Devil&rdquo;</em></strong> has served as the soundtrack to the season finale of<strong> The Royals</strong>, <strong>Netflix&rsquo;s Marco Polo</strong> trailer, and <strong>Fox&rsquo;s Lucifer</strong>, as well as an upcoming episode of <strong>Pretty Little Liars</strong>. <em><strong>&ldquo;Devil Devil&rdquo;</strong></em> peaked as the #1 popular tune on<strong>Tunefind.com</strong> twice in 2016, as well as having garnered over 520K streams on <strong>Spotify</strong>, and over 1 million <strong>YouTube </strong>views.<strong> MILCK's</strong> impressive list of press includes <strong>BBC News</strong>,<strong>NPR</strong>, <strong>The Huffington Post</strong>, and <strong>Rolling Stone</strong>, to name a few.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/178844 Sat, 25 Mar 2017 11:00:25 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis --episode 24 february 2017 http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/175752 <p><strong>History Lessons--&nbsp;</strong>WPKN is celebrating this <strong>Black History Month</strong> with a rich variety of special programming. With that in mind, February's Live Culture focuses on powerful images relating to politics, past protest, and the traces of History surrounding us.</p> <p>During the first half of the show I am in conversation with curator <strong>La Tanya S. Autry</strong>, the Marcia Brady Tucker Senior Fellow, in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the <strong>Yale University Art Gallery</strong>, about her latest exhibition <em><strong>Let Us March On: Lee Friedlander and the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom</strong></em>. This major show focuses on early civil rights images being exhibited for the first time, in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the march. Lee Friedlander&rsquo;s photographs offer a rare glimpse of the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, a critical moment in American civil rights history.</p> <p>On May 17, 1957 thousands of people united in front of the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C. At this first large-scale gathering of African Americans on the National Mall, elegantly clad protesters called on federal authorities to enforce desegregation, support voting rights, and combat racial violence. Friedlander documented the crowds as well as the illustrious figures who attended or spoke at the march, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Ella Baker, Mahalia Jackson, and Harry Belafonte. Dr King gave his iconic &quot;Give Us The Ballot&quot; address at this gathering. La Tanya has organized an exciting roster of events in tandem with the exhibition and we will talk about the work, it's relationship to events and protests today, and the on-going battle for justice in the United States.</p> <p>During the second half we catch up with artist and curator <strong>David Borawski</strong>, about his plethora of projects including showing his work in the forthcoming exhibitions: <em><strong>Present Danger </strong></em>at <strong>Marymount Manhattan College</strong> in New York,<strong><em> Equators,</em></strong> a collaborative art project at the <strong>Housatonic Museum</strong> in Bridgeport, and the forthcoming <em><strong>Mincing Words: The Tactile Language of Unrest</strong></em>, at <strong>The Institute Library</strong>, New Haven.</p> <p>David's conceptually driven installations reflect upon iconic cultural and societal events that have influenced major shifts in our collective consciousness, but which now we may be near the point of forgetting. His immersive works use text, video and mixed media - including found objects - to invoke such charged historic moments as the Black Panther trials in New Haven. He has spoken of past events as being &quot;uncanny precursors to present-day realities&quot;, a sentiment which permeates his work. David is also busy organizing exhibitions of other artist's work including <em><strong>Any World That I'm Welcome To</strong></em>, up now at <strong>Dehn Gallery at MCC on Main</strong> in Manchester, Ct., and<em> Lost and Found</em>, which just closed at <strong>Real Art Ways </strong>in Hartford, Ct.</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/175752 Sat, 25 Feb 2017 10:59:35 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis --Episode 23, january 2017 http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/172714 <p><strong>&nbsp;Public Art/Art Public </strong><br /> <strong><br /> Let's pretend it's summer!</strong></p> <p>This month on Live Culture we start off 2017 with a rebroadcast of Episode 4 from June 2015, which seems at once very relevant to right now and very far in the past indeed. This slice-of-warm-weather show features a conversation with <strong>Selby Nimrod,</strong> curator and project manager of <strong>Art Sites New Haven</strong>, a web-based initiative which offers interactive maps of public art in the greater New Haven area, and <strong>Laura Weir Clarke</strong>, Executive Director and Co-Founder of <strong>Site Projects</strong>, an organization which commissions international artists to do public art projects around the city of New Haven. <strong>Art Sites New Haven</strong> is a spin-off from <strong>Site Projects</strong> and offers access and information about the broad range of free, public outdoor works which surround us.