Bad at Sports

We meet Paul Pfeiffer inside his retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago to talk about ghosts, spectacle, and the metaphysics of sports. Known for erasing athletes from footage and turning stadiums into stages of worship, Pfeiffer opens up about boxing as performance, the haunted loop of fandom, and building media rituals in the Philippines. Also: parrots, Deion Sanders, lip sync monks, and the death of the moment.   Names dropped: Deion Sanders - https://www.instagram.com/deionsanders/?hl=en [https://www.instagram.com/deionsanders/?hl=en]  Manny Pacquiao - mannypacquiao.ph [https://www.mannypacquiao.ph] The Bible (yes, the text) - https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/hail-satan?srsltid=AfmBOoqTwkeDSDwxOmlvVLQX8QQduw8ehfzt3sYzUMFMvJO-_ym35hOg [https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/hail-satan?srsltid=AfmBOoqTwkeDSDwxOmlvVLQX8QQduw8ehfzt3sYzUMFMvJO-_ym35hOg] Tom Gunning - https://cms.uchicago.edu/people/tom-gunning [https://cms.uchicago.edu/people/tom-gunning] Joshua Oppenheimer - https://cream.ac.uk/people/josh-oppenheimer/ [https://cream.ac.uk/people/josh-oppenheimer/]  DJ Spooky (Paul Miller) - djspooky.com [https://www.djspooky.com] Gina Osterloh - ginaosterloh.com [http://www.ginaosterloh.com] Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago - mcachicago.org [https://www.mcachicago.org] Biennale of Sydney - biennaleofsydney.art [https://www.biennaleofsydney.art] Contemporary Art Gallery Vancouver - cagvancouver.org [https://www.cagvancouver.org]

We sit down with curator Rachel Adams to talk about institutional evolution, artists as infrastructure, and how curatorial practice shifts between museums and biennials. Rachel reflects on working with artists like Cauleen Smith, Liz Magic Laser, and Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, the power of slow curation, and why she’s drawn to hybrid spaces that defy the market. Along the way: phantom titles, artist contracts, Minneapolis moments, and a manifesto in a box of ice cream bars. Cauleen Smith cauleensmith.com [https://www.cauleensmith.com/]   Liz Magic Laser lizmagiclaser.com [https://www.lizmagiclaser.com/]   Beatriz Santiago Muñoz lima.art   Candice Hopkins indigenousnewyork.org [https://indigenousnewyork.org/]   Nato Thompson https://www.natothompson.com/about [https://www.natothompson.com/about]   Christina Vassallo columbusmuseum.org [https://www.columbusmuseum.org/]   Sarah Schultz mplsart.com [https://www.mplsart.com/]   Alison Hearst themodern.org [https://www.themodern.org/]   Andrea Andersson riversinstitute.org [https://www.riversinstitute.org/]   Franklin Sirmans pamm.org [https://www.pamm.org/]   Mary Jane Jacob https://never-the-same.org/interviews/mary-jane-jacob/   Independent Curators International (ICI) curatorsintl.org [https://curatorsintl.org/]   image: Asad Raza, Orientation, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Field Studio.

We sit down with a delegation of Irish curators—Michele Horrigan (Askeaton Contemporary Arts), Michael Hill (Temple Bar Gallery + Studios), and Mark O’Gorman (The Complex)—to unpack what it means to build artist-centered institutions on an island without a commercial art market. From weather-worn banana warehouses to smoke-machine-filled nightclubs, these curators share space-making tactics, post-colonial entanglements, and the challenges of caring for artists without selling to collectors. They’re in Chicago for EXPO and bringing the heat—with nothing but friendship, found neon, and deeply site-responsive shows. Also: fluorescent hands, oak horns, grant hustle, and Duchampian office doors Names Dropped: Lilian Pettinicchi / Lilian Peto – No official site found Anya McBride – Devin Mays – https://regardsgallery.com/artists/devin-mays/ [https://regardsgallery.com/artists/devin-mays/] Haynes Riley / Good Weather – https://www.goodweather.llc [https://www.goodweather.llc] Becky Nahum (ICA) – No profile confirmed Stephanie Smith – https://curatorsintl.org/about/collaborators/4391-stephanie-smith Kate Sierzputowski – https://katesierzputowski.com [https://katesierzputowski.com] Amanda Rice – https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx2lfLmL_Qk [https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx2lfLmL_Qk] Frank Wasser – https://www.instagram.com/frankwasserartist [https://www.instagram.com/frankwasserartist] Briony Dunne – https://www.instagram.com/bryonymaydunne [https://www.instagram.com/bryonymaydunne] Olga Balema – https://www.clearing-gallery.com/artists/olga-balema [https://www.clearing-gallery.com/artists/olga-balema] Hannah Hoffman Gallery – https://www.instagram.com/hannahhoffmangallery [https://www.instagram.com/hannahhoffmangallery] Bridget Donahue Gallery – https://www.bridgetdonahue.nyc [https://www.bridgetdonahue.nyc] John Latham / Flat Time House – http://www.flattimeho.org.uk [http://www.flattimeho.org.uk] Brian Doherty – Tom Friedman – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Friedman [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Friedman] Duchamp (Marcel) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp] The Smiths (band) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smiths [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smiths] Website/IG Handles (if available or mentioned): ·       Askeaton Contemporary Arts [https://www.askeatonarts.com/] / @askeatonarts [https://www.instagram.com/askeatonarts/] ·       Temple Bar Gallery + Studios [https://www.templebargallery.com/] / @templebargallery [https://www.instagram.com/templebargallery/] ·       The Complex Dublin [https://www.thecomplex.ie/] / @thecomplexdublin [https://www.instagram.com/thecomplexdublin/] ·       Good Weather [https://www.goodweather.gallery/] / @goodweathergallery [https://www.instagram.com/goodweathergallery/]

