The Mater Podcast

Maddie Rose Hills
  • 5.0 (2)
  • VISUAL ARTS
The Mater Podcast

The Mater Podcast explores materials through the eyes of artists and researchers. Host Maddie Rose Hills invites two guests to speak together about a material central to their practice. We will be speaking with seed keepers, artists, geographers, media theorists, writers, philosophers, archaeologists, and curators about the materials that fascinate them. The podcast is created off the back of Mater, a research project initiated by Maddie in 2021. Mater commissions new writing on the subject of materials, as well as hosting artist interviews and exhibitions. More at @mater________ & https://mater.digital/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    Water with Matterlurgy - Helena Hunter & Mark Peter Wright

    I am joined by the artist duo Matterlurgy to talk about Water! Matterlurgy are a research-based artist duo composed of Helena Hunter and Mark Peter Wright. Some of their projects have responded to sites such as a hydropower station, disused steelworks, a laboratory for ice simulation, an abandoned copper mine, as well as galleries and museum collections. Examining ways of sensing, translating and representing environmental change. Our conversation focused on some of their projects that surround water.. From viewing ocean water under the microscope and the invisible activity which we are unable to see through the naked eye, through to complex river ecosystems. We discussed how they use installation, sculpture and film to bring this research into gallery/museum spaces, and the mediums that enable them to share these ideas..  Links Matterlurgy website: https://www.matterlurgy.net/projects Matterlurgy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matterlurgy_studio/ Mark Peter Wright artist website: https://markpeterwright.net/ Helena Hunter artist website: https://www.helenahunter.net/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_helena_hunter/?hl=en MIMA (Middlesbrough Museum of Modern Art): https://mima.art/ The Seili project was hosted by Contemporary Art in the Archipelago: https://contemporaryartarchipelago.org/ Sensitives Steam, website link: https://sensitives.stream/ Arts Catylist: https://artscatalyst.org/  Flom Sang: https://www.matterlurgy.net/flom-sang Museum of Sheffield artist's page: https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/meet-the-artists-matterlurgy/ Bakewell Old House Museum: https://www.oldhousemuseum.org.uk/ Wellcome Collection: https://wellcomecollection.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsc24BhDPARIsAFXqAB00eCUGltjjED65pjkD0CpUH1MnHFEyh9s57mUx30ZR0o6jikMFT9QaAj9wEALw_wcB Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    51 min

  2. 9 OCT

    Grottos & Shells with Emma Witter & Krista Mileva-Frank

    A magical conversation with Emma Witter and Krista Mileva-Frank about Shells and Grottos.. I first came across Emma’s work a couple of years ago.. Emma is an artist who makes work from found and waste ephemera. Looking back at heritage craft, she combines ancient materials with relatively recent scientific processes such as electroforming and kiln forming. When I asked Emma a few months ago to be on the podcast, she wanted to take her time to pick the right guest. Which brings us to our second guest, Krista Mileva-Frank..  Krista Mileva-Frank is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art program at MIT. Her dissertation examines grottoes and rock landscapes in nineteenth-century France and Latin America in the context of environmental transformation, labor, and racial politics. Krista is the curator of the group exhibition Objects for a Heavenly Cave, on view at Marta Gallery in Los Angeles, 7-12th October.. The show features work by Emma Witter.. Links Emma: https://www.instagram.com/emma_witter_/?hl=en & http://www.emmawitter.co.uk/ Krista: https://architecture.mit.edu/people/krista-mileva-frank The Exhibition: https://marta.la/exhibitions/various-artists-objects-for-a-heavenly-cave here is a link to the exhibition. The exhibition catalog, along with the GROTTO hat, can be purchased from the Marta Bookshop. Other artworks in the exhibition referenced: James Naish (Corycia bench) Lily Clark (superhydrophobic fountain Dew Point III) Emily Endo (scent-based piece Nymphaeum) Masaomi Yasunaga masaomi_yasunaga (Melting Vessel 熔ける器, 2024) Marta Gallery on Instagram Fumi: https://galleryfumi.com/ & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gallery_fumi/?hl=en Mater on Instagram The Mater website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    54 min

