Fresh Talk: Helena Reckitt

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Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century   

On Skype, Cathy Byrd speaks with London-based curator Helena Reckitt about the artists she selected to participate in Nuit Blanche, Toronto, 2012. Projects in Once More With Feeling, Helena's curatorial zone, will animate notions of repetition, remaking, renewal and revolt. The annual art event that brings a million people out onto the streets of the city from dusk to dawn takes place this Saturday, 29 September.  

Sound Editor: Leo Madriz
Photos courtesy Helena Reckitt 
Episode Sound, in order of appearance: Katie Paterson, Hadley+Maxwell, Susan Stenger   

Once More With Feeling Projects Planes, Trisha Brown Dance Company  | Earth–Moon–Earth (Moonlight Sonata Reflected from the Surface of the Moon), Katie Paterson | Smells Like Spirit, Hadley+Maxwell | Thought Balloon, Brian Cauley | Moth Maze, Oliver Husain | The Structures Of Everyday Life: Full Circle, Susan Stenger | The Day After, Tomorrow, Dave Dyment | Tremolo, Maeve Brennan, Ruth Ewan | Ensemble for Mixed Use, JD Walsh | Body Xerox, Simon Denny, Yngve Holen

Fresh VUE: Art Basel + Scope, June 2012

FAI contributor Kesha Bruce shares a glimpse of her encounter with Art Basel and Scope 2012 in Switzerland last week.

Art Basel- The mother of all international art fairs, Art Basel has something for everyone. I spent the bulk of my time in the second building which housed the smaller galleries. It was a pleasure to escape the intense crowds and noise of the main building which I can only be describe as a cross between the inside of an agitated beehive and the mall of America on Christmas Eve.

Liste 17 - Billed as the "young" art fair, Liste 17 definitely had edgier and more daring displays, but not many were successful. I soon became weary of room after room of indecipherable installations and inaccessible conceptual works. I do give the organizers extra credit for the quirky location and taking risks on smaller innovative galleries. And at the bar out front, you could buy sausages and cheap beer which ended up being the highlight of my visit.

SCOPE- My hands-down favorite! The location was perfect and each booth was beautifully curated. Strong adventurous work coupled with approachable art dealers and pricing that didn't send me reeling. What more can you ask for in an art fair?

Navid Nuur, this week's featured artist on Fresh Talk, was there to present one of his experiments.


Images courtesy Kesha Bruce