Our Shared Field

Making a House a Home (PART 3): A Block Captain and an Artist Talk Engagement (with Anamaya Farthing-Kohl + Aminata Sandra Calhoun)

What turns a house into a home, and a neighborhood into a community? The intention with which Mexico City-based sculptor Anamaya Farthing-Kohl [http://anamayafarthingkohl.com/] and West Philly block captain Aminata Sandra Calhoun [https://www.gridphilly.com/blog-home/2020/8/31/pollinator-gardens?rq=Aminata%20Calhoun] care for the spaces they call home is remarkable. While ‘home’ means something different for each guest, they’ve both expanded the definition to exist outside of their own walls. For Aminata, a clean, cared-for home includes the block it is situated within, and for Anamaya, the actual form a home takes can be ever-shifting. Today, Anamaya and Aminata share the last conversation of the season. We begin by talking about the things that, for Aminata and Anamaya, make a place feel like a home. Music in this episode was created specifically for this podcast by Philly indie band Lester [https://lesterphiladelphia.bandcamp.com/], who pulls listeners in close with soundscapes that build and unravel. Check out our website [https://chat.squarespace.com/our-shared-field] to read more about the musicians and our guests, and to follow their collaborations together. Thank you to technical director Eric Carbonara at NadaSoundStudio [https://www.nadasoundstudio.com/], and to the Center for Humanities at Temple University [https://chat.squarespace.com/] for supporting this podcast.

Making a House a Home (PART 2): A Block Captain and an Artist Talk Engagement (with Aminata Sandra Calhoun)

What turns a house into a home, and a neighborhood into a community? The intention with which Mexico City-based sculptor Anamaya Farthing-Kohl [http://anamayafarthingkohl.com/] and West Philly block captain Aminata Sandra Calhoun [https://www.gridphilly.com/blog-home/2020/8/31/pollinator-gardens?rq=Aminata%20Calhoun] care for the spaces they call home is remarkable. While ‘home’ means something different for each guest, they’ve both expanded the definition to exist outside of their own walls. For Aminata, a clean, cared-for home includes the block it is situated within, and for Anamaya, the actual form a home takes can be ever-shifting. Today, I talk to Aminata, block captain and civic leader, about the move back into her West Philly childhood home, the work she's done transforming a dilapidated lot into a community oasis, and why she sweeps the curb outside of her home every Sunday. Music in this episode was created specifically for this podcast by Victor Vieira-Branco [https://www.instagram.com/vvb___/], featuring Matt Engle, while thinking about what collaboration actually sounds like. Check out our website [https://chat.squarespace.com/our-shared-field] to read more about the musicians and our guests, and to follow their collaborations together. Thank you to technical director Eric Carbonara at NadaSoundStudio [https://www.nadasoundstudio.com/], and to the Center for Humanities at Temple University [https://chat.squarespace.com/] for supporting this podcast.

Making a House a Home (PART 1): A Block Captain and an Artist Talk Engagement (with Anamaya Farthing-Kohl)

What turns a house into a home, and a neighborhood into a community? The intention with which Mexico City-based sculptor Anamaya Farthing-Kohl [http://anamayafarthingkohl.com/] and West Philly block captain Aminata Sandra Calhoun [https://www.gridphilly.com/blog-home/2020/8/31/pollinator-gardens?rq=Aminata%20Calhoun] care for the spaces they call home is remarkable. While ‘home’ means something different for each guest, they’ve both expanded the definition to exist outside of their own walls. For Aminata, a clean, cared-for home includes the block it is situated within, and for Anamaya, the actual form a home takes can be ever-shifting. Today, I talk to artist Anamaya Farthing-Kohl, who always asks the public to collaborate with their work, asking for help to define, circulate, or discover its meanings and intentions. Everyday encounters and actions and objects become moments where Anamaya thinks, ‘this could be a sculpture’. Music in this episode was created for the conversation by janna [https://www.johannabaumann.com/], in response to Anamaya’s work and themes of creating alternative spaces for home and belonging. Check out our website [https://chat.squarespace.com/our-shared-field] to read more about the musicians and our guests, and to follow their collaborations together. Thank you to technical director Eric Carbonara at NadaSoundStudio [https://www.nadasoundstudio.com/], and to the Center for Humanities at Temple University [https://chat.squarespace.com/] for supporting this podcast.

Expanding the Field (PART 3): A Microbiologist and an Artist Talk Communication (with Alexandra Soare & Charles Trae Mason III)

How can communication between fields change the way they are communicated individually? Multimedia artist Charles ‘Trae’ Mason III [https://www.cmason3.com/] and microbiologist and immunologist Alexandra Soare [https://twitter.com/AlexandraYSoare] talk with me about the relationship between art and science, and how both fields still have a long way to go in their ability to communicate outside of themselves. We also discuss the necessity of a good mentor, and acknowledge those who changed and expanded the ways they work. Today, Alexandra and Trae talk with me about the relationship between art and science, and how both fields still have a long way to go in their ability to communicate outside of themselves. We also discuss the necessity of a good mentor, and acknowledge those who changed and expanded the ways they work. Music in this episode was created for the conversation by Travis Woodson [https://traviswoodson.blogspot.com/], a composer and multi-instrumentalist, as he was thinking about what an interaction between a painter and a microbiologist could sound like. Check out our website [https://chat.squarespace.com/our-shared-field] to read more about the musicians and our guests, and to follow their collaborations together. Thank you to technical director Eric Carbonara at NadaSoundStudio [https://www.nadasoundstudio.com/], and to the Center for Humanities at Temple University [https://chat.squarespace.com/] for supporting this podcast.

Expanding the Field (PART 2): A Microbiologist and an Artist Talk Communication (with Charles Trae Mason III)

How can communication between fields change the way they are communicated individually? Multimedia artist Charles ‘Trae’ Mason III [https://www.cmason3.com/] and microbiologist and immunologist Alexandra Soare [https://twitter.com/AlexandraYSoare] talk with me about the relationship between art and science, and how both fields still have a long way to go in their ability to communicate outside of themselves. We also discuss the necessity of a good mentor, and acknowledge those who changed and expanded the ways they work. On today's episode, Trae talks to me about all of the people who have made him who he is as an artist. We discuss the grief, family and love explored in his work, as well as, in his words, “the performative act of Blackness” for him and his body. Music in this episode is by Emmanuel Ohemeng III and Perpetual Motion [https://www.facebook.com/PerpetualMotion2/], a Philly  jazz fusion group that combines elements of jazz, hip hop and rock, led by local award-winning trumpet player Emmanuel Ohemeng III. Check out our website [https://chat.squarespace.com/our-shared-field] to read more about the musicians and our guests, and to follow their collaborations together. Thank you to technical director Eric Carbonara at NadaSoundStudio [https://www.nadasoundstudio.com/], and to the Center for Humanities at Temple University [https://chat.squarespace.com/] for supporting this podcast.