Seeing Color

Hi everyone. I hope your week is going well. I spent the past week at Art Basel in Switzerland. I got free housing with an art friend, so shout out to Felipe Castelblanco, and I got some VIP tickets from a special curator friend. Basel was stupid expensive. It simple espresso started at around 5 dollars and everything scaled up from there. Through an artist I know in Berlin, I met up with a few Singaporean collectors and hung out with them most of the time and cooked Chinese food in their apartment to avoid the overpriced Swiss food. The whole art fair was fascinating to watch as a spectacle. Felipe commented to me that the reason we artists all gone into art as kids or semi-adults no longer exists at that art fair, which was a depressing thought. I had to take a break from all the art and took a day trip to Lucerne. I took a gondola to the top of Mount Pilatus and got some really fresh air. I came back to Berlin and am soon heading off to Venice. I'm meeting up with Jose Diaz and we will be checking out the biennale while this episode is being released. A few quick announcements before we start. I wanna give a quick shoutout to Ally Ricarte and Chelsey Dulaney. They are two new monthly Patreon subscribers. They both actually subscribed right before my previous episode and I didn't have time to include it in the intro before releasing the recording of Tsohil, so here's my belated thanks to both of them. Anyway, on to the show. For today, I am speaking with Eugina Song. Eugina was born in London but grew up primarily in South Korea and the US. She received her BFA at Cornell University, where I first met Eugina, and she recently completed her MFA from Hunter College. I remember seeing Eugina's early paintings as an undergrad and can say her recent work has progress in a wonderfully different direction. She was visiting Pittsburgh last summer and I met up with Eugina for lunch before the interview. In our conversation, Eugina talks about dealing with preconceived notions attached to being an Asian woman, working through the different manifestations of the Chinese and Korean diaspora studying in the US, and adopting various strategies to fitting in a western society. And with that, I hope you enjoy this.

Hey everyone. I hope you are enjoying the coming of summer. Everyone here in Berlin seems so much more happy biking around and drinking beers along the canal, as opposed to their usual grumpy German self. The sun has been rising earlier each day, and I keep waking up at 6am with the sun. But besides that, everything is fine and dandy. Before we move on to the show, I want give a quick shoutout to Frances Cathryn for donating to this podcast through Paypal. She's the very first one! I can't stress how much that meant. So again, thank you Frances. You can follow her on instagram @wip_projects For today, I got to interview Tsohil Bhatia, an artist from India who is currently in his final year at Carnegie Mellon's MFA program. Tsohil and I did not fully overlap while there, but the art community is small and our circles intersected quite a bit. Through some fortuitous chance this past month, I ran into Tsohil at an opening in Berlin. We hung out a bit after and he excitedly agreed to be part of this non-white space podcast. It was great to get to learn more about Tsohil through our conversations and we talk a lot about the ghost of a body, cleaning as artwork, making ice cream, and the poetic act of doing nothing. I really enjoyed chatting with Tsohil and am looking forward to what he will do in the future. With that, I hope you enjoy this.

Hey everyone. On this episode, I have a special interview with Tara Fay. I think Tara’s instagram profile describes her best as an independent curator, performance artist, and streetwear enthusiast. Tara is also on the board of directors at Bunker Projects, an art and residency space in Pittsburgh. I first met Tara through Jose Diaz, who I also interviewed. Throughout my time in Pittsburgh, Tara has been always supportive of my work and I was happy to talk with Tara about her perspective of the art scene. Around the time of the interview, Tara moderated a public discussion with Dan Leer, the curator of photography at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Tara specifically wanted to talk about a controversy that happened with Deana Lawson, a photographer. Deana’s photographs at the Carnegie alienated a number of viewers and brought up difficult questions about who the museum’s perceived audience is. It began with a black woman filming a video of Deana’s work in the museum and expressing her thoughts, which spilled over onto Facebook. I’ve alluded to this incident in a few other episodes, but I go more in depth with Tara here. I wished I did a better job introducing it in the interview, but I’ve attached a Vice article about Deana Lawson at the Carnegie in the show notes. So we discuss that at length, along with a range of other topics, from the Adrian Piper show at the MoMA, performing for a white audience, different types of privilege, and Beyoncé. Also, the audio got slightly messed up towards the end of the interview, so I apologize for that. In any case, I hope you enjoy this. Photo credit: Sarah Huny Young