Live from Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago In this intimate, laughter-filled episode recorded live at Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Duncan and Ryan sit down with artists Jaqueline Cedar and Josh Dihle on the occasion of their concurrent solo exhibitions. The conversation traverses everything from Duchampian bathroom jokes to model train nostalgia, parenthood, masculinity, and why drawing still matters. We dig deep into Cedar's intimate, narrative-rich figure paintings and Dihle’s large, toy-like sculptural paintings, both brimming with color, play, and strange tenderness. Along the way, we explore the value of humor, discomfort, labor, scale, and why both artists moonlight as gallerists—Cedar with the roving Good Naked Gallery and Dihle with events at Color Club and The Sugar Hole ice cream shop. It’s a heartfelt meditation on art, joy, burnout, and why we keep making. Name Drop List & Related Links * Jaqueline Cedar Website [https://www.jaquelinecedar.com/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/jaquelinecedar/] Good Naked Gallery – Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/goodnakedgallery/] * Josh Dihle Website [https://www.joshdihle.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/joshdihle/] Color Club – Website [https://www.colorclub.gallery] | The Sugar Hole [https://www.instagram.com/sugarholechi/] * Andrew Rafacz Gallery Website [https://www.andrewrafacz.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/andrewrafaczgallery/] * Artists & References: Roger Brown [https://www.mmoca.org/artist/roger-brown/] Suellen Rocca [https://www.mmoca.org/artist/suellen-rocca/] David Hockney [https://www.hockney.com] Henry Moore [https://www.henry-moore.org] Pieter Bruegel the Elder [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder] Duchamp’s “Étant donnés” [https://www.philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/marcel-duchamp-etant-donnes] Julius Caesar Gallery (Chicago) [http://juliuscaesarchicago.net]

Live from the tailgate lounge at Chicago Architectural Biennial 6's booth at Expo Chicago, Duncan and Ryan welcome Joey Orr, the newly appointed Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the MCA Chicago. In this densely brilliant and surprisingly hilarious conversation, Orr discusses what it means to steer a contemporary art institution in an era of deep social complexity, political polarization, and shifting museum ethics. We cover everything from the social life of objects to the lore of performance documentation, and even pitch a game show based on the varied memories of Chris Burden’s early MCA performance. Orr reflects on social practice, audience authorship, and why curators are public servants—not VIPs. We get deep into what it means to be a meat sack in space, how to radicalize museum engagement, and why reenactments may just be the key to future institutional magic. This is art talk that grinds, gropes, and glows in the dark. No hot dogs, just conceptual fireworks.   * Joey Orr – Deputy Director and Chief Curator at MCA Chicago * IG: @joeyorr13 * Bio: https://joeyorr.com/about/ [https://joeyorr.com/about/] * Chris Burden – Performance artist * Wiki: Chris Burden [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Burden] * John Cage – Composer and performance artist * Wiki: John Cage [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage] * Resource: John Cage Trust [https://johncage.org/] * Dick Higgins – Intermedia artist and Fluxus co-founder * Wiki: Dick Higgins [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Higgins] * Alison Knowles – Fluxus artist * IG: @alisonknowlesartist [https://www.instagram.com/alisonknowlesartist] * Wiki: Alison Knowles [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Knowles] * Mary Jane Jacob – Curator of public art and socially engaged practice * Wiki: Mary Jane Jacob [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_Jacob] * Bio: SAIC Faculty Page * Pablo Helguera – Artist and educator working in socially engaged art * IG: @pablo_helguera [https://www.instagram.com/pablo_helguera] * Website: pablohelguera.net [http://www.pablohelguera.net/] * Book: Education for Socially Engaged Art * Diana Taylor – Performance theorist; author of The Archive and the Repertoire * Profile: NYU Performance Studies * Book Info: Duke University Press * Naomi Beckwith – Curator, formerly at MCA and Guggenheim * IG: @naomibx [https://www.instagram.com/naomibx] * Article: Guggenheim Chief Curator Announcement [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/arts/design/naomi-beckwith-guggenheim.html] * MCA Chicago (Museum of Contemporary Art) * Website: mcachicago.org [https://mcachicago.org] * IG: @mcachicago [https://www.instagram.com/mcachicago] * School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) * Website: saic.edu [https://www.saic.edu] * IG: @saic_news [https://www.instagram.com/saic_news] * High Museum of Art (Atlanta) * Website: high.org [https://high.org] * IG: @highmuseumofart [https://www.instagram.com/highmuseumofart] * The Louvre * Website: louvre.fr [https://www.louvre.fr/en] * IG: @museelouvre [https://www.instagram.com/museelouvre] * Queens Museum * Website: queensmuseum.org [https://www.queensmuseum.org/] * IG: @queensmuseum [https://www.instagram.com/queensmuseum] * Fluxus – Movement reference * MoMA: Fluxus Overview - https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/fluxus#:~:text=Founded%20by%20George%20Maciunas%20and,to%20integrate%20art%20and%20life [https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/fluxus#:~:text=Founded%20by%20George%20Maciunas%20and,to%20integrate%20art%20and%20life]. *