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Capital A: Unauthorized Opinions on Money, Art & Everything

Capital A: Unauthorized Opinions on Money, Art & Everything

By Phil Rabovsky

Phil Rabovsky explores "the possibility of there being a future" in this podcast, which considers the world of today and the world yet to come through the lens of art and money.
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12. What Do Musicians Do All Day? Georgina Rossi on the Microeconomics of Classical Music

Capital A: Unauthorized Opinions on Money, Art & EverythingJan 04, 2021

00:00
01:03:29
16. Running Naked through the Market: Bill Deresiewicz on Artists in the Digital Economy

16. Running Naked through the Market: Bill Deresiewicz on Artists in the Digital Economy

How do you make a living as an artist when the big platforms price your work at zero? How do you get your big break when all the institutions that used to discover young artists have been decimated by the tech monopolies? In this episode, I talk to essayist and critic William Deresiewicz about his book, The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech.


BILL'S WEBSITE

billderesiewicz.com


WORKS CITED

-Deresiewicz, William. The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2020.

-Khan, Lina M. “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox.” The Yale Law Journal 126, no. 3 (January 2017). https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox.

-Davis, Ben. 9.5 Theses on Art and Class. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books, 2013.

-Graeber, David. Bullshit Jobs: A Theory. 1st edition. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018.

-Deresiewicz, William. “Stages of Grief: What the Pandemic Has Done to the Arts.” Harper’s Magazine, May 12, 2021. https://harpers.org/archive/2021/06/stages-of-grief-what-the-pandemic-has-done-to-the-arts/.

-Lanier, Jaron. “Opinion | Jaron Lanier Fixes the Internet.” The New York Times, September 23, 2019, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/23/opinion/data-privacy-jaron-lanier.html.


MUSIC

-Theme music and consultation: Georgina Rossi, www.georginarossi.com

-Interlude: Alban Berg, 4 Stücke for clarinet and piano, Op.5; Carol McGonnell, clarinet; Steven Beck, piano


SPONSOR

Capital A is sponsored by Shoestring Press in Brooklyn: www.shoestringpressny.com


Jul 02, 202201:13:44
15. Optimism and Taking Risks: Thomas Agrinier on His Paintings
Feb 19, 202226:24
14. Who Does Art Speak To?
Dec 05, 202133:31
13. You Don't Have to Square That Circle: Ben Davis on Art & Politics

13. You Don't Have to Square That Circle: Ben Davis on Art & Politics

Can art really create political change? What are the conditions that make this possible if and when it happens? What are the social ingredients that make for good art scenes? ...and what the hell was up with the DNC last year? In a sobering interview, Ben Davis, National Art Critic for ArtNet News and self-avowed Marxist, reminds us to be realistic about art's ability to change a world it is only one small part of—but also to rid ourselves of the expectation that in order to be good, art must change the world.


WHERE TO READ BEN'S WORK

-https://news.artnet.com/about/ben-davis-93

-Davis, Ben. 9.5 Theses on Art and Class. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books, 2013.


WORKS CITED

-Mayer, Jane. Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. Reprint edition. Anchor, 2017.

-Thompson, Nato. Seeing Power: Art and Activism in the Twenty-First Century. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2014.

-Piketty, Thomas. Capital and Ideology. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2020.

-Harney, Stefano, and Fred Moten. The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study. 1st edition. Wivenhoe: Autonomedia, 2013.

-English, Darby. Art Historian Darby English on Why the New Black Renaissance Might Actually Represent a Step Backwards. Interview by Folasade Ologundudu, February 21, 2021. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/darby-english-1947080.

-Smucker, Jonathan. Hegemony How-To: A Roadmap for Radicals. AK Press, 2017.

-Davis, Ben. “Alice Neel’s Communism Is Essential to Her Art. You Can See It in the ‘Battlefield’ of Her Paintings, and Her Cruel Portrait of Her Son.” Artnet News, April 15, 2021. https://news.artnet.com/opinion/alice-neel-was-a-commie-a-battlefield-of-humanism-1958503.

