265 episodes
Scratching the Surface Jarrett Fuller
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- Arts
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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Scratching the Surface is a podcast about design, theory, and creative practice. Hosted by Jarrett Fuller, each episode features wide-ranging conversations with designers, architects, writers, academics, artists, and theorists about how design shapes culture. Previous guests include architecture critic Paul Goldberger, MoMA design curator Paola Antonelli, architect and OMA partner Reinier de Graaf, Pentagram partner Michael Bierut, RISD President Rosanne Somerson, writer Kurt Andersen, and designer Jessica Helfand. Featured in Architectural Digest, Dezeen, Curbed, and Eye. New episodes every other Wednesday.
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250. Jacob Moore
Jacob R. Moore was named the executive director of The Architectural League of New York in June 2023. He previously served as associate director of the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University. He’s worked as a writer, editor, curator, and publisher and helped co-found The Avery Review. In this conversation, Jarrett and Jacob talk about the mission of The Architectural League, the role of non-profits in design discourse, and the changing state of design publishing. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/250-jacob-moore.
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249. José Esparza Chong Cuy
José Esparza Chong Cuy is the executive director and chief curator of Storefront for Art and Architecture, a New York-based institution that amplifies the understanding of the built environment through artistic practice. Before Storefront, José was an associate curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and an associate curator at the Museo Jumex. In this conversation, Jarrett and José talk about the history and mission of Storefront, their year-long curatorial framework, and balancing institutionalism and experimentation. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/249-jose-esparza-chong-cuy.
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If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast -
248. Kathleen & Christopher Sleboda
Kathleen and Christopher Sleboda run Draw Down Books, a publishing project and bookshop focused on graphic design, typography, and printed matter. They also work as graphic designers for clients and teach at Boston University, RISD, and the University of Connecticut. Previously, Christopher was Director of Graphic Design at the Yale University Art Gallery for 15 years and Kathleen worked as an archivist at the Beinecke Rare Books Library at Yale. In this episode, Jarrett talks with them about experimental publishing, publishing as a form of community building, and the continued relevance of printed matter. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/248-kathleen-christopher-sleboda.
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If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast -
247. Aaron Betsky
Aaron Betsky is a critic, curator, and administrator. Until 2022, he was the director of Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture and Design. He previous was the president and dean of the School of Architecture at Taliesin, the director of the Cincinnati Art Museum, director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, and a curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He’s the author, most recently, of The Monster Leviathan: Anarchitecture. In this conversation, Jarrett and Aaron talk about anarchitecture and the relationship between theory and practice, the role of modernism, and why the future is multidisciplinary. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/247-aaron-betsky.
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If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast -
246. Alison Place
Alison Place is a designer, educator, and researcher whose work explores the intersection of design and feminist theory. She is the editor of Feminist Designer: On the Personal and the Political in Design and teaches graphic design in the School of Art at the University of Arkansas, where she serves as director of the graphic design program. In this conversation, Jarrett and Alison talk about what feminist design looks like, designers as trouble makers, and rethinking school critiques. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/246-alison-place.
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If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast -
245. Michael Cina
Michael Cina is a graphic designer, creative director, typographer, and artist. Since 2010, he’s run Cina Associates where he’s worked on projects for clients like Disney, Adobe, and Coca-Cola, as well as his long-running collaboration with Ghostly International. He previously co-founded YouWorkForThem, a designer-run online shop for typefaces, stock art, and other resources. In this conversation, Jarrett and Michael talk about the challenges and opportunities in working across mediums, how painting influenced his commercial design work, and how the internet shifted the state of design discourse. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/245-michael-cina.
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If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast
Customer Reviews
Great Podcast
For anybody disillusioned by the current state of design criticism, this podcast is for you! On Scratching the Surface, designer and podcast host Jarrett Fuller invites listeners to follow along as he interviews an incredible list of guests about the (as he puts it) “the intersection of criticism and practice.”
To me, each interview is appreciably consistent in that the same topics are brought up again and again. I like this because if you’re going to penetrate through this seemingly unscalable wall to answer some of design’s most difficult questions, hitting the same spot seems like a good strategy.
I enjoy how each interview subsequently benefits from one another. If Jarrett (host) gets an amazing answer in one episode, he’ll work some of that answer into asking the same question in the next episode. This way of trying to distill things further and further into a simpler answer is commendable, but all it really does is underline the insane complexity of design. This never discourages Jarrett, and it certainly never discourages myself as a listener. If anything, it encourages me to listen and to examine the same topics on my own time, and to make sure I listen to the next episode to learn more.
As a disillusioned designer who’s effectively on a personal journey trying to recalibrate what design means to myself in my own way, this podcast has had a positive effect because instead of fearing or becoming confused about design topics such as design criticism, I find myself facing it with curiosity. It’s a personal journey for everyone and I owe a lot to Jarrett and others studying and teaching design for sharing their personal journey with us whether it be through podcasts, Twitter, or blogging. All of it has significantly helped overcome some hurdles in my practice.