</p> <p>Come warm up with us next to your radio and dream of sunny excursions to sites historic and contemporary around town- or skip the mid-winter doldrums, bundle up and tour them all now!</p> <p><br /> To view the <strong>Art site</strong><strong>s website and app&nbsp;</strong>visit: <a href="http://artsitesnewhaven.com/">http://artsitesnewhaven.com/</a><br /> To learn more about <strong>Site Projects</strong>: <a href="http://www.siteprojects.org/index.htm">http://www.siteprojects.org/index.htm</a></p> <p>with music excerpts by:</p> <ul> <li><strong>No Valentine</strong> &ndash; more here: <a href="https://novalentine.bandcamp.com ">https://novalentine.bandcamp.com </a></li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;(thanks to <strong>No Valentine</strong> for their permission to use this song in its entirety)</p> <ul> <li><strong>The Natural Spiritual Orchestra</strong> ( Bill Lee and Branford Marsalis)</li> <li><strong>Elvis Costello &amp; The Attractions </strong></li> <li><strong>Naomi Shelton &amp; The Gospel Queens<br /> </strong></li> <li><strong>Nina Simone <br /> </strong></li> <li><strong>John Legend &amp; The Roots</strong></li> </ul> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/172714 Sat, 28 Jan 2017 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture: Episode 21 This Land Is Your Land http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/165926 <p><strong>Live Culture 21: This land was made for you and me</strong></p> <p>This month offers an audio visit with <strong>Mark D. Mitchell, the Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale University Art Gallery</strong> of his exhibit <em><strong>Yosemite: Exploring the Incomparable Valley</strong></em><strong>.</strong> Commemorating the 150th anniversary of <strong>Yale&rsquo;s Peabody Museum of Natural History</strong> and the 100th anniversary of the creation of<strong> America&rsquo;s National Park Service</strong>, <strong><em>Yosemite: Exploring the Incomparable Valley</em></strong> considers one of the country&rsquo;s most celebrated natural landmarks through the fields of both art and science.</p> <p>Beginning in 1855, artists, scientists, and scenic tourists alike traveled to the Yosemite Valley in California&rsquo;s Sierra Nevada Mountains to experience its majestic landscape in person. President Abraham Lincoln extended the first protection to the region in 1864, preserving the valley, with its sheer granite cliffs and soaring waterfalls, as well as the neighboring Mariposa Grove of ancient sequoias. Taking as its starting point Albert Bierstadt&rsquo;s large-scale <strong><em>Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point Trail</em></strong> (ca. 1873), a cornerstone of the collection of the<strong> Yale University Art Gallery</strong>, the exhibition shows how Americans found inspiration in the western landscape and also sought to understand its marvels&mdash;through paintings, prints, and photographs as well as the botanical and geological specimens that early scientists brought back from their expeditions. The exhibition was made possible by the Art Gallery Exhibition and Publication Fund and the Friends of American Arts at Yale Exhibition Fund.</p> <p><em><strong>Yosemite: Exploring the Incomparable Valle</strong></em>y runs October 7, 2016&ndash;December 31, 2016</p> <p>&nbsp;Episode 21 features musical clips by Ryder McNair from the 2015 film <em><strong>Yosemite</strong></em>, as well as songs from the bands <strong>The National Parks</strong> and<strong> Yosemite</strong>. Join us on the 26th to give thanks for one of America's greatest collective assets, our National Parks System.</p> <p><br /> Find our more by visiting: <br /> <a href="http://artgallery.yale.edu/&hellip;/yosemite-exploring-incomparabl&hellip;">http://artgallery.yale.edu/&hellip;/yosemite-exploring-incomparabl&hellip;</a><br /> <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm">https://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm</a><br /> <a href="https://www.nps.gov/featurecont&hellip;/yose/anniversary/index.html">https://www.nps.gov/featurecont&hellip;/yose/anniversary/index.html</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/165926 Sat, 26 Nov 2016 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis Episode 20 http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/162875 <p>&nbsp;Episode 20: Greetings from the Labyrinth!</p> <p>This month we are presenting a live broadcast from the Erector Square weekend of City-Wide-Open-Studios, an annual event that has hundreds of artists opening their studio doors to the public. Guests include open studios artists: Leila Daw, John Arabolos, Kathryn Frund, Lani Asucion, and Janet Lage, Artspace New Haven Director Helen Kauder and Erector Square Managment's Kathi Telman.