-Althusser, Louis. For Marx. Translated by Ben Brewster. London ; New York: Verso, 2006.


MUSIC

-Theme music and consultation: Georgina Rossi, www.georginarossi.com

-Interlude: Béla Bartók, String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor


SPONSOR

Capital A is sponsored by Shoestring Press: www.shoestringpressny.com

May 01, 202101:21:42
12. What Do Musicians Do All Day? Georgina Rossi on the Microeconomics of Classical Music

12. What Do Musicians Do All Day? Georgina Rossi on the Microeconomics of Classical Music

They receive about as much training as olympic athletes, and yet very few people have a sense of what life looks like for classical musicians today. This interview with Chilean-American violist Georgina Rossi covers a lot of ground: the nuts and bolts of a career in classical music, how society defines and compensates artistic labor, and simple things we as listeners can do to support the musicians that we love. Interwoven throughout the interview are excerpts from Georgina’s new album Mobili: Music for Viola and Piano from Chile. Enjoy!


WORKS CITED

Stone, Russell Dean. “‘He’s Got A Point, It’s Just That His Point Sucks’ – Artists React to Spotify CEO Saying They Need to Work Harder.” Vice, August 7, 2020. https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dzje3/daniel-ek-spotify-artists-pay-interview.

Wark, McKenzie. Capital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse? Verso, 2019.


MUSIC

Interlude 1: Rafael Díaz, Al fondo de mi distancia se asoma tu casa (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrWhxGd6TZNb-u1n7Yqjwmw)

Interlude 2: Carlos Botto, Fantasia

Interlude 3: Juan Orrego-Salas, Mobili

Interlude 4: David Cortes, Tololo (http://davidcortes.cl)

Interlude 5: Rafael Díaz, ¿Habrá alguien que en sus manos sostenga este caer?

All music from the album: Mobili: Music for Viola and Piano from Chile: https://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/georgina-isabel-rossi-mobili-music-for-viola-and-piano-from-chile/

Viola: Georgina Rossi (www.georginarossi.com)

Piano: Silvie Cheng (www.silviecheng.com)

Released by: New Focus Recordings (https://www.newfocusrecordings.com)

Recorded at: Oktaven audiO (http://www.oktavenaudio.com/)


WHERE TO HIRE CLASSICAL MUSICIANS

Hire Juilliard Performers (www.juilliard.edu/stage-beyond/hire-juilliard-performers)


WHERE TO STREAM MUSIC

Bandcamp (bandcamp.com)


A SELECTION OF MUSICIAN-LED COLLECTIVES & ENSEMBLES TO SUPPORT

ACRONYM (www.acronymensemble.com/albums)

American Composers Orchestra (americancomposers.org)

American Stories Podcast (podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/american-stories/id1512423110)

Argus Quartet (fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/argus-quartet)

Cheng2Duo (https://www.cheng2duo.com)

Digital Camerata (digitalcamerata.org/#support)

Kettle Corn New Music (kettlecornnewmusic.com/support)

Music for Food (musicforfood.net)

New Focus Recordings (www.newfocusrecordings.com)

Oktaven AudiO (http://www.oktavenaudio.com/)

Project Music Heals Us (www.pmhu.org)

Shouthouse (www.shouthousemusic.com)

Switch Ensemble (www.switchensemble.com)

Tak Ensemble (www.takensemble.com)

Tenet Vocal Artists (https://tenet.nyc/support)

The Crossing (www.crossingchoir.org)

The Westerlies (www.westerliesmusic.com)

Ulysses Quartet (www.ulyssesquartet.com)

Versoi Ensemble (www.versoiensemble.org)

Not included in this list are dozens of regional orchestras and summer music festivals across the country. Look up your local symphony, chamber orchestra, or music festival, and make a point of buying tickets and attending concerts!

Jan 04, 202101:03:29
11. Burst the Bubble

11. Burst the Bubble

As artists, we often despair about the efficacy of our work and its ability to advocate for change. Part of this has to do with the fact that the art gallery/museum circuit can feel like a bubble, where everyone largely agrees on the issues and advocacy of any kind feels like preaching to the choir. But the more I think about this problem, the more I've come to feel that this agreement is an illusion. This episode argues that taken as a whole, the audiences of art galleries and museums are some of the most powerful people in our society—precisely the people that need to be convinced that things need to change.

