The Open Call Podcast, hosted by Anne Stagg and Laura Tanner, features conversations with contemporary artists about their work. 

In this episode of The Open Call Podcast, we talk with Conrad Bakker who lives and works in Illinois where he is a  Professor of Art at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Conrad makes carved and painted sculptures of ordinary objects and inserts them into existing economies as a way to challenge value, perception and our relationship with the objects around us. His works range from everyday things like doorstops and electrical cords to generation defining icons like his large scale crumpled blockbuster sign. He places these objects in consumer contexts and galleries that are often transformed into a provisional marketplace.  Many of Conrad’s projects are participatory. His immersive installations harness the power of nostalgia to encourage conversations about the many political economies associated with a single item.

Check out this episode to learn more about the concepts and processes that frame his work. Also be sure to visit out our Instagram -- @the_open_call_podcast -- where we share images of the artwork that we talk about on the podcast. New episodes of The Open Call are released every 2 weeks so be sure to check back to discover new artists and learn more about their practice. 

Special thanks to Susan Cooper for voicing our Outro, Scott Stagg for composing our music, Judah Bachmann for our new music version as well as sound engineering, and to all of our wonderful research assistants:  Erin Miller, Ally Price, and Nikki Cohen who provide production support, web, and social media design.