</p> <p>This special event has kindly been made possible through the generosity and help of: Kenneth Boroson Architects, The Erector Square Management Company, LLC. and the wonderful volunteers and staff at WPKN.</p> <p>more about Erector Square open studios weekend here:</p> <p>&nbsp;https://artspacenewhaven.org/cwos-home/oct-29-30-erector-square-weekend/</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/162875 Sat, 29 Oct 2016 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis- Episode 19- With a Paddle http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/159228 <p>This Month I am in conversation with Artist and Canoeist <strong>Scott Schuldt.</strong> As we make our way along the <strong>Scantic River</strong> in CT we discuss his practice, which involves specimens and artifacts found on his river trips, and the special treasure hunt with them that he has created for this year's <strong>Game-On </strong>themed <strong>City-Wide-Open-Studios</strong> which happens throughout October In New Haven.</p> <p>Each day several lucky players could win their artifact, beautifully contained in one of Scott's unique specimen boxes to show off and protect their treasure.Open Studios and Scott's game are free and open to the public.Additionally, for the past several years Scott has been working as Facilities Coordinator for <strong>City-Wide-Open-Studios' Alternative Space</strong>, acting as engineer for the many installations that take place in <strong>The Goffe Street Armory</strong>.</p> <p>In addition to his specimen boxes. Scott's oeuvre also includes hand-carved and painted paddles, intricate bead-work, and an ongoing blog recording his over 700 canoe trips documented in words and pictures. Our voyage was included in his blog: <strong>The View From The Canoe</strong> and can be read <a href="http://canoepost.blogspot.com/">here</a><br /> More about <strong>Scott's visual art </strong><a href="http://www.scottschuldt.com/">here</a><br /> More about <strong>2016's Game-On themed City-Wide-Open-Studios</strong> <a href="https://artspacenewhaven.org/cwos-home/">here</a></p> <p>Peppered throughout the interview are bits of river-themed music- of which there was so much to choose from, plus references to our two mutually favorite river movies: <strong>Apocalypse Now</strong> and <strong>The African Queen</strong>. Don't miss this final summer adventure in audio....</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/159228 Sat, 24 Sep 2016 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture with Martha Willette Lewis--Episode 15 http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/148292 <p>This month's episode begins in conversation with <strong>Vanessa German</strong>, the current artist at <strong>The Wadsworth Athenaeum&rsquo;s MATRIX </strong>series. German&rsquo;s installation<em> &ldquo;i come to do a violence to the lie&rdquo;</em> . <strong>MATRIX 174</strong> will transform the Bunce Gallery into an underground excavation site,&nbsp;with strings of bare light bulbs minimally illuminating a powerful female army of over&nbsp;30 of German&rsquo;s figurative sculptures installed in military formation on an earthen floor.&nbsp;The presentation was inspired by the estimated 7,000 terra cotta warriors&nbsp;buried near the 2,000 year-old tomb of Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi.</p> <p>In her signature prose, German describes them as:</p> <p>&ldquo;an army of healers.an army of weepers. An army of protectors. Armed and dangerous upon the lie.&rdquo; She defines their role in &ldquo;a sustained accumulation of destruction to the vicious and debilitating compendium of hate, lies, and murder; the shapeshifting nature of the weapons aimed against my very flesh and soul. (i do not have to tell you that___black lives matter.)&rdquo;</p> <p>In May she was artist in residence at <strong>Hartford Public Schools</strong>.<br /> In July she will return to Hartford for summer sessions with community groups including <strong>True Colors, Real Art Ways&rsquo; Park Art, Billings Forge Community Works,</strong> and <strong>The Wadsworth Atheneum&rsquo;s Summer Community Studio.</strong></p> <p>Vanessa German lives in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh, where crime, drugs, and<br /> gun violence continually wreak havoc on the historically African-American urban community,<br /> and where many residents have personal connections to the victims of violence. In response to<br /> her life experiences, German creates inspiring sculptures in the tradition of African &ldquo;Nkisi&rdquo;<br /> power figures, divine protective objects thickly encrusted with nails, beads, shells, and found<br /> objects that evoke suits of armor. Housing mystical forces to eradicate evil, German&rsquo;s enigmatic<br /> contemporary variations of the ritualistic sculptures embody a performative, spiritual, and<br /> affirming function.