Fresh Art International

In Barcelona, we meet creatives at the intersection of contemporary art and food. Iranian-born Mariam Shambayati talks about her multi-media art project Moulinex-Me and the conceptual dinner parties she stages in the Food Cultura Museum. The anti-museum's founders Montse Guillén and Antoni Miralda have mixed art and food around the world for decades. They introduce their most recent collaborative project, Off Menu—a series of fantastical events that offered a creative alternative to Alimentaria, Barcelona's annual culinary festival.

In this episode, we take you to Barcelona, to meet a couple of creative nomads from the Netherlands. Artist Iris Tonies and writer Arnout Krediet live on their boat in Port Veil, Barcelona, with their two children. They talk about how they made themselves at home, founded Estudio Nómada and began animating the local art scene. The last week in May, they'll be projecting films on the mainsail of their boat during SCREEN Barcelona, an annual city-wide video art festival.

Cathy Byrd talks on the phone with Franklin Sirmans, curator of contemporary art at 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 the third iteration of the art triennial known as Prospect New Orleans, Franklin shares some of this thoughts about the 2014 exhibition.

Sound Editor: Leo Madriz

Special Audio: Recorded while moving Michael Heizer's 340-ton rock from Riverside to Los Angeles, CA. Courtesy of LACMA

Related Episodes: Franklin Sirmans Introduces Prospect.3 New Orleans, The Art of Futbol—with Franklin Sirmans in Miami

Related Links: Levitated Mass, Broad Collection, Noah Purifoy, Prospect New Orleans

Sound Editor: Leo Madriz

Photos: Courtesy of LACMA, except where noted.

Episode Sound: Excerpt of audio recorded while moving Michael Heizer's 340-ton rock from Riverside to Los Angeles, CA. Courtesy of LACMA

In Marfa, Texas, we sit down in their living room with Jennifer Lane and David Hollander to learn more about a film festival they designed for this cultural outpost. Professional filmmakers, Jennifer and David lived in Los Angeles for a dozen years before they fell in love with Marfa and made West Texas their home. The two talk about why they created CineMarfa and introduce some of the films featured in the second annual event. This is the first in our special series about contemporary creativity in the American Southwest. 

In this episode, professional consultant Tara Gentile talks about what it takes for creatives to thrive in the new economy, challenging assumptions we might have about work/life balance, the starving artist mythos, and true personal success.