WORKS CITED

-Foster, Hal. What Comes After Farce. Illustrated Edition. London ; New York: Verso, 2020.

-Piketty, Thomas. Capital and Ideology. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2020.

-Hodges, Betsy. “Opinion | As Mayor of Minneapolis, I Saw How White Liberals Block Change.” The New York Times, July 9, 2020, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/opinion/minneapolis-hodges-racism.html.

-Liscia, Valentina Di. “Brooklyn Museum Employees Accuse Administration of Staff Mistreatment.” Hyperallergic (blog), September 17, 2020. https://hyperallergic.com/588184/brooklyn-museum-staff-open-letter/.

-Badiou, Alain. “Concerning the Dominant Ideologies of the Contemporary World.” UCLA Program in Experimental Critical Theory, December 1, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74u2_Fg-UHo.

-Östlund, Ruben. The Square. Comedy, Drama. Plattform Produktion,  Film i Väst,  Essential Filmproduktion GmbH, 2017.

MUSIC

-Theme music and consultation: Georgina Rossi, www.georginarossi.com

-Interlude: Johann Sebastian Bach, Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 in F Minor - II. Largo

Oct 19, 202042:31
10. Post-scarcity & Degrowth: A Tale of Two Tomorrows

10. Post-scarcity & Degrowth: A Tale of Two Tomorrows

As we become more aware of the existential threat of climate change, it can feel like the economy is a runaway engine driving us toward extinction. We know that something is wrong, but we don’t know how to stop the momentum of this extractive economy that seems to have a will of its own. Episode 10 explores two alternatives to this vision of extinction—Post-scarcity and Degrowth—two optimistic attempts to unthink the economic orthodoxy that threatens our world. This is part 3 of a three-part episode exploring our society's tacit belief in the "the end of history," and what we can do to shed this politically-charged and dangerous illusion.


SOURCES


-Mason, Paul. Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016.

-Rifkin, Jeremy. Zero Marginal Cost Society. Reprint edition. New York, NY: Griffin, 2015.

-Thunberg, Greta. Presented at the Climate Action Summit 2019, UN Headquarters NY, September 23, 2019.

-Cassidy, John. “Can We Have Prosperity Without Growth?” The New Yorker, no. February 10, 2020. Accessed August 25, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/10/can-we-have-prosperity-without-growth.

-Platonov, Andrei. “On the First Tragedy of Socialism.” New Left Review, no. 69 (1934). https://newleftreview.org/issues/II69/articles/andrei-platonov-on-the-first-socialist-tragedy.

-Wark, McKenzie. Molecular Red: Theory for the Anthropocene. London: Verso, 2015.

-Kallis, Giorgos. Degrowth. Agenda Publishing, 2018.

-Frase, Peter. Four Futures: Life After Capitalism. London: Verso, 2016.


MUSIC


-Theme music and consultation: Georgina Rossi, www.georginarossi.com

-Interlude: Carl Maria von Weber, Concertino for Clarinet, performed by clarinetist Luis Rossi (www.luisrossi.com) from the upcoming album: Weber, Strauss, Atehortúa; available now on all streaming platforms: https://open.spotify.com/album/6BqELmqO09calWtKzO73cb?si=RBDAbg4YSbu9FzYSZb7SOg

Aug 26, 202043:47
9. Reparations

9. Reparations

After the horrific killing of George Floyd by the police that were meant to protect and to serve him, mass demonstrations have pushed the conversation around police brutality to what is hopefully a new turning point in the United States. But the conversation around making reparations to black Americans for centuries of unpaid labor, stolen property, loss of life and emotional trauma remains as elusive as ever. In this episode, I step out of my depth to offer a personal opinion as a citizen and as a human being: if #BlackLivesMatter, then we need to demand reparations for black Americans.


WORKS CITED


-Glaunec, Jean-Pierre Le. The Cry of Vertières: Liberation, Memory, and the Beginning of Haiti. Translated by Jonathan Kaplansky. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2020.