</p> <p><strong>Matrix 174</strong> begins <strong>June 9 </strong>and runs through <strong>Sept. 4, 2016</strong>.<br /> An exhibition opening reception on <strong>June 8</strong> will feature a performance of German&rsquo;s<br /> signature style of spoken word opera, a hybrid of spoken word poetry combining the theatrical<br /> elements of hip hop, African storytelling and opera. Tickets are available for purchase online at <a href="http://www.thewadsworth.org. ">www.thewadsworth.org. </a></p> <p><br /> <strong>The Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art</strong> is located at 600 Main Street Hartford, CT 06013</p> <p>During the second half of the show, Martha is in discussion with Artist <strong>Debbie Hesse</strong> about her project <strong>Sway. Shift: Sea Garden, version 12.0</strong>, A community-enhanced installation at <strong>Vauiso Greenhouse Growers,</strong> located at 75 Hosely Ave., Branford. The installation is on view <strong>May 10-June 15</strong>, during daily retail hours.</p> <p>This work aims to spark a visual conversation about the relationship between agriculture and ocean Farming while highlighting local initiatives to grow underwater restorative sea gardens that address issues of food security and the environment.</p> <p>Hesse has partnered with multiple organizations for this project including <strong>Vauiso farms</strong> and <strong>Green Wave</strong>. This project is the aftermath of her fall residency at <strong>Hongti Art Center</strong> in Busan, South Korea where she researched traditional seaweed cultivation practices and created a video installation.</p> <p>Debbie Hesse is an installation artist who combines organic and artificial materials and forms with cast and painted shadows to create parallel, hybrid, ephemeral environments that explore ideas about growth, materiality and the ethereal.</p> <p>Debbie was recently awarded an International Artist-in-Residence in Busan, South Korea, a Regional Art Initiative Grant from the <strong>Connecticut Office of the Arts and Shoreline Arts Aliance </strong>and is a recipient of a <strong>Rhode Island Visual Artist Sea Grant,</strong> a <strong>Connecticut Visual Artist Sea Grant</strong>, and a <strong>Vermont Studio Residency Individual Grant.</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.geomorphictank.com">www.geomorphictank.com</a> <br /> <a href="http://www.vaiusofarms.com/">http://www.vaiusofarms.com/</a></p> <p>playlist of music excerpts:<br /> Hell you Talmbout,<br /> Janelle Monae and Wonderland</p> <p>Burn the Witch, <br /> radiohead, moon shaped pool</p> <p>Octopus&rsquo;s Garden <br /> Rockabye Baby! lullaby renditions of beatles songs</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/148292 Sat, 28 May 2016 11:01:00 GMT Live Culture- Episode 13 http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/142383 <p>This month&rsquo;s guests are artist <strong>Mohamad Hafez</strong> who has an exhibit at <strong>Real Art Ways</strong>, Hartford, and <strong>Robyn Shapiro</strong>, deputy director of the <strong>Lowline</strong>, a project taking place in Manhattan to create the world&rsquo;s first underground park.</p> <p><br /> We begin in conversation with <strong>Mohamad Hafez</strong>, whose exhibit <strong>Desperate Cargo</strong> opened at<strong> Real Art Ways</strong> in Hartford on March 17th. Syrians worldwide continue to struggle to comprehend the recent aftermath of the Arab spring and its impact on their home country. What initially began as a Syrian uprising against injustice, tyranny, and marginalization of the country&rsquo;s populace is now resulting in the largest humanitarian crisis of the 21st Century.</p> <p>An artist and architect, Hafez was born in Damascus, raised in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and educated in the United States. Hafez&rsquo;s art reflects the political turmoil in the Middle East through the compilation of found objects, paint and scrap metal. Using his architectural skills, Hafez creates political microcosms of life in this fraught environment.<strong> Desperate Cargo</strong> is a multimedia installation that incorporates a life raft, miniature elements, and photography, focussing on the war and the current refugee crisis facing us all now.