BEST OF Fresh Talk: Carolina Grau

Cathy Byrd Talks Art with Carolina Grau
Published August 6, 2012
This BEST OF Fresh Talk episode was recorded in Barcelona, home base for curator Carolina Grau's international practice.

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Conversations about Creativity in the 21st Century        

In Barcelona, Cathy Byrd speaks with Carolina Grau, an independent curator from Spain, who has created projects in London, Madrid, Lisbon, Sao Paulo and Paris. Carolina describes what she learned as a facilitator for Rachel Whiteread and the late Juan Muñoz; her curatorial residency at the Center for Contemporary Art, Noisy-le-Sec; the evolution of her work with Martin Creed (Cubitt Gallery and Tate Modern, London; Sala Alcalá, Madrid); and how locals get involved with the one-weekend D.I.Y. biennial she co-organizes with Mario Flecha, in the village of Jafre, Spain.

Sound Editor: Leonardo Madriz      
Photos: Courtesy the artists and Carolina Grau, except where noted     
Sound: Martin Creed, Thinking, Not Thinking

En Barcelona, ​​Cathy Byrd habla con Carolina Grau, comisaria independiente de España que ha creado proyectos en Londres, Madrid, Lisboa, Sao Paulo y París. Carolina describe lo que aprendió como facilitadora para los artistas Rachel Whiteread y Juan Muñoz, su residencia curatorial en el Centro de Arte Contemporáneo en Noisy-le-Sec, la evolución de su trabajo con Martin Creed (Cubitt Gallery y la Tate Modern, Londres; Sala Alcalá, Madrid); y cómo durante un fin de semana, la gente se involucra en la D.I.Y. bienal que co-organiza con Mario Flecha, en Jafre, España. 

Fresh Talk: Sarah Hobbs

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Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century

 
Cathy Byrd speaks on Skype with photographer Sarah Hobbs on a night when Sarah is testing materials she collected for Overpacked, a set of site-specific installations to be on view in Atlanta for four days next week. Sarah's interest in human obsessions has led her to depict a range of neuroses and human foibles. Known for immersing her viewers in large scale photographs staged in familiar domestic interiors, this time, Sarah invites us into an experiential space: three hotel rooms that appear to be occupied by individuals trying very hard to make themselves feel at home.

Sound Editor and Episode Sound Designer: Eric Schwartz
Photos: Sarah Hobbs

BEST OF Fresh Talk: Jack Sanders

Cathy Byrd Talks Architecture with Jack Sanders
Published July 15, 2012
Our listeners love hearing Austin-based Jack Sanders talk about his adventures. Jack's episode is high on the list for Best Of Fresh Talk.

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Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century

Cathy Byrd meets artist Jack Sanders at his studio in East Austin. From Cleburne, Texas, Jack studied at Auburn University and the School of Architecture at the University of Texas before he founded his company DesignBuild Adventure. Hear Jack talk about his muse Sam Mockbee, the Rural Studio, El Cosmico, and his commitment to slow architecture, storytelling and dreaming.

Sound Editor: Leonardo Madriz
Photo: Jack Sanders, except where noted 
Music: Ross Cashiola, Trains in the Grass

BEST OF Fresh Talk: Franklin Sirmans

Cathy Byrd Talks Art with Franklin Sirmans
Published May 14, 2012
Our listeners consider this conversation with curator Franklin Sirmans the Number One episode for Fresh Talk's first season.

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Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century

Cathy Byrd talks on the phone with Franklin Sirmans, curator of contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Their conversation considers the essential role of public art at LACMA, covers the latest news on Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass installation and previews upcoming LACMA exhibitions to feature the Broad Collection (2012) and the work of Noah Purifoy (2014). Recently appointed Artistic Director for Prospect.3 New Orleans, Franklin shares some of his thoughts about the 2014 exhibition.

Sound Editor: Leo Madriz | Images: Courtesy of LACMA, except where noted. | End Sound: Excerpt of audio recorded while moving Michael Heizer's 340-ton rock from Riverside to Los Angeles, CA. Courtesy of LACMA

Fresh Rx.10 with Kesha Bruce

Fresh Rx.10

I’ve been a full-time artist for nearly 20 years now and I’ve worked hard to build a client list of people who are interested in my work. I work in my studio about 30 hours a week and I show and sell my work on a regular basis on the national level. My biggest problem is that at this point in my career I feel a bit stuck. I feel like I’ve lost that spirit of discovery and adventure I had as a young art student. Any ideas about how I can get it back?
Painter, Chicago, IL

Sometimes in my own studio practice, I find that I get to the end of one avenue of thought and there’s just nothing left there to go on. I’m done. Or I may find that an idea that I started out working on with absolute excitement, now just seems plain boring. When this happens, I have two solutions that always work for me:

Take a sharp left.
Stop everything and go in a completely different direction. In some cases, it may be as easy as switching mediums. Working with new materials, or restricting the materials you allow yourself to use is a great way to set up problems or obstacles that will force your brain to find a way to “work around.” Most of the time the work I produce when I’m creating in this mode never becomes finished artwork. But that’s never the point. The point is to get a fresh perspective. I like to think of it as Creative Research and Development. 

Stop and refuel.
It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to create great work. When I’m having a series of days where I find I’m super low on both energy and motivation, I wise up and realize that instead of forcing myself to move ahead at half mast, I really need to rest and refuel. I’m a big believer in the idea of artists and Creatives taking serious and planned “down time” in order to sustain themselves long-term. Too often we out-put all this creative energy and then we forget to refuel. We get so excited and busy working on projects and activities that when our creative “low fuel” warning light comes on, we don’t pay attention. Just because your creative inkwell has temporarily run dry doesn’t mean there aren’t any exciting new ideas left in there. Perhaps they just need more time to germinate.

In July 2009, Stefan Sagmeister gave a great TED talk about The Power of Time Off.

Send your questions to Kesha Bruce: freshartinternational@gmail.com
Subject Line: Fresh Rx

Fresh Talk: Luci Westphal

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Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century      

 
In Berlin, Cathy Byrd meets Luci Westphal, a German filmmaker based in New York and Berlin, to talk about Luci's love for street art, music, film and the D.I.Y. style. Luci shares the inside story on her moving postcard series In A Berlin Minute and her latest documentary All's Well and Fair.         

Sound Editor: Leonardo Madriz   
Photographs courtesy the artist   
Music: "Frogfly Buzzing," by Dioxin Dolly (Rachel Iannelli, Margaret Briggs, Tina Bushnell), 1996, from Luci Westphal, All's Well and Fair, 2012.

Fresh Talk: Sarah Oppenheimer

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Conversations About Creativity in the 21st Century    Cathy Byrd meets Sarah Oppenheimer at the Baltimore Museum of Art to experience Sarah's stunning architectural interventions. The BMA’s contemporary art curator Kristen Hileman creates unique relationships between Sarah Oppenheimer’s new commissions and other work from the collection, including a lyric 2010 sound art piece by Turner Prize winner Susan Philipsz. Our ambient recording of Susan Philipsz’s The Shallow Sea is a special feature of this podcast.    

Sound Editor: Leonardo Madriz 
Photography featuring Sarah Oppenheimer's 2012 commissions for the Baltimore Museum of Art; Nathan L. and Suzanne F. Cohen Contemporary Art Acquisitions Endowment; and gift of the Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art
Sound Art: Susan Philipsz, The Shallow Sea, 2010, from the Baltimore Museum of Art collection     

Special Thanks: Kristen Hilemen, Anne Mannix, Anne Brown, and Sarah Pedroni, Baltimore Museum of Art; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery; and Zachary Wade.