Art of Gravity

This episode features a conversation that centers on the current solo show up at Quappi Projects (Louisville, KY) by Kiah Celeste titled It Is What Is Not Yet Known. L Autumn Gnadinger speaks with the artist, joined by John Brooks who runs Quappi, and fellow editor at Ruckus, Mary Clore.

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In honor of Black History Month, we are going to rebroadcast the audio from a panel event that Ruckus hosted last year in our Big Talker’s series on the subject of “Amplifying Black Artists in Louisville,” which features Dr. Kalia Story, Ashley Cathey, and Brianna Harlan, moderated by Ramona Dallum Lindsey.

The conversation itself felt just as important to listen to in early 2021 as it did when it happened in the summer of 2020, and while it focuses on the unique racial dynamics in Louisville, KY, it has lessons for art worlds all across the U.S.

Featured in this episode:

A conversation between Anna Blake, contributor for Ruckus, Joey Yates, Curatorial Director at KMAC Museum in Louisville, KY, and artist Jordan Nassar, whose work is currently on exhibition at KMAC in a solo show titled The Field is Infinite. 

Jordan Nassar

L Autumn Gnadinger speaks with Joseph Hart, founder and host of the podcast, Deep Color. Joseph (he/him) is an artist and educator living in New York, and in each episode of Deep Color, Joe has long-form, thoughtful conversations with artists––largely in the New York area––to talk about everything from studio work, to background and influences, the logistics and financial aspects of making art, and much more. Several years and several dozen episodes into Deep Color, I think of Joe as someone who has been steadily improving an already terrific project, and if you aren’t familiar I encourage you to go check it out. 

Audio from the Glass Breakfast interview series featuring William M. Duffy. 

From Louisville, Kentucky, William M. Duffy graduated with a B.F.A. in painting from the Louisville School of Art. A self-taught stone-carver, Duffy's figurative and abstract sculptures have been exhibited throughout the United States and can be found in numerous private, corporate, and public collections. Duffy also works in wood, metal, and found objects while also having taught art for over 35 years to students of all ages, social, and economic backgrounds. Filmmaker Ian Carstens sat down with the artist in his Louisville home.

Glass Breakfast is an online gallery organized by curator/filmmaker Ian Carstens. Through one-on-one interviews and online exhibitions, Glass Breakfast serves as an alternative space for the appreciation and conversation of contemporary art.

Ian Carstens uses the documentary, experimental, and curatorial modes to create both interiorly personal pieces as well as multidimensional collaborative projects. Carstens currently lives and works in Bloomington, IN.

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In this episode: L Autumn Gnadinger speaks with Bojana Coklyat about the project Alt-Text as Poetry, and web/image accessibility in the arts.

Bojana Coklyat is an artist, disability activist, and one half of the project Alt-Text as Poetry—a  workbook, blog, and workshop series dedicated to reimagining our relationship to image description and image accessibility. Alt-text (or, alternative text) is what web users with low vision might use to interpret the content of an image online, and is a (generally underutilized) cornerstone of web accessibility.

Bojana and Shannon Finnegan, Alt-Text as Poetry’s co-founder, take this often utilitarian language used to describe images on the internet and encourage users to engage with it through many of the same tools and freedoms as one would with poetry. The resulting descriptions are then allowed to live on their own, without the image that originally prompted them, not unlike poetry—as simple, but potent art objects.

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An open letter from Brianna Harlan that introduces a project that she initiated called the Louisville People’s Art Report, which analyzes hundreds of surveys from community members about their experiences with the arts in Louisville, Kentucky, especially as it relates to issues of racism and sexism, but sadly makes clear issues well beyond that. 

An Artist Profile of José Manuel Nápoles Puerto, written and recorded by Sara Olshanksy.

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People featured in this episode:

Brianna Harlan (she/her) is an artist and creative interventionist. She is receiving her MFA in art and social action at Queens College and working as a program coordinator for a diversity, equity, and inclusion incubator for City University of New York.

Sara Olshansky (she/her) is a regular contributor to Ruckus and a working artist based in Louisville.  

L Autumn Gnadinger (they/them) is an artist and art writer originally from Louisville. Currently, they are an MFA candidate at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. 

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