</p> <p><br /> <strong>Desperate Cargo</strong> is on view until April 24th at <strong>Real Art Ways</strong> Hartford,to find out more:<br /> <a href="http://www.realartways.org/event/mohamad-hafez/2016-03-12/">http://www.realartways.org/event/mohamad-hafez/2016-03-12/</a></p> <p>visit Mohamad's website here:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mohamadhafez.com/">http://www.mohamadhafez.com/</a></p> <p>The charity organization Aid All Syrians here:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.aidallsyrians.org/">http://www.aidallsyrians.org/</a></p> <p><br /> During the second half of the show, Martha will be in discussion with <strong>Robyn Shapiro</strong>, deputy director of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Lowline</strong> - the world&rsquo;s first underground park, slated to open in 2020, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. We will discuss the technology, artistry, and challenges that are involved in such a massive undertaking and why this could be a model for other such projects globally. Robyn oversees many of <strong>The</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Lowline&rsquo;s</strong> core activities, from community engagement to strategic projects, including The Young Designers Program, which focuses on solar power projects with students.</p> <p><br /> <strong>The Lowline</strong> proposes innovative solar technology to illuminate the historic <strong>Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal</strong>, just below Delancey Street. The site was opened in 1908 but has been unused since 1948 when trolley service was discontinued. Despite six decades of neglect, the space still retains remnant cobblestones, crisscrossing rail tracks and vaulted ceilings. It is also directly adjacent to the existing JMZ subway track at the Essex Street subway stop&ndash; so park visitors and subway riders would interact daily. This hidden historic site is located in one of the least green areas of New York City&mdash; presenting a unique opportunity to reclaim unused space for public good.</p> <p><br /> Designed by James Ramsey of <strong>Raad Studio</strong>, the proposed solar technology involves the creation of a &ldquo;remote skylight.&rdquo; In this approach, sunlight passes through a glass shield above the parabolic collector, and is reflected and gathered at one focal point, and directed underground. Sunlight is transmitted onto a reflective surface on the distributor dish underground, transmitting that sunlight into the space. This technology would transmit the necessary wavelengths of light to support photosynthesis, enabling plants and trees to grow. During periods of sunlight, electricity would not be necessary to light the space.</p> <p><br /> Currently <strong>The Lowline Lab</strong> is open -- a free community gathering space that displays cutting-edge solar technology and serves as a laboratory for lighting and horticulture experiments. The Lab also features cultural and community events. By 2020, <strong>The Lowline</strong> aims to have completed negotiations with the MTA and the City to build and operate the underground park.</p> <p><br /> Visitors may visit <strong>The Lowline Lab</strong> during the weekends, until 2017: &nbsp;<a href="http://www.thelowline.org/get-involved/lowline-lab/">http://www.thelowline.org/get-involved/lowline-lab/</a></p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/142383 Sat, 26 Mar 2016 11:00:23 GMT Live Culture Episode 10 with Martha Willette Lewis http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/137323 <p>Episode 10- The Venice Biennale part 2</p> <p>For December edition- the last for 2015- martha returns to <strong>The Venice Biennale</strong>. The conversation starts with Artist <strong>Judi Harvest</strong> and her installation <em><strong>Room of Dreams</strong></em>, in the collateral<strong><em> Dialogue of Fire </em></strong>exhibition, which was curated partially by <strong>Luca Berta</strong> and <strong>Francesca Guibelei</strong> who were featured in last month&rsquo;s episode. They both have cameos in this month&rsquo;s broadcast along with Harvest, whose glass-based installation occupied the frescoed bedroom of the Palazzo Tiepolo. Judi was one of Martha's very first guests on the show, so it&rsquo;s fitting that she ends the year with her, visiting her honeybee garden in Murano as well.....</p> <p><strong>For the second half </strong>Martha is in discussion with exhibition invigilator/artist &nbsp;<strong>Phillip McCrilly </strong>and Australian curator and writer <strong>Elyse Goldfinch</strong> about <strong><em>Sean Lynch's Adventure:Capital</em></strong> installation and video representing Ireland at the Arsenalle. Lynch's work was curated by <strong>Woodrow Kernohan</strong> and features the voice of well-known Irish actress <strong>Gina Moxley</strong> in the video sequences.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/137323 Sat, 26 Dec 2015 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture Episode 9 with Martha Willette Lewis: All The World's Futures, Part 1 http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/131555 <p>Closing out 2015 Live Culture focuses on live recordings made during the <strong>Biennale di Venezia </strong>and airs over two months <strong>Nov 28</strong> &amp; <strong>Dec 26</strong> - to fit it all in.