Open Studios

E11: Jemila MacEwan - Protesting in Advocacy for Life

This week, interdisciplinary earthworks artist Jemila MacEwan joins Asia to talk about their grounded, meditative practice. Jemila and Asia begin their conversation by reflecting on the changing of the seasons, and the powerful emotional, psychological, and social shifts that occur when spring begins (1:57). Jemila contemplates the fear and dread that many people in the Western world experience in relation to spring, with the knowledge that what comes into being in spring will soon die in autumn (3:39). They discuss how many of these anxieties and transformations are the foundation of their upcoming durational performance, “Seed Meditation,” which takes place over the course of 10 days and involves the artist holding a germinating seed in their hands-- a public invitation to contemplate birth, growth, life and death (6:21). Jemila and Asia discuss the choice of Washington Square Park as the site for the performance (10:10) and consider the long history of protest and community building that has occurred in the park (11:36). They reflect on the risks of the performance-- including whether or not the seed successfully germinates-- and from there, they discuss the general challenges that durational artists experience when committing to long-form work (16:05). Jemila acknowledges the crucial role that community support plays in their practice (21:27). They plan to establish a reciprocal relationship between them and their audience and participants by offering passersby a book containing information on how to grow and care for a seed, and how to embark upon their own personal seed meditation (28:02). “Seed Meditation” is one in a long line of performance art earthworks, and Jemila emphasizes the myriad lessons that we can learn from studying and sitting with nature (30:52). They contemplate the cycle of life and death and how human bodies return to the earth and nourish new life (34:07). The episode concludes with Jemila and Asia recalling the scientific principle that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only altered-- and both artists discuss the existential comfort and peace that realization can bring to our increasingly turbulent and anxiety-ridden culture (36:17). Follow Jemila on Instagram @jemila_macewan [https://www.instagram.com/jemila_macewan/?hl=en] and online at www.jemilamacewan.com [https://www.jemilamacewan.com/] This podcast is produced and edited by Asia Stewart. Find Asia online @asiastewart [https://www.instagram.com/asiastewart/?hl=en] and @performvu [https://www.instagram.com/performvu/]

E10: Lynn Lu - Transforming Audiences into Co-Creators

In this episode of Open Studios, Asia is joined by Lynn Lu. Lynn is an artist who embraces participation and collaboration in her performances, making space for the development of intimacy and connections with others that the constraints and isolating nature of our world don’t typically allow for. Building upon strategies introduced by artists like Marina Abramović and Valie Export, Lynn devises performances that enable audiences to determine the content and outcome of her work (2:16). Asia and Lynn discuss how trust and consent operate in her interactive performances (3:06) and Lynn mentions a time an audience member withdrew consent (5:42). The two later discuss strawberrymilkbath, one of Lynn's earliest performances (09:21). In this piece, Lynn bathed in a tub filled with strawberry milk and invited audiences to drink her bathwater. Asia and Lynn then reflect on the ways that Lynn's work promotes empathy and understanding, and Lynn shares her hope of building resonant relationships through her art (14:13). In many performances, Lynn has encouraged participants to share extremely private memories or secrets anonymously. In one such performance at the Tate Modern in 2010, Lynn held up a sign that read "Free Secrets. Take one and/or leave one" (19:38). After collecting secrets and confessions across a number of years, Lynn thinks about what it has meant for her to hold onto so many strangers' stories (21:20).  Towards the end of the conversation, Lynn shares what she has learned about herself from her audiences over the years (24:12). After realizing that many view her as non-threatening, Lynn decided to use the assumptions that people make about her to her advantage in performances (27:04).  Finally, Lynn reveals details about one of her latest projects, which will focus on perimenopause and menopause (31:12).  Follow Lynn Lu on Instagram @lululotte [https://www.instagram.com/lululotte/?hl=en] and online at lynnlu.info [https://lynnlu.info/] This podcast is produced and edited by Asia Stewart. Find Asia online @asiastewart [https://www.instagram.com/asiastewart/?hl=en] and @performvu [https://www.instagram.com/performvu/]

