Fresh Talk LIVE: Theaster Gates

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Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century  

In this Fresh Talk LIVE feature, Cathy Byrd meets Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates in Washington, DC, on Election Night 2012. Theaster is the featured speaker in the second annual Kinetic: Conversations in Contemporary Art lecture series at American University. Wilmer Wilson, an alumnus of Howard University, American University graduate students Emily Fransisco and Heather Ravenscroft, and University of Mary Washington senior Sidney Mullis join the conversation.    

Sound Editor: Leonardo Madriz | Photos: Cathy Byrd unless otherwise noted | Music: Theaster Gates + The Black Monks of Mississippi, Shine, 2011

Fresh VUE: Theaster Gates & Huguenot House

Theaster Gates: 12 Ballads for Huguenot House


Pictured here, 12 Ballads for Huguenot House was created by Chicago-based artist and urban planner Theaster Gates. His project for documenta(13) unites two disused buildings—one in Chicago and the other in Kassel, Germany—by dismantling parts of each to reuse in rebuilding the other. The spatial re-imagining is realized in twelve thematic “ballads.”

Theaster speaks about his work at American University, Washington, DC, on November 6, 2012. His talk is the second annual lecture in the new Kinetic: Conversations in Contemporary Art lecture series at the University. Fresh Art International makes history that night by recording the inaugural Fresh Talk LIVE podcast.

Photos: Cathy Byrd, except where noted.

Chicago

Chicago was amazing! Spent time with Torkwase Dyson at Studio South Zero, her solar-powered workspace at The Dorchester Project. A video performance artist new to the city, Jefferson Pinder shared the skinny on his upcoming performance project. FAI will feature each of the artists on Art Talk in the next few weeks.


Explored the city with stops in Hyde Park, South Side, West Loop, Downtown, the Art Institute of Chicago and Millenium Park. No matter how difficult it must be to keep that sculpture shiny, Anish Kapoor's wondrous Cloud Gate is worth every effort. If you're headed to Chicago between now and 23 December, take time to see Unlimited Ocean, Wolfgang Laib's sublime installation in SAIC's Sullivan Galleries. This slide show offers a taste of my encounters.