  3. 3 OCT

    Learning with Soil Chromatography with Hannah Fletcher and Steffie de Gaetano

    This week I am in conversation with Hannah Fletcher and Steffie de Gaetano about sustainable photographic processes, soil chromatography, and waste Hannah Fletcher is an artist based in London, working with photographic processes, incorporating organic matter such as soils, algae, mushrooms and plants into photographic mediums and surfaces. I first heard of Hannah through her work as the founder of the Sustainable Darkroom, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to researching and disseminating lower-toxicity photographic materials and methods. I’m thrilled that Hannah has introduced me to our second guest Steffe De Gateano, an interdisciplinary artist and researcher currently based in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands.. Steffie’s work is situated at the intersection of architecture, landscape, art, and anthropology, disciplines she critically unbuilds by uncovering their colonial entanglements and ramifications of Modernity. Steffie’s Permeance Project uses the technique of chromatography on soils from the river Dommel, which have been contaminated by industrial waste streams.  Steffie de Gaetano Website https://steffiedegaetano.net/about.html Instagram https://www.instagram.com/steffiedegaetano/ Hannah Fletcher https://www.instagram.com/hfletch/ https://www.hannahfletcher.com/ Sustainable Darkroom: https://sustainabledarkroom.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    42 min

  4. 26 SEPT

    Glitter with Rebecca Coleman & Nicole Seymour

    The fabulous Rebecca Coleman & Nicole Seymour join me to chat about the sparkly, clingy, joyful, irritating, enchanting paradox that is glitter! A few years ago I attended a zoom lecture by Dr Rebecca Coleman about her long-term research project into glitter. A project which was initiated following a collaging workshop with young girls, organised by Coleman.. It was witnessing the allure of glitter as a material in this workshop, as well as how glitter was appearing for weeks afterwards, lingering at the bottom of a bag, or attached to belongings and clothing, that led her to follow some of these themes further.. Rebecca is a professor at the school of School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies and Bristol Digital Futures Institute at the University of Bristol, with research crossing media, cultural studies and feminist theory Rebecca recommended that we invite Nicole Seymour to join us in this conversation.. Nicole works in the environmental humanities, asking how literature and other cultural forms – from documentary film to stand-up comedy – mediate our relationship to environmental crisis. Her latest book, Glitter, is an environmental-cultural history of that substance from Bloomsbury’s “Object Lessons” series. She is professor of English and graduate advisor of environmental studies at California State University at Fullerton. I am officially a mega fan of Beckie and Nicole, they are both iconic. They do such a good job of maintaining the enjoyment of glitter while taking it seriously as a subject.. I highly recommend both of their books which I will link to here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9781912685387/glitterworlds/ https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/glitter-9781501373763/ More Links Rebecca Coleman https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/rerm/article/view/3669 https://read.dukeupress.edu/cultural-politics/article/18/1/79/298683/Glitter-Shine-GlowPatinas-of-Feminine-Achievement (I'm not sure if this is open access?) https://www.academia.edu/36834385/_Osgood_J_in_press_You_cant_separate_it_from_anything_glitters_doings_as_materialised_figurations_of_childhood_and_art_in_Sakr_and_Osgood_Eds_Post_Developmental_Approaches_to_Childhood_Art_Bloomsbury https://www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-press/publications/glitterworlds/ Nicole Seymour A very short piece on glitter’s usage in fishing lures. https://bloomsburyliterarystudiesblog.com/2022/09/fishing-lure-glitter-environment.html https://www.dukeupress.edu/aesthetics-of-excess https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/214/ShineThe-Visual-Economy-of-Light-in-African Also referenced: Kylie Crane, Plastic and Concrete Mater: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mater________/ Website: https://mater.digital/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    44 min

