Art If...!

We extended our conversation with playwright and director, Robert Quillen Camp, to discuss Black plays and playwrights that would be especially informative during the current struggle for racial equality.

Bio: Robert Quillen Camp is a playwright and performance maker who often works with theater companies that create work using a devising process, including Pig Iron Theatre Company in Philly, with whom he wrote the Obie-award winning Chekhov Lizardbrain; NYC’s Hoi Polloi, with whom he wrote the text and lyrics for All Hands (with music by Dave Malloy) and the Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (PETE). His most recent plays include Our Ruined House and How to Learn and he is currently working on a commission from the Kimmel Center to create a family-friendly piece of physical theatre with Pig Iron’s Dan Rothenberg.

www.robertquillencamp.com

https://twitter.com/quillcamp

https://www.instagram.com/rquillcamp/

Episode 10: Art if…your body is obsolete! With digital performance and media artivist, Sahar Sajadieh

Summary: Technology is on display in this week’s gallery as Haddy and Yassi talk about the aesthetic and performance considerations in car design and Bill Viola’s long career in video art. Then, they invite digital performance artivist (artist/activist) Sahar Sajadieh to talk about how technology has transformed her art and how it acts on the world around us. Finally, she issues a provocation that asks us to pay close attention to the qualities of our daily movements.

Sahar Sajadieh is an Iranian-Canadian digital performance & media artivist (artist/activist) and scholar. Her background is in Experimental Theater, Computer Science, and Performance Studies. Sahar has recently completed her PhD degree in Media Arts and Technology at UCSB. Sahar’s research lies at the intersection of interactive performance/media arts, human computer interaction (HCI), and performance/media theories. She designs and develops technologies that support emergent human rituals and interactions, and simultaneously study the human experience while interacting with various kinds of new media.  Her works have been presented in many international digital arts symposia and human-computer interaction conferences, and theater and performance Studies and interdisciplinary studies conferences. In addition to her digital artwork and research, Sahar has also acted, directed, and worked as a dramaturg in several theatrical productions in New York City, Vancouver, and Santa Barbara.

http://www.saharsajadieh.com/

http://www.instagram.com/sahar.sajadieh/

Provocation (#artifpodcast):

Soundscape of Our Daily Rituals:

1.  Think about 3 activities/rituals that you do every day or in a regular basis during the week (e.g. Brushing your teeth, walking, …).

2.  Pay attention to the following 5 Viewpoints* in each (daily/weekly/frequent) ritual:

-tempo -duration -repetition -spatial relationship -topography

*For more info about Viewpoints technique, see this webpage: https://dramatics.org/understanding-viewpoints/

3.  Experiment with each of the 5 viewpoints**—one by one—and push the limits of each:

-tempo (e.g. very fast, extreme slow-motion, alternative pace, …)

EXTRA CHALLENGE #1:

4.  Record the sound of your ritual when doing this exercise. 

EXTRA CHALLENGE #2:

5.  Use Audacity or GarageBand (or any other sound editing software application) on your computer and compose a musical piece/audio artwork, using any of the soundtracks of your and/or others’ rituals. Your final composition can be of any length and structure that sounds good to you.

Petersen Automotive Museum

Abstract (TV show)

Fiat

Clay Car Modeling

Bill Viola

Dogs drinking water

STELARC

19 acts of bravery for COVID-19

Summary: This week, Haddy and Yassi change up the show!. One of the Art If listeners suggested we talk about Protest music, and so they invited that listener on the show for an extended gallery! So, in this episode, we chat with Jacob Maher, about Art and Protest. Do you have an idea for a future gallery?  Let us know!!

Provocation: None this week. Maybe now is the time to revisit one of the previous ones?

Jacob is a recent college graduate living in Springfield, MO working on writing projects and googling articles about protest music in his off time.

Find Jacob’s lighting design work here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ugNcxwS7IY0-lM8EnwAXz6HvDvpvyt68/view?usp=drivesdk

Or on instagram here:

https://www.instagram.com/jacobs_shitty_art/

Playlist of protest songs:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6foHtlW8ZDqUCBlp0RqYvb?si=JsKeAosDTTCVcicbqzDvRQ

The Needle Drop

Medgar Evers

Guerilla Girls

The Met

Guggenheim

MoMA

Whitney

Grande Odalisque

Walker Art Center Minneapolis

Greta Gerwig

Edgar Heap of Birds

Christo and Jean Claude

Over the River

Richard Prince Returns Ivanka’s Money

In this minisode, Haddy and Yassi discuss their attempts at the drawing mash-up!  The provocation issued in Episode #5 by Anwar Hanano.

Provocation (#artifpodcast):

You will roll the dice to inspire your next sketch!  So grab a die, roll it three times. The first roll will decide the iconic job of your character. The second roll will decide which muppet you will draw. The final roll will add some Greek mythology to your drawing. Enjoy the challenge of this exciting mash-up drawing provocation!

