Two art and technology critics, Nora Khan and Mike Pepi, discuss pushing for a rigorous critical discourse in a creative field that can flatten evaluative distinctions in favor of zealotry for invention.  “Criticism of a tool that’s presented as neutral when it really is a piece of social engineering is incredibly hard to do, and there really isn’t a model for criticism in this space,” says Khan. In this far-ranging discussion that touches on the critical distance and yet humanism required of writing on the internet, surveillance, and AI, Khan and Pepi assert that tools aren’t divorced from their makers, and artwork is never post-human - nor post-critique.

“Criticism in Conversation” is a series by Momus: The Podcast, and is co-produced and co-hosted by Lauren Wetmore and Sky Goodden. This episode of Momus: The Podcast is edited by Jacob Irish, features original music by Kyle McCrea, and production assistance by Mitra Shreeram. It’s brought to you with the help of the Canada Council for the Arts “New Chapter” grant, and is syndicated by NTS Radio.

You can stream the episode above, or download it on Google Play or iTunes.

Momus is also thrilled to thank NTS radio for syndicating and hosting Momus: The Podcast.

The artist residency has risen to the top of the artworld’s global economy and increasing professionalization, becoming one of the key features of contemporary art practice. Momus publisher and podcast host Sky Goodden leads an overdue critical conversation on this phenomenon and its consequences for art practice in the 21st century. Featuring international voices close to the subject, Goodden – joined by co-host Lauren Wetmore, a Brussels-based curator and writer – discusses the risks and rewards of an actively-commercializing enterprise, and where it came out of.

Momus: The Podcast episode 2 features guests Daniel Baumann (director of Kunsthalle Zürich), Kristy Trinier (artist, curator, and former Banff Centre director), Aaron Cezar (founding director of Delfina Foundation), Michelle Grabner (artist, educator, and artistic director of Front International), and the co-directors of Beirut residency marra.tein, Jared McCormick and George Awde.

We’d like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts’s New Chapter grant for its support in making this podcast’s first season possible. Momus: The Podcast is co-produced by Angela Shackel and Sky Goodden; and edited by Angela Shackel, with assistance from Braden Labonte. We would like to thank our assistant producer, Mitra Shreeram; our composer and music editor Kyle McCrea; and this episode’s co-host, Lauren Wetmore.

Momus is also thrilled to thank NTS radio for syndicating and hosting Momus: The Podcast.

Welcome to the pilot episode of Momus: The Podcast. For our first broadcast, we focus on the historic Venice Biennale as the 57th edition opens to the public. We air a conversation on its history, institution, relevance, and potential, with insight arriving from a group of critics, curators, artists, and gallerists speaking to us from around the world. In this vibrant and myriad discussion, we question this event’s potential for political comment; its profile amid a “festivalist” biennial culture; its emphasis on nationalism; and the latest edition’s success.

Our pilot contributors include Morgan Quaintance, Andrew Berardini, Kimberlee Córdova, Saelan Twerdy, Sandra Paikowsky, Catherine G. Wagley, Alison Hugill, Mitch Speed, and your host, Sky Goodden.

We’d like to thank the Ontario Arts Council for its support in making this podcast’s first episode possible. Momus: The Podcast is co-produced by Angela Shackel and Sky Goodden; and edited by Angela Shackel. We would like to thank our assistant producer, Mitra Shreeram; and our music composer, Kyle McCrea.

We are thrilled to announce that NTS radio hosts Momus: The Podcast.