On this episode, I visited Shohei Katayama’s studio in Pittsburgh. Shohei received his B.A. in Studio Art from Bellarmine University in 2010 and is currently working towards his Master of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University. His work includes line drawings, sculpture, and conceptual installation art. Shohei writes that the Great East Earthquake and subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant leak and meltdown led to a major turning point in his artistic practice. His work began to examine anthropogenic impacts on the environment, including issues related to sustainability, pollution, and natural disasters. Shohei wants his work to point us towards and insert us in a world where there is still hope—and activate a future where there are still dreams. Although I graduated before Shohei began his MFA, our times did overlap as I stayed a year to teach in Pittsburgh. It has been wonderful to follow how Shohei has developed as an artist and I was excited to chat with him as he neared the end of his program. At the time of our interview, Shohei just got back from the Arctic Circle, which we talk about at length. More recently, that particular work Shohei created from that residency won the MTV RE:DEFINE Art Award, which came with a cash prize and solo exhibition in Dallas. I am looking forward to seeing where Shohei goes to next with his art. In any case, I hope you enjoy this.

On this episode, I biked over to The Flower House, located in Wilkinsburg, a borough right next to Pittsburgh. The Flower House is a creative space cultivated by group-centered artists who practice cooperative economics to empower women and families. Naomi Chambers, a Pittsburgh-based painter and assemblage artist, also helps run the Flower House. I first met Naomi at a dinner for an event, but I also ran into her work at her solo show at the August Wilson Center. Kilolo Luckett, the curator of that show and someone I interviewed in episode 6, also highly recommended I talk with Naomi. I’m glad I did, since Naomi was extremely generous with her time and I also got to meet her beautiful daughter, Dodi. Naomi and I discussed how she found her way to the arts, the complexity of community engaged art projects, and the development of The Flower House. Yes, I know, there are birds chirping throughout the conversation, but I didn’t notice until after and during the editing process. Hopefully, they aren’t too distracting. In any case, I hope you enjoy this. Photo Credit: Sarah Bader

On this episode, I went to the Andy Warhol Museum to meet up with José Carlos Diaz, the Chief Curator there. We used the office meeting rooms late one summer day, just as the sun began to fall towards the horizon line. Prior to the Warhol, José was the Curator of Exhibitions at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach, where he helped program shows with artists such as Rachel Harrison and El Anatsui. Before the Bass Museum, he worked at Tate Liverpool and on the Liverpool Biennial. José received an M.A. in Cultural History from the University of Liverpool and a B.A. in Art History from San Francisco State University. In 2016, José was listed as one of the 20 most influential young curators in the US by Artsy. José’s first saw me in the first week of his working at the Warhol. I happened to be giving a talk at the museum with Jessica Beck, also a curator at the Warhol. José and I connected shortly after over some tacos and we’ve been hanging out ever since. José’s constant hustling never ceases to amaze me and I’m surprised he somehow makes the time to hang out with little ol’ me. As you can imagine, I was quite excited to chat with José. Our conversation touches upon José’s meandering path to becoming a curator, diversity in the curatorial museum world, and the differences between Miami and Pittsburgh. In any case, I hope you enjoy this.

On this episode, I biked over to Staycee Pearl’s house to record this wonderful conversation. Staycee is the co-artistic director of PearlArts Studios and STAYCEE PEARL dance project, where she creates dance-centered multimedia works with her husband and creative partner, Herman Pearl. Since then, the studio has produced several works including OCTAVIA, ABBEY: In the Red, and FLOWERZ. Staycee is also passionate about sharing resources and creating opportunities by initiating arts-community programs such as the PearlDiving Movement Residency and the In The Studio Series. Over the course of an hour, we exchanged ideas about collaboration, body image in dance, preventing boredom in one’s creativity, and finding happiness. There was a dog barking periodically next door, so I apologize for the random dog sounds. Also, next week on April 12-13th, Staycee will be presenting sym, an evening-length dance work in Pittsburgh at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater. sym is a deeply atmospheric dance and sound experience inspired by "Fledgling," a novel by African American Sci-Fi writer Octavia Butler. The work explores Butler's mysterious universe of vampires and humans to examine symbiosis, gender identity and race as it relates to contemporary culture. Staycee is also hosting pearlPRESENTS, a 6-day line-up of performances and movement classes with dance artists from Pittsburgh and NYC. If you are in Pittsburgh, please go and show your support. I’ve added links to the show notes for more information. In any case, I hope you enjoy this. ***sym was commissioned by the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pittsburgh, PA

