S2 Ep17: Paul McCarthy’s Life in Music

Paul McCarthy is a legendary performance artist, painter and filmmaker. He is less known for his work as a musician, though he has been active as an improvising sound artist since his days in music school. Today, he continues to play with his band, Extended Organ (formed with Mike Kelley) and to edit the sound in his films with the sensibility of noise and collage. In this episode, McCarthy describes his life in music, his early influences, and his mysterious interactions with a man who may have been the chess prodigy, Bobby Fischer. Featured image Paul McCarthy, Whipping a Wall and a Window with Paint, 1974, performance, video, b/w photographs. © Paul McCarthy. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth; photo: Al Payne Host Ross Simonini Credits Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini

This episode is a conversation with the writer, Matt Marble on the composer Arthur Russell, who was active in the ‘70s and ‘80s music scene in New York. Marble’s book Buddhist Bubblegum is a study of Russell’s life and music, which spanned many styles and invoked esoteric practices such as Tantra and Shingon Buddhism. On the podcast, Marble discusses Russell’s philosophical perspectives on such divergent topics as non-dualism and disco music, and how Russell worked with his Buddhist teacher to create what he believed would be the pop music of the future. Featured image Photo: Tom Lee; courtesy Audika Records Host Ross Simonini Credits Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini

This episode features the musician and painter, Joanne Robertson whose work is born from improvisation. She regularly collaborates with other artists, such as Dean Blunt and Sidsel Meineche Hansen, who plays a vacuum on Joanne’s most recent release. We discuss her ideas on music, art and life, all while she nurses her newborn baby. Featured image Photo courtesy Bruna Amaral Host Ross Simonini Credits Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini

This episode features two multimedia artists, Deniz Gul and Nour Mobarak, who both work with sculpture, music, language and ideas. Mobarak discusses her new work, Dafne Phono, an audio-based adaptation of the first known opera, translated into the most morphophonologically complex languages in the world. Gul presents an essay from her most recent book, an excerpt on the subject of somatic philosopher Moshé Feldenkrais, along with an exercise for listeners to try at home.  Featured image Theodoor van Thulden, Apollo and Daphne, 1636-38. Public domain. Host Ross Simonini Credits Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini

Hunter Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix is the leading creative force in the highly eclectic band, Liturgy. She also makes sculpture and has created her own philosophical system called Transcendental Qabala, which informs much of her work. In this episode, we discuss her opera, Origin of the Alimonies, which she considers a total work of art, involving film, spiritual gnosis, and a gender-affirming transition. Host Ross Simonini Credits Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini Image courtesy: Hunter Hunt-Hendrix

Mochu is an artist who creates narrative technofictions in his films, writings and lectures. In this episode, he presents an audio adaptation of his new book, Nervous Fossils: Syndromes of the Synthetic Nether, which discusses fossils, synthetic colour production, and time-traveling syndromes. The episode takes place in an art freeport and drifts between essay, fiction and mythology. It's a wild philosophical ride into deep time. Host Ross Simonini Credits Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini Image courtesy: Adityan Melekalam + Mochu Audioscape: Suvani Suri Sound Recording: Abhishek Mathur @ Quarter Note Studios

For the last five years, curator Natasha Ginwala has been investigating riots, uprisings, and pogroms. As a part of this research, she’s curated an exhibition and edited the book ​​Nights of the Dispossessed: Riots Unbound, edited with Gal Kirn and Niloufar Tajeri. For this podcast, Ginwala considers the sonic expression of riots through a collection of mixtapes and sound collages on social unrest. The episode features contributions by Arshia Haq (writer, filmmaker, DJ), Louis Henderson (artist, filmmaker), Josh Kun (author, music critic), and Atiyyah Khan (arts journalist, music writer, artist). Host Ross Simonini Credits Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini Featured image Jitish Kallat, Anger at the Speed of Fright, 2010, Riots: Slow Cancellation of the Future, 2018, ifa Gallery Berlin, courtesy: Victoria Tomaschko

For the last few years, the artist Jared Madere has invented images and music using artificial intelligence. He jams AI systems with irrationality to arrive at pictures and songs that are both familiar and alien. In this episode, Madere discusses the ‘frozen operas’ he has been performing around the world and the idiosyncratic process he uses to collaborate with the non-human. Host Ross Simonini Credits Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini

Ei Arakawa is an artist working in sculpture, performance and more recently, musicals. In this episode Arakawa is interviewed for the first time about his songs, which have been largely overshadowed by his largescale performances, at venues such as Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Arakawa goes on to discuss the process of writing music and some of the artists, both amateurs and stars, who have been an influence on his work since childhood. Host Ross Simonini Credits Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini

Klein is multi-disciplinary artist. She’s made a feature length film, a hypertext storytelling game and theatrical works, but is primarily known for her music, a beguiling collage of sound. This episode features an interview in which Klein manipulates her vocals and provides a playlist of TV sitcom theme songs, commercial jingles, and Nigerian Nollywood soundtracks that influenced her as a child. Host  Ross Simonini Credits  Produced by ArtReview and Ross Simonini