Something To Do With Art is a podcast that explores and celebrates artistic creativity and experimentation. Seven brand new episodes are now live on SoundCloud, featuring conversations with artists Alan Smith & Helen Ratcliffe, Gudrun Filipska, Guy Bigland, Jonathon Keats, Pip Thornton and Rebecca Ilett; plus a bonus episode of Silicon Valley snippets.
In this series you can hear about starting an artists’ retreat in the remotest corner of England (Alan Smith and Helen Ratcliffe), collecting shopping lists (Guy Bigland), the possibility of making jewellery in the metaverse (Rebecca Ilett) and much more besides.
Starting next week, this blog will feature each artist in turn and I will share some thoughts about the episode and discuss some of my favourite moments and learning points.
In the meantime, head over to soundcloud.com/robertgood_art and take a listen.
What are Wordsworth?
In this episode Dr Pip Thornton tells me how a chance encounter with Google autocorrect led her to research the world of attention economy and the value of words online. She has created works including {poem}.py and Newspeak, which feed texts including works of literature through Google’s algorithmic pricing system.
Pip Thornton is a Chancellor’s Fellow in GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh. Her theory and practice revolves around exploring the politics of existence in online spaces, and critiquing and making visible structures of power within the digital economy with creative methods.
Head over to SoundCloud to listen to this episode here:
https://soundcloud.com/robertgood_art/pip-thornton
LINKS
pipthornton.com
Should plants be included in the democratic process?
In this episode conceptual artist and experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats explains why we should consider extending the political franchise, and how you might include plants (and other life forms) in our banking systems. We also discuss my visit to Silicon Valley and whether we should be concerned by the rise of technology.
Acclaimed as a “poet of ideas” by The New Yorker and a “multimedia philosopher-prophet” by The Atlantic, Jonathon Keats is an artist, writer and experimental philosopher based in the United States and Europe. He is currently working on The Library of the Great Silence, a Terrestrial Center for Interstellar Research on Planetary Futures, in partnership with the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute.
Head over to SoundCloud to listen to this episode here: https://soundcloud.com/robertgood_art/jonathon-keats
LINKS
www.modernisminc.com/artists/Jonathon_KEATS/
www.seti.org/library-great-silence
Why collect shopping lists?
In this episode Guy Bigland tells me how (and why) he uses systems, constraints and rules to create paintings, prints, books and digital media. His latest work ‘All The Time In The World’ lists every second of the day in standard ISO 8601 notation, and he has previously recorded four letter words, three letter acronyms, and continues to collect shopping lists.
Guy also tells me about his successful online business ‘Books About Art’ and how his work has been acquired by national and international collections.
Guy Bigland is an artist who is interested in language, systems and rules. His practice involves oversimplifying, ordering, and tidying up.
Head over to SoundCloud to listen to this episode here: https://soundcloud.com/robertgood_art/guy-bigland
LINKS
www.guybigland.com
Why not use ham radio instead of WhatsApp?
In this episode Gudrun Filipska tells me about the origins of her project Arts Territory Exchange (aTE) in which she provides an matchmaking service for artists in remote parts of the world to connect with eachother. She tells me how she spent years building up her followers on social media before having her account irretrievably deleted by a bot, and how she now plans to go off grid and connect via ham radio instead.
Gudrun Filipska is an artist and writer whose work considers the cultural and literary associations of journeying ranging from subjects such as, road trips, Sci-fi voyages, the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH), pilgrimage, lunar exploration and the human relationship to wilderness.
Head over to SoundCloud to listen to this episode here: https://soundcloud.com/robertgood_art/gudrun-filipska
LINKS
www.artsterritoryexchange.com
How do you build a successful contemporary arts project in one of the most remote parts of England?
In this episode Alan Smith and Helen Ratcliffe tell me how (and why) they relocated from New York to the remote former mining village of Allenheads in Northumberland to set up a thriving artists’ retreat. Alan also tells me about his own practice creating live events, performance and audio/video installations and I find out why he has a dislike of projects.
Alan Smith and Helen Ratcliffe are founders and directors of Allenheads Contemporary Arts, whose mission is to provoke questions, encourage discussion and stimulate developments in contemporary arts practice. ACA is also home to The North Pennines Observatory.
Head over to SoundCloud to listen to this episode here:
https://soundcloud.com/robertgood_art/alan-smith-and-helen-ratcliffe
LINKS
Allenheads Contemporary Arts
www.acart.org.uk