On this episode, I took a long look at the complicated racial history in Germany with Nine Yamamoto-Masson. I was first introduced to Nine by Carol Zou, who I interviewed on Episode 12, which I will link in the show notes. Nine is artist, practicing theorist, researcher, translator, radio maker, activist and community organizer. Growing up in southern Germany and going to France for university before ending up Berlin, Nine has a unique lens through which she views Europe through her French-Japanese identity. Throughout our conversations, Nine demystifies the idea of a liberal progressive Germany and questions the power structures embedded in an English-centric and capitalistic art world. Our discussion is long, but I thought it was necessary to setup the stage for a history that I am not familiar with as an American. As a warning, some of the topics we discussed contain intense and disturbing language. I also must apologize for my occasional coughing, as I was getting over a cold at the time of this recording. There was also some work being done in the apartment next door. I did my best to fix it all up in post-production. Lastly, for my next episode, I will be releasing it a week from now, as opposed to the usual two week increments, due to scheduling reasons. So keep an eye out for it. In any case, I hope you enjoy this.

On this episode, I hung out with Ching-chu Hu, a musician, composer, and dad of four beautiful children. I first met Ching-chu in Wyoming, through the Brush Creek Art Residency. Born in Iowa City, Ching-chu grew up in a predominately white area and we bonded over our shared experience of growing up as Chinese-American. Ching-chu studied music at Yale University, followed by a Masters at the University of Iowa and a PhD at the University of Michigan. Currently, Ching-chu is a professor and Chair of Music at Denison University. While in Wyoming, Ching-chu was so kind as to help me film one of my videos with me in a dinosaur costume running around the vast open fields. After getting to know Ching-chu for a month, I knew I wanted to interview him and was excited that he agreed. Ching-chu was quite fascinated with the history of my name, so we spent quite some time talking naming, along with notions of authenticity, who gets to appropriate what, Asian representation, and the age old question of “Where are you from?” I hope you enjoy this.

On this episode, I spoke with Njaimeh Njie, a photographer, filmmaker, and multimedia producer. Njaimeh grew up in Pittsburgh before heading to Washington University in St. Louis to earn a B.A. in Film and Media studies. Njaimeh describes her primary focus as documenting the everyday experiences of groups whose experiences are misrepresented and erased. She recently won the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts’ Emerging Artist award and has her own video production company, Eleven Stanley Productions. I first saw Njaimeh’s Power(ed) by Grace videos and reached out to learn more about her and her work. We talk about abstraction, Spike Lee’s Blackkklansman, and thinking about how to exist in white spaces. This interview is short and sweet, so I hope you enjoy it.

On this episode, I headed over to John Peña’s house in Wilkinsburg to chat. I met John when I first arrived in Pittsburgh for graduate school and always found him to be warm and kind. John also received his MFA from Carnegie Mellon, but in 2008, well before I had even considered art as a possible career. John went to Columbia for a year before returning to Pittsburgh. From time to time, John teaches classes at Carnegie Mellon, so I always saw him running into the faculty lounge between classes. Over the four years, I slowly got to know John, from studio visits, grabbing a beer at the bar, or reading John’s comic, Daily Geology. John’s practice is vast and wide ranging, from racing clouds, sending letters to the Pacific Ocean, and constructing large-scale plaster word balloons. This conversation touches upon many topics, from trying to have control over things you have no control over, to forgetting one’s language to escape the past, and residing in a space of discomfort and disappointment. Some of the topics in our interview are intense, dealing with depression and death, so proceed with caution. John also speaks about his experiences passing as white in some spaces while being seen only as a Mexican or othered in other spaces. I also was annoyed at myself for interjecting so many “yeah yeah yeahs” and “right right rights” while John spoke. I got so interested in our conversation that I didn’t even notice myself doing it. Also, as a heads up, John requested that I beep out a few names to protect the privacy of some of his friends and family members. In any case, I hope you enjoy this.