-Newsinger, John. “Liberty and Equality in Haiti.” Socialist Review. http://socialistreview.org.uk/303/liberty-and-equality-haiti.

-Piketty, Thomas. Capital and Ideology. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2020.

-Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “The Case for Reparations.” The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/

-Cohen, Patricia. “What Reparations for Slavery Might Look Like in 2019.” The New York Times, May 23, 2019, sec. Business. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/business/economy/reparations-slavery.html

-Blow, Charles M. “Opinion | Allies, Don’t Fail Us Again.” The New York Times, June 7, 2020, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/opinion/white-privilege-civil-rights.html


UPDATES

-June 30, 2020. A few weeks after this episode came out, The New York Times Magazine published an incredible article, What is Owed, by Nikole Hannah-Jones, covering these themes and more: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/24/magazine/reparations-slavery.html


MUSIC


-Theme music and consultation: Georgina Rossi, www.georginarossi.com

-Interlude: William Grant Still, Here’s One, performed by violist Georgina Rossi (www.georginarossi.com) and pianist Silvie Cheng (www.silviecheng.com)

Jun 13, 202040:23
8. You See A Lot of Zombie Movies: Charles Davis on Being an Independent Filmmaker Today
May 20, 202042:12
7. The State of the World Tomorrow: Žižek's Hegel

7. The State of the World Tomorrow: Žižek's Hegel

It is clear that Covid-19 is an event of historic proportions, but what does that really mean? What do we mean when we say that an event "shaped the course of history," and how much history is there really left to shape? Episode 7 dives into one of my favorite books of all time, Less Than Nothing, Slavoj Žižek's gutsy attempt to rehabilitate Hegel for the contemporary age. Recorded on lockdown during the coronavirus outbreak in New York, this is part 2 of a three-part episode exploring our society's tacit belief in the "the end of history," and what we can do to shed this politically-charged and dangerous illusion.


WORKS CITED


-Žižek, Slavoj. Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism. 1 edition. Verso, 2012.

-Piketty, Thomas. Capital and Ideology. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2020.


MUSIC


-Theme music and consultation: Georgina Rossi, www.georginarossi.com

-Interlude: Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 3 - III. Poco Allegretto 







May 05, 202039:08
6. The State of the World Today

6. The State of the World Today

With climate change, inequality, and Covid-19 raging just outside our windows, it can sometimes feel like we live in a world without a future. How did we get here? And how do we get back out? How do we reinstate the future if we no longer believe in progress? Recorded on lockdown during the coronavirus outbreak in New York, this is part 1 of a three-part episode exploring our society's tacit belief in the "the end of history," and what we can do to shed this politically-charged and dangerous illusion.


WORKS CITED


-Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Translated by Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi. 1st edition. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press, 1984.

-Piketty, Thomas. Capital and Ideology. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2020.

-Žižek, Slavoj. “Beyond Mandela Without Becoming Mugabe: Some Postapocalyptic Considerations.” Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg, Germany, November 19, 2015. From YouTube user Ippolit Belinski, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5DiZBb8f6A

-Danto, Arthur C. After the End of Art. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998.

-Fukuyama, Francis. “The End of History?” The National Interest, no. 16 (1989): 3–18.

-Jameson, Fredric. Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992.

-Bradbury, Ray. Dandelion Wine. Bantam Books, 1976.

-Moore, Michael. “Michael Moore’s Easter Mass.” Rumble with Michael Moore. Accessed April 11, 2020. https://anchor.fm/rumble-with-michael-moore


MUSIC


-Theme music and consultation: Georgina Rossi, www.georginarossi.com

-Interlude: Franz Schubert, Erlkönig, based on the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Apr 14, 202041:45
5. The State of Art Today
Apr 05, 202027:53
4. Art Collector? Me? A Primer for the 99%
Apr 05, 202023:30
3. Art and the Wealth Gap: Microdynamics
Apr 05, 202019:50
2. Art and the Wealth Gap: Macrodynamics
Apr 05, 202028:37
1. Art and Space
Apr 05, 202026:30