Roll #1 JOBS: 1-Police Officer 2-Admiral 3-Astronaut 4-Artist 5-Mountie 6-DJ

Roll #2 MUPPETS: 1-Kermit the Frog 2-Swedish Chef 3-Fozzie Bear 4-Beaker 5-Gonzo 6-Animal

Roll #3 GREEK MYTHOLOGY: 1-Centaur 2-Mermaid 3-Satyr 4-Medusa 5-Harpy 6-Cyclops

In this minisode, Haddy and Yassi talk about Olivier Mosset's provocation from Episode 4:

Provocation (#artifpodcast):

Do nothing! Interpret that however you will. Document that however you can. Explore the possibilities that arise when you extract yourself from the constraints of productivity. Don’t forget to tag us on instagram, facebook and twitter #artifpodcast @artifpodcast

Episode Summary: Haddy and Yassi brought the crystal ball into the gallery to discuss “Art and Future.” Then they sat down for an interview with writer, performer, and teaching artist, Jasmine Henri Jordan. Finally, this week’s provocation asks the future generation for input on your art.

Bio: Jasmine Henri Jordan is a writer, performer, and teaching artist living in Chicago. She is an ensemble member at The Neo-Futurists, a company member at Playmakers Laboratory, and a founding member of Hot Kitchen Collective. She is a Florida State University School of Theatre alum. Her work is overwhelmingly about queerness, Blackness, pop culture, youth, and making messes.

https://linktr.ee/live.laugh.blood

www.instagram.com/live.laugh.blood

Provocation: Ask a kid what kind of art they want to see. Make it. Ask for their feedback. Then re-make it.

From the gallery

Nahum in Space

Climate Change in Art History

Record on Voyager

Sun Ra

Amiri Baraka

Janelle Monáe/Cindi Mayweather

Black Panther

Ruth E. Carter

Satellites are Spinning by Sun Ra

From the Interview

Neo Futurists

Hot Kitchen Collective

Playmaker’s Laboratory

Infinite Wrench Goes Viral

Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

Futurism

Marinetti

Mina Loy

Episode Summary: Haddy and Yassi chat about art and the senses, how a certain horror film director used tactile sensation to make his films extra scary and the ways that artists use smell to broaden our experience of humanity and history. Then we schmooze with experimental playwright, director, and our friend, Robert Quillen Camp. We end the episode with Quill’s provocation, a month-long audio project that perform for yourself!

Bio: Robert Quillen Camp is a playwright and performance maker who often works with theater companies that create work using a devising process, including Pig Iron Theatre Company in Philly, with whom he wrote the Obie-award winning Chekhov Lizardbrain; NYC’s Hoi Polloi, with whom he wrote the text and lyrics for All Hands (with music by Dave Malloy) and the Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (PETE). His most recent plays include Our Ruined House and How to Learn and he is currently working on a commission from the Kimmel Center to create a family-friendly piece of physical theatre with Pig Iron’s Dan Rothenberg.

www.robertquillencamp.com

https://twitter.com/quillcamp

https://www.instagram.com/rquillcamp/

Provocation: This is a durational sound piece that you create for yourself.

Part 1 - Creating the piece:

Part 2 - Performing the piece:

Feel free to adapt this prompt to your own circumstances. If going for a walk in your neighborhood is impossible or creates anxiety, consider another activity (or even household chore) that you can perform wearing headphones.

Links:

Durian

William Castle

Efteling theme park 

Proust’s Madeleine

1980s perfume commercials

Oswaldo Macia

Reynier Leyva Novo

Mad Forest at Bard

Jim Findlay

Janet Cardiff’s Walks

Clark Stoeckley (from episode 3) leads Yassi and Haddy through his provocation.

Grab a piece of paper and a pen. Draw lines to divide it into 4 quadrants, then divide each quadrant into 2 columns. Title each quadrant “self,” “community,” “nation,” and “world.” In the left column of each quadrant, write three things you love for that category. In the right hand column of each quadrant, write three things that you would change. What do these lists reveal about the way you see the world? Do you see any patterns? What inspires you? Don’t forget to tag us on instagram #artifpodcast.

Episode Summary: Haddy and Yassi chat about art and home: how frames transform the art and how birds have an eye for design. Then they interview artists, musicians, and married couple Ingrid and Terry Luna. This time, we end the show with, not one, but two “provocations” … one that makes you think about what you put out into the world and the other that asks you to consider what art you bring into your home.

Provocations (#ArtIfPodcast):

This Week’s Guests:

Terry Luna is a professional fine jeweler and professional musician and all around artistic dilettante. Working in precious metal and gemstones, video production and editing, recorded music, live performance, performance art, some woodwork, metal sculpture, and live video installations/performances and endless litany of collaborations both completed and in various stages of production.  Primarily he works for a fine jewelry store as a jeweler by day and performs in a handful of bands by night, and is a father of two amazing young women and husband to an extraordinary fine artist and set painter Ingrid Luna .

Ingrid Luna is a Painter, Scenic Artist, writer, musician and muralist in Santa Barbara, CA. She loves conversations that keep you up all night, wine, books, finding magic in ordinary moments and of course, tacos.  She lives in Santa Barbara, CA with her two riot grrl daughters and artist husband.

From the gallery:

Natural swimming pools

Artemisia Gentileschi Self Portrait as Saint Catherine

Artemisia Gentileschi Judith and Holofernes

A Christmas Story Lamp

Santa Barbara Zoo Animal Art

Bowerbirds

From the interview:

New Noise

Morphine (band)

Egon Schiele

Oskar Kokoshcka

Gustav Klimt

Stendhal Syndrome