On this episode, my close friend Carol Zou visited me in Berlin and I was overjoyed to finally chat with Carol. I have known Carol since our time in undergrad and seen her develop over the years into a formidable artist, activist, and cultural worker. She is always reading and writing on top of her work and I always marvel at how Carol can juggle everything at once. For the interview, we discuss the economics of social practice, historical discontinuity in places, the performative dimensions of activism, and constructing mythologies. We are both drinking tea, so you may hear the occasional slurping. I don’t think I could adequately summarize Carol’s practice, so I’ll read from Carol’s self-mythologized description from her website bio: When Carol Zou was growing up in subsidized university housing as the child of first-generation Chinese immigrants, she read The Fledgling by Jane Langton and convinced the rest of the children in the apartment complex that if they practiced hard enough, they could collectively learn how to fly. She is currently still learning how to mobilize collective action around public space, imagination, and liberation from structural oppression. And with that, I hope you enjoy this.

Happy New Years everyone! I wish you had time for peace and reflection as we head into 2019. For this coming year, I am excited to release and share a whole batch of new interviews with you. Just as a reminder, Ariel Jackson, who I interviewed in the previous episode, has her show opening this week at Sculpture Center on Long Island City. So please go and see her show if you are in or around New York City. Moving on to today’s episode, I thought about what to release as the first episode to mark 2019 and I felt it would be a good idea to look back, as in all the way back, to the first interview I ever conducted for this podcast in February of 2018. As I edited the audio, I could hear myself still figuring out how I wanted my podcast to function and sound as I tentatively talked to my guest. At this point, I had not even made the website yet or figured out what to call my podcast. With all that aside, my first guest ever is Umar Rashid, a Los Angeles-based artist, storyteller, history buff, musician, and poet. Umar was born in 1976 in Chicago and he earned a BA at Southern Illinois University in the year 2000. Umar’s work focuses on the colonial history of the Frenglish Empire—a fictionalized empire of his creation that combines France and England. His portraits, drawings, flags, maps, battle scenes, and other artifacts continue the long history of Frengland, a project Umar has been working on since 2006. Our talk hits many different topics, ranging from why it can be important to learn about white history to philosophical questions about power and corruption. The episode feels very raw to me compared to my later episodes, so I hope you enjoy this.

Happy holidays and New Years everyone! I hope you are enjoying this much needed time with friends and family. On this particular episode, I took a brief trip to London to visit some friends and see some art. While there, I had the chance to chat with Ariel René Jackson. Ariel is currently pursuing her MFA at UT Austin, but was able to spend a semester studying in London at the Royal College of Art. Ariel and I first met while Ariel was visiting Berlin. Both of us presented a snippet of our work at Das Kapital, a bar in Neukölln. Ariel and I bonded over being the only people of color in that space, which we touch upon in our conversation. Ariel's work uses installations and videos to situate her practice into ideas of spatial matters as black matters, while understanding landscape as palimpsest, something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form. Ariel's work has been shown in spaces such as the Studio Museum in Harlem, the DePaul Art Museum in Chicago, and the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans. Ariel is also part of an upcoming exhibition at Sculpture Center in Long Island City. The title of the show is "Other Objects" and opens January 14th. Go ahead and check out her work if you are in the neighborhood. I had so much fun chatting with Ariel that I lost track of time and we ended up with a long interview. We discussed the presentation of violence, catering art for white people, and our thoughts on residencies. I hope you enjoy this.

On this episode, I am excited to share with you the conversation I had with Paul Peng. Paul is an artist based in Pittsburgh who I met while we were both in school. I’ve been a fan of his art for quite a while and was looking forward to talking to Paul about art and life. Paul describes his work as a picture-drawing built on cartoon figuration and formal mark-making by way of post-humanism via lurking in furry and weeaboo fandoms. Paul’s drawings have always given me a mesmerizing feeling every time I visit his studio. I enjoyed listening to Paul describe how drawing cartoons function for him, how he thinks about his drawings as his own kid, and how to find interests in one’s own work. I lost part of the audio in the middle due to technical difficulties, so the interview runs slightly shorter. Of course, this is all an excuse to interview Paul again for a later time. I hope you enjoy this.