E9: Sarah Cameron Sunde - Decentering the Human Experience

Sarah Cameron Sunde, an interdisciplinary artist who works at the intersection of performance, video, and socially-engaged public art joins Asia on this episode of the podcast. Asia and Sarah discuss Sarah's incredible project 36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea, a series of nine site-specific performances and video art works made in collaboration with communities around the world. In each performance, Sarah, joined by community members, stands silently in a body of water for a full tide cycle that lasts from 12 - 13 hours. Over this period of time, the water rises to almost engulf participants and later recedes back to low tide. As the conversation begins, Sarah shares how she feels about the approach of the one-year anniversary of the final performance of 36.5, which took place in the New York Estuary on September 14, 2022 (2:10). Although the 36.5 series is complete, Sarah and Asia consider how 36.5 can continue to live on in other people's bodies (6:03). Asia then asks Sarah to think back to the moment when Hurricane Sandy hit New York City in 2012 (8:58). In the wake of the deadly storm, Sarah realized how vulnerable the city was to sea-level rise and extreme weather, and she felt motivated to use art to communicate the struggle for survival amidst the climate crisis. In the second-half of the episode, Sarah shares how she formed connections with people around the world to generate different iterations of 36.5 on almost every continent. Sarah also offers the example of how 36.5 was developed in Brazil with her collaborators (18:47).  Recognizing how important it will be to record and document all of the stories of 36.5, Sarah is working with Una Chaudhuri to write a book about the project (24:41). In closing, Sarah shares what gives her hope to continue her work (29:07) and provides a new way of framing what qualifies as a performance (30:53).  Follow Sarah Cameron Sunde and 36.5 on Instagram @scsunde [https://www.instagram.com/scsunde/?hl=en] and @36.5durational [https://www.instagram.com/36.5durational/] and online at https://www.sarahcameronsunde.com/ [https://www.sarahcameronsunde.com/] and https://www.36pt5.org/ [https://www.36pt5.org/] This podcast is produced and edited by Asia Stewart. Find Asia online @asiastewart [https://www.instagram.com/asiastewart/?hl=en] and @performvu [https://www.instagram.com/performvu/]

E8: Sara Kostic - Integrating Architectural Principles into Performance

Sara Kostic, an interdisciplinary artist who works across performance, dance, visual art, and architecture joins Asia on this episode of the podcast. Born in Belgrade, Serbia and now based in New York City, Sara has performed internationally at the Mardin Biennale in Turkey, Venice International Performance Art Week in Italy, and Grace Exhibition Space in New York, among many others. Sara explains how her background in dance and studies of architecture led her to performance art (1:41). She shares how she was first introduced to performance art practices through a workshop with Marta Jovanović back in 2015 (05:56). It was then that Sara discovered the challenge of performing durational works and became interested in using time as a material. In the second half of the episode, Sara discusses why she has used sugar in past performances and explains why she views sugar as an object that is symbolic of capitalistic desires (08:41). Asia notes that Sara's use of sugar evolves in later performances into a metaphor for the desirability and consumption of women's bodies (09:24). In closing, Sara shares some of her upcoming projects including a collaborative work with Arantxa Araujo titled Ebb and Flow (14:23). Follow Sara Kostic on Instagram @arbor_sara and on her website sarakostic.com [http://sarakostic.com/] You can watch Sara's work on PerformVu! Head to https://www.performvu.com/ [https://www.performvu.com/] This podcast is produced and edited by Asia Stewart. Find Asia online @asiastewart [https://www.instagram.com/asiastewart/?hl=en] and @performvu [https://www.instagram.com/performvu/]

E7: Natacha Voliakovsky - Restoring the Denied Body

Argentine activist and hard-core political performance artist Natacha Voliakovsky joins Asia on the podcast this week. Natacha begins by sharing why activism and socially-engaged work is central to their artistic practice (1:21). While discussing the importance of the Latin American feminist movement Ni Una Menos, Natacha reflects on the way their personal involvement in protests has shaped their work (04:28). The "fútbol performativity" (6:06) and energy of flag-waving and rallying at protests and marches is absolutely present in Natacha's public performances.  In the second-half of the conversation, Natacha considers the significance of blood in their work (9:07) and describes how they go about preparing for and recovering from intense, high-risk performances (13:02). Walking through the example of their 2022 performance "Abortion is a Life Need," Natacha explains how they assessed the physical and emotional risks of the performance and communicated those risks to audiences and community members (15:40). Finally, Natacha and Asia discuss Natacha's new video installation "the denied body: a refuge of trauma," which opens on Governors Island this September (17:46). In closing, Asia asks Natacha to share what they feel they have been denied (20:12). Follow Natacha Voliakovsky on Instagram @natachavoliakovsky and on their website natachavoliakovsky.com [https://natachavoliakovsky.com/] You can watch Natacha's work on PerformVu! Head to ⁠https://www.performvu.com/⁠ [https://www.performvu.com/] This podcast is produced and edited by Asia Stewart.  Find Asia online @asiastewart and ⁠@performvu  [https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/]