On Goingness

Elan Rodman: On Persistence, Dealing Vintage, and Fashion Taboo

Elan Rodman is a fashion professional with a flair for the past. He founded the @thelostandfoundmuseum [https://www.instagram.com/thelostandfoundmuseum/] on Instagram, a space that connects sportswear history with design and cultural histories. While a graduate student at Parsons School of Design in their M.A Fashion Studies program, he explored the possibilities of connecting fashion history with art and theory as a way to understand the effects fashion has on society. His interest in vintage clothing became a focal point, as his thesis focused on the history of taboo, seen through vintage t-shirt graphics and phraseology. Today, he is the Footwear & Packaging Specialist for the Reebok Archive in Boston, Massachusetts, where he combines his passion for footwear fashion history to help maintain Reebok’s rich legacy in sporting culture.  In this episode, Elan and I talk about his genuine and unconventional path to building a career in fashion, how he got started as a vintage dealer and the importance of pushing through rocky terrain to pursue your dreams.

Adam Trunell: On Community in Skid Row

Adam Trunell⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/adamtrunell/] is an LA-based filmmaker. In the past, Adam's been a writer, producer, and editor, depending on the job. Eventually, by necessity, he had to do all those things at once, including camera. That, plus the need to make anything into something, is where you end up with "filmmaker." In this conversation we focus on Adam's feature documentary The Row that he shot and produced on his own in Skid Row, Los Angeles during Covid-19. We chat about unraveling typical expectations of community and the nonprofit harm reduction organization called ⁠The Sidewalk Project⁠ [https://www.thesidewalkproject.org/]. Below is Adam's written bio for this project: "The first time I heard someone cry on the streets of Skid Row, I was stunned, realizing it was only the first time. The sound should be an anthem in a place like this, its chorus rising every night with the moon. Instead it sang unremarkably among the silent, sleeping bodies curled on the sidewalk—impossible in repose—falling like a whisper on deaf ears.   That was my first year in Skid Row; eight since and I know better. Tears come at the breaking point, and if you’re already here, you’re past broke. By the here and now, you found a way to deal and people to deal with.  We co-exist in Skid Row, home of the eccentric, troubled, corrupted, enlightened, exemplary, and unhinged. It cuts a complicated beauty whose diversity is unknown in any modern city, anywhere. I keep friends who have roofs and walls and friends without; friends with addiction disorders and friends without; friends who make victims and those who’d been one.  None of us got the same story; all of us share the same space."

Christine Mai Nguyen: On Screen, Off Screen

Christine Mai Nguyen [https://www.youtube.com/chrissstttiiine?themeRefresh=1] (b. 1988 Fountain Valley, CA) is an artist living and working in Los Angeles. With a background in film studies and new media, Christine has been creating journalistic video diaries for the past 15 years. At the recommendation of a therapist she picked up clay [https://ceramrap.com/collections/all-avail-products-in-preferred-order] in an effort to find peace in a tactile, off screen pursuit. She found comfort in the beginner’s mind of a new medium.  I’ve been following and loving her soothing video content on YouTube for 10+ years, and was excited she agreed to pop on for an episode. In this one, we discuss how she got started on Youtube, how she’s maintained it all of these years, her start to DJ’ing and ceramics, how creativity can spring from both organic and structured spaces, and how switching mediums to avoid burnout is often a good idea.  You can see her show "On Returning" on view until September 1st at Umico Gallery [https://www.thisisumi.co/].

Laura Splan: On Art, Science, and Sticky Settings

Laura Splan [https://www.laurasplan.com/] is a transdisciplinary artist working at the intersections of science, technology, and culture. She creates conceptually layered and carefully crafted artworks that explore the sublime complexity of the biological world while unraveling entanglements of natural and built systems. Her research-driven projects connect hidden artifacts of biotechnology to everyday lives through embodied interactions and sensory experiences. Recent exhibitions have included immersive installations, networked devices, and tactile sculptures. Splan often engages audiences with themes in her work through companion programming, including participatory workshops covering laboratory techniques, specialized software, and textiles methods that she uses in her own studio practice. Her artworks exploring biomedical imaginaries have been commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control Foundation and the Bruges Triennial. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Arts & Design, Pioneer Works, and New York Hall of Science and is represented in the collections of the Thoma Art Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, NYU’s Langone Art Collection, and the Berkeley Art Museum. Reviews and articles including her work have appeared in The New York Times, Wired, Discover, designboom, American Craft, and Frieze. Splan’s research and residencies have been supported by the Jerome Foundation, Institute for Electronic Arts, Harvestworks, the Knight Foundation, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. In this episode, Laura and I discuss where art and science meet, Sticky settings in software and DNA, the relationship between learning and teaching, the presence of sound, early memories of where her art practice began and where it stands now.

Torkil Stavdal: On A Photograph's Unspoken Story

Torkil Stavdal [http://torkilstavdal.com/] (b. 1974) is a Norwegian photographer and curator currently residing in New York. At the age of 12, Torkil's grandmother gifted him a Kodak Instamatic 126, and he has not stopped taking photos since. In the mid-90's, after studying photography more formally in Copenhagen, he continued his education by assisting iconic photographers such as Knut Bry, Johan Wildhagen and Massimo Leardini, amongst others. Originally based out of Oslo, Norway, he started his studio "Konfekt" in the early 2000s with Lars Pettersen, Catarina Caprino and Tove Sivertsen. In 2009, Torkil moved to NYC and worked with a number of editorial and commercial clients, including: the New York Times, Elle, Dwell, Apple, VW, Bollinger Motors and Pollack Associates. In 2011, he added motion to his repertoire, and has since worked on shows and movies with Netflix, Lionsgate, BBC, the History Channel and several others. Torkil appreciates the unspoken in a photograph; that there is a story that the spectator gets to finish. In this episode, Torkil and I chat about nature taking back human occupied spaces, the functionality and use of objects (or lack thereof), the photo as a conversation starter, finding your play space, and keeping his art practice going. You can find the gate photo Torkil references in our conversation on our instagram page ⁠here. [https://www.instagram.com/ongoingnesspod/]