</p> <p>For the November broadcast I featured:<br /> interviews with <strong>Artwise </strong>-Dea Vanagan, Susie Allen, Laura Culpan, the curators from the vast international exhibit <strong>VITA VITALE </strong>at the <strong>Azerbaijan Pavilion</strong><br /> and in the second half, I have an audio tour with<br /> <strong>Francesca Giubilei </strong>and <strong>Luca Berta</strong>, the curators of the<strong> Brian Eno/ Beezy Bailey</strong> collaboration: <strong>THE SOUND OF CREATION,</strong> at the <strong>Palazzo Pisani, Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello</strong>, Venice&rsquo;s music school.</p> <p>More about this year's Biennale which ran from May through November 2015 <a href="http://www.labiennale.org/en/art/news/22-11.html">here</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>More about VITA VITALE <a href="http://www.azerbaijanvenicebiennale.com/#/en/vita/artists">here</a></li> <li>More about Artwise<a href="http://artwisecurators.com/projects/venice-biennale-vita-vitale/"> here</a></li> <li>More aboutTHE SOUND OF CREATION<a href="https://www.artsy.net/show/arsculture-the-sound-of-creation-sound-paintings-by-beezy-bailey-and-brian-eno"> here.</a></li> <li>Ayoutube video interview with Beezy Bailey <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN_KtpE0RmY">here</a>.</li> </ul> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/131555 Sat, 28 Nov 2015 11:00:58 GMT Live Culture Episode 8 with Martha Willette Lewis Arty Beasts & Talented Monsters http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/129083 <p>&nbsp;Arty Beasts &amp; Talented Monsters</p> <p>&quot;Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.</p> <p>Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?&quot;</p> <p>- William Shakespeare, from Henry IV, part 1</p> <p>This month's program offers up a beastly menagerie for creative children of any age- first we have the team behind the book&nbsp;<strong>43 Monsters</strong>, which is about to come out in a new, family friendly edition for kids. <br /> My guests are<br /> Artist <strong>Chuck Webster</strong>,<br /> Author <strong>Arthur Bradford</strong> and <br /> Gallerist <strong>Katie Michel</strong>, one of the founders of Planthouse Gallery NY, who published the original 43 Monsters in 2013 as a hardcover art book, printed in limited edition by Trifolio in Italy.The irreverent text has been updated for its family friendly debut, and the book laid out in accessible format for monster-appreciators of every age.</p> <p>During the second half<br /> I am in conversation with:<br /> Author, Composer and Performer <strong>Michael Hearst</strong>,<br /> About his ongoing project: a CD- <strong>Songs for Unusual Creatures, A Book: Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals</strong>, and now a digital PBS production. He maintains a lively performance schedule and often uses unusual instruments to portray his menagerie of eccentric and truly wondrous animals. Michael has upcoming performances at Barb&egrave;s, In Brooklyn, Carnegie Hall, NY, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.</p> <p><br /> Throughout the program we will hear a sampling some of Micheal's audio animals.<br /> so:<br /> &ldquo;Let the wild rumpus start!&rdquo; <br /> &acirc;&euro;&bull; From Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/129083 Sat, 31 Oct 2015 11:00:00 GMT Live Culture episode 7 with Martha Willette Lewis http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/125996 <p>&nbsp;Episode 7: Grand Gestures <br /> This month my guests are :</p> <p>Susan L. Talbott, Director and CEO of the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, which is celebrating a GRAND REOPENING on September 19 after a long renovation.The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is the oldest continually-operating public art museum in the United States and has been undergoing a major renovation since 2010.&nbsp;The $33 million project renewed the museum&rsquo;s historic structures and added 16 new gallery spaces. The Museum, which has expanded by adding nearly 16,000 square feet of exhibition space, has many exciting things in store for us!</p> <p><br /> More about The Wadsworth Atheneum here:&nbsp;<a href="https://thewadsworth.org/">thewadsworth.org/</a></p> <p>and :</p> <p>Artist/print-maker Roxanne Faber Savage and gallerist Gabriel Da Silva, who, with The Westville Village Renaissance Alliance, have an upcoming giant steamroller printmaking project in the works.This public event, happening in October 17-18 as a part of City-Wide Open Studios Festival, organized by Artspace New Haven, is free and open to the public.</p> <p><br /> more about the CWOS festival here<br /> <a href="http://www.cwos.org/oct-17-18-transported-weekend/">http://www.cwos.org/oct-17-18-transported-weekend/</a><br /> more about Roxanne Faber Savage <a href="http://www.roxanneprints.com/">http://www.roxanneprints.com/</a><br /> more about DaSilva Gallery here<br /> <a href="http://dasilva-gallery.com/">http://dasilva-gallery.com/</a><br /> <br /> &nbsp;</p> http://archives.wpkn.org/http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/125996 Sat, 26 Sep 2015 11:00:00 GMT