Writer/curator Cathy Byrd sparks conversations about today’s art, design, and film on the Fresh Art International podcast. Synthesizing interviews and field recordings with critical commentary since 2011, the podcast archives the voices, sounds, and stories of contemporary culture makers from around the world.
Episodes
Monday Jul 09, 2012
Land Arts of the American West—with Students in Texas
Monday Jul 09, 2012
Monday Jul 09, 2012
In Lubbock, Texas, we meet with students who participated in Land Arts of the American West, an experiential course that Chris Taylor designed for Texas Tech University. A road trip of some 6,000 miles culminated in the exhibition on view in a cavernous warehouse space. Students who share stories in this episode: Alexander Bingham, Luis Bustamante III, Will Cotton, Winston Holloway, Richard Klaja, Celeste Martinez, Zachary Mitchell, Carl Spartz, Rachael Wilson, Bethany Wood. Program Assistant: Adrian Larriva. Program Director: Chris Taylor.
Monday Jul 02, 2012
The Life of a Roving Curator—with Sasha Dees in Amsterdam
Monday Jul 02, 2012
Monday Jul 02, 2012
Cathy Byrd connects on skype with Sasha Dees, an independent curator/producer/consultant who lives and works between Amsterdam and New York. In the Netherlands, Sasha curates the residency program Open Ateliers in the area of Amsterdam known as Zuidoost. In the U.S., Sasha is the producer of a roving video performance project with Sietske Tjallingii, the protagonist in Miss T - My American Dream. Their road trips in search of mid-century roadside icons have led them to gigantic versions of a guitar, a blue whale, a sombrero and more.
Sound Editor: Leo Madriz
Photos: courtesy Sasha Dees
Episode Music: Billy Holliday, All of Me

Monday Jun 25, 2012
The Call of the American Southwest—An Artist Residency in New Mexico
Monday Jun 25, 2012
Monday Jun 25, 2012
This episode features conversations with five current participants in the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program. Established in 1967 by artist and art collector Don Anderson, the program offers visual artists the unique opportunity to spend a year concentrating on their work. The voices you'll hear are those of Sarah Bostwick, Jon-Paul Villegas, Brian Kluge, Corwin Levi (aka RadioSebastian), and Siobhan McBride.
Monday Jun 18, 2012
Painting with Fire—Navid Nuur in Madrid
Monday Jun 18, 2012
Monday Jun 18, 2012
In Spain, we meet Navid Nuur, an Iranian-born artist based in the Netherlands. Navid was invited to present Hocus Focus, his first solo exhibition at Matadero Madrid, an art center developed on the former site of the city’s main livestock market and slaughterhouse. The artist who loves to experiment gives us a tour of his exhibition and talks about the painting project he presented in Switzerland at Art Basel.
Special thanks to Gema Melgar, Matadero Madrid, for facilitating this podcast production.
Sound editor: Leo Madriz
Special Audio: Navid Nuur, Fire Painting, 2012
Related Episode: How Does An Art Fair Sound in Madrid?
Related Links: Navid Nuur, Matadero Madrid, Art Basel: Basel
Monday Jun 11, 2012
The Aesthetics of Improvisation—with Jason Moran in New York
Monday Jun 11, 2012
Monday Jun 11, 2012
Sound Editor: Leo Madriz
Special Audio: Jason Moran, He Takes His Coat and Leaves
Related Episodes: The Shape, The Scent, The Feel of Things—with Joan Jonas in Austin
Related Links: Jason Moran, Alicia Hall Moran, Whitney Museum of American Art
Monday Jun 04, 2012
The Shape, The Scent, The Feel of Things—with Joan Jonas in Austin
Monday Jun 04, 2012
Monday Jun 04, 2012
In Austin, Texas, we go backstage with seminal video and performance artist Joan Jonas to talk about how context influences each presentation of The Shape, The Scent, The Feel of Things, a project commissioned by Dia Beacon in 2004. Joan considers the evolution of her transmedia process since the 1960s and the inspiration she gets from working with jazz improvisor Jason Moran. Joan's collaborator in The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things (2005-2006) and Reading Dante (2008), Jason will soon feature in his own episode. Jason and Joan will perform together this September in Kassel, Germany, during the 13th iteration of the city-wide art exhibition and events known as documenta.
Thursday May 31, 2012
Edible Concepts—with The Food Cultura Museum in Barcelona
Thursday May 31, 2012
Thursday May 31, 2012
In Barcelona, we meet creatives at the intersection of contemporary art and food. Iranian-born Mariam Shambayati talks about her multi-media art project Moulinex-Me and the conceptual dinner parties she stages in the Food Cultura Museum. The anti-museum's founders Montse Guillén and Antoni Miralda have mixed art and food cocktails for decades. They introduce their most recent collaborative project, Off Menu—a series of fantastical events that offered a creative alternative to Alimentaria, Barcelona's annual culinary festival.
Monday May 21, 2012
Artful Roaming—with Nomad Studio in Barcelona
Monday May 21, 2012
Monday May 21, 2012
In this episode, we take you to Barcelona, to meet a couple of creative nomads from the Netherlands. Artist Iris Tonies and writer Arnout Krediet live on their boat in Port Veil, Barcelona, with their two children. They talk about how they made themselves at home, founded Estudio Nómada and became animators in the local art scene. The last week in May, they'll be projecting films on the mainsail of their boat during SCREEN Barcelona, an annual city-wide video art festival.
Sunday May 13, 2012
Making and Meaning in Public Art—with Franklin Sirmans in Los Angeles
Sunday May 13, 2012
Sunday May 13, 2012
Cathy Byrd talks on the phone with Franklin Sirmans, curator of contemporary art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Their conversation considers the essential role of public art at LACMA, covers the latest news on Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass installation and previews upcoming LACMA exhibitions to feature the Broad Collection (2012) and the work of Noah Purifoy (2014). Recently appointed Artistic Director for the third iteration of the art triennial known as Prospect New Orleans, Franklin shares some of this thoughts about the 2014 exhibition.
Sound Editor: Leo Madriz
Special Audio: Recorded while moving Michael Heizer's 340-ton rock from Riverside to Los Angeles, CA. Courtesy of LACMA
Related Episodes: Franklin Sirmans Introduces Prospect.3 New Orleans, The Art of Futbol—with Franklin Sirmans in Miami
Related Links: Levitated Mass, Broad Collection, Noah Purifoy, Prospect New Orleans
Tuesday May 08, 2012
CineMarfa—A Film Fest for West Texas
Tuesday May 08, 2012
Tuesday May 08, 2012
In Marfa, Texas, we sit down in their living room with Jennifer Lane and David Hollander to learn more about a film festival they designed for this cultural outpost. Professional filmmakers, Jennifer and David lived in Los Angeles for a dozen years before they fell in love with Marfa and made West Texas their home. The two talk about why they created CineMarfa and introduce some of the films featured in the second annual event. This is the first in our special series about contemporary creativity in the American Southwest.
