BEST OF Fresh Talk: Joan Jonas

BEST OF Fresh Talk: Joan Jonas
Published 28 May 2012

Listen to this episode [right click to save/download] | Subscribe with iTunes

Our listeners love Joan Jonas. A seminal contemporary performance artist, she has profoundly influenced the genre. Cathy Byrd watched Joan perform "The Shape, The Scent, The Feel of Things" twice this year—first, in Austin, Texas, and later, in Kassel, Germany. Each time, she and her collaborator, American jazz musician Jason Moran, filled the house and met standing ovations. Having featured Joan's work in a 1994 retrospective, the Stedelijk Museum dedicated a salon to Joan for the venue's re-opening exhibition. Fresh Art International was there.    

Sound Editor: Leonardo Madriz
Photos: known credits noted
Music: Jason Moran, He Takes His Coat and Leaves

Fresh VUE: Jefferson Pinder, Ben-Hur

On March 22, 2012, at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., six men in business attire engaged in a performance that tested their stamina and strength. Loosely inspired by the galley scene in the 1959 Hollywood epic Ben-Hur, the re-enaction demanded that artist Jefferson Pinder's crew work themselves to exhaustion. Amy Sherald, FAI Media Director, and the artist share photos from the performance.


Ben-Hur is a time based endurance piece by Jefferson Pinder in which he continues his investigation of dynamic movement. Ben-Hur not only reflects on the historical, social and political ideas surrounding masculinity and "blackness," but also evokes our collective experience of human predicament and struggle.

Listen to Cathy Byrd and Jefferson Pinder on Fresh Talk.

Fresh Talk: Jefferson Pinder

Listen to this episode.

Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century


In this episode, Chicago-based video performance artist Jefferson Pinder explains the importance of physical exertion in his work. Hear how his fascination with Houdini and street theater led to his new live performance series: The Escape Artist. 

Jefferson makes his first appearance as the Escape Artist at 8:05pm, Sunday, December 4, 2011, in Salisbury, Maryland. The premiere performance commemorates the death of Matthew Williams, who was confined to a straightjacket when he was lynched in front of the Wicomico courthouse on December 4, 1931. 

Sound Editor: Ira KIp
Photos: Courtesy Jefferson Pinder

Fresh Talk: Janet Biggs

Listen to this episode.

Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century

New York-based video artist Janet Biggs makes an extreme sport of her creative expression. In this conversation, Janet considers the power of desire and the physical challenges she met while producing video projects on view in No Limits, her current mid-career survey. Organized by the Tampa Museum of Art, the exhibition runs from October 8, 2011 through January 8, 2012.

Fresh Talk: Kate Hers

Listen to this episode.

Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century

In this episode of Fresh Talk, Kate Hers, a Korean-born video artist based in Berlin, describes the German art scene and explains how she raised funds through Kickstarter for Dr. Rhee’s Kimtschi Shop. The artist and her partner, physicist Hanjo Rhee, will trade their special version of Korea’s national treasure for cultural artifacts from the shop's customers from November 19 to 25, 2011, at Das Gift, Berlin.

Sound Editor: Ira Kip
Photos: Kate Hers
Music: Kraftwerk, Computer Love

Janet Biggs: No Limits

Janet Biggs, In the Cold, 2010, video still

I’m taking a day trip to view a solo exhibition featuring the video art of Janet Biggs at the Tampa Museum of Art. A mid-career survey, No Limits is beautifully presented. The ponderous amount of technology that made possible the encounter of 12 video projects is almost entirely out of view. I’ve followed Janet's trajectory for the past ten years and couldn’t resist the opportunity to walk through an absolute wonderland of her amazing projects. I’ll be posting a podcast of my conversation with Janet later this month.

No Limits is on view at the Tampa Museum of Art through January 8, 2012.