  5. 23 AUG

    Earth Materials with Heidi Gustafson & Belinda Blignaut

    On ochre, wild clay and foraging! This week I am joined by the magnetic pairing that is Heidi Gustafson and Belinda Blignaut. When I first came across the sculptures of the artist Belinda Blignaut I was blown away by them. Made from unprocessed clay and other found materials from her immediate surroundings, tapping into ideas around transformation. Though it took me a long time to actually reach out to Belinda and tell her what a fan I was, images of her works have been pasted on my studio wall and saved on Instagram for several years. When we spoke on the phone a few weeks ago Belinda suggested we invite Heidi Gustafson to join us in conversation today.. And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Heidi’s work in more detail since then.. Heidi is ‘a recovering philosopher who forages and crushes rock for a living.’ Her Book of Earth is an immersive introduction into the world of ochre, a naturally occurring mineral used to make pigment. Heidi’s cabin in the rural North Cascades shelters the Ochre Sanctuary project, which contains more than 600 pigments from around the planet.. a transforming body and future earthwork made with ochres and earth pigments gathered by humans worldwide. We spoke about the body, and Belinda’s journey through health and healing. The body is central to Belinda’s work - the Mud Rights practice sees her covering her body with earth, creating an earth skin and lying down in the ground.. It is a still, meditative and contemplative experience of re-connection. Heidi spoke about the vastly broad array of colours and forms that an ochre can take, how they have been a way of understanding her connection to earth, and how ochres are connected to our bodies through our material make-up. Find Belinda & Heidi on Instagram: @belinda_blignaut  @heidilynnheidilynn Find out more about Heidi’s Ochre Sanctuary: https://earlyfutures.com/ochrearchive/ Heidi’s book, Book of Earth: https://earlyfutures.com/book-of-earth/ Belinda also organises the Wild Clay retreat: @wildclayretreat We are on Instagram at @Mater________ We also have a website with 19 commissioned pieces of writing which can all be read for free on our website mater.digital Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    58 min

  6. 12 AUG

    Horsehair with Nicola Turner & Mick Sheridan

    I am joined by the wonderful Nicola Turner & Mick Sheridan, speaking about sculptures, upholstery, waste, horsehair and wool.. Nicola Turner: https://www.instagram.com/nicolaturner.art/?hl=en Mick Sheridan: https://www.instagram.com/m.s.upholstery/?hl=en Nicola is an artist with a background in set and costume design. She has designed for The Royal Opera House, National Theatre and Sydney Opera House to name a few.. Today we will be talking about her sculptures. As an artist Turner investigates dissolution of boundaries, liminal states, and continuous exchanges across ecosystems.. exploring the interconnection of life and death, human and non- human, attraction and repulsion. She combines found objects that hold traces of memory, with the shapes of living forms, and materials from organic ‘dead’ matter such as horsehair - a material used previously for bedding and furniture. Her sprawling sculpture, The Meddling Fiend, in the Royal Academy courtyard has been a highlight for many visitors to this year’s Summer Exhibition. Mick is a second generation upholsterer based in Wales, proficient in both traditional and modern methods, and specialising in British wool fabrics. Mick’s Guerilla Reupholstery project finds fly tipped or discarded furniture on the streets, and transforms them into something new.. Using as much of the existing materials as possible and augmenting that with waste products from their reupholstery business. The chairs are sculptural, several being made in collaboration with an artist, and one with a Designer/Weaver. Mick's Guerilla Upholsterer account: https://www.instagram.com/guerrilla_upholsterer/?hl=en The Meddling Fiend at The Royal Academy : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7gVTwxvhPk Julie Ann Sheridan: https://www.instagram.com/sheridanjulieann/ Sadie Campbell: https://www.instagram.com/sadiedidi/ Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mater________/?hl=en Our website: https://mater.digital/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    42 min

  7. 28 JUL

    Minerals & Fiction with Deborah Tchoudjinoff & Oscar Salguero

    A fascinating conversation with Deborah Tchoudjinoff and Oscar Salguero about geology, minerals, technology and fiction Deborah is a multidisciplinary artist based in London who works across sculpture and digital media. She has worked with AR, VR, Unreal Engine, combined with sculpture made from wood or metal to present mixed media installations. Often beginning with a locality or research concept, she considers what the form is through the process of material and visual experimentations. Her practice engages with the temporal and spatial aspects of ecologies, in particular how technology, constructs, remembers, and forgets the stories of past and future ecologies. She is influenced by fiction, world-building, and otherworldly aesthetics. Oscar is an independent curator, researcher, and archivist. His exhibition NEO MINERALIA presented a selection of new geological specimens crafted by ten international artists. The exhibition suggests recent rock formations no longer fit within the traditional groups: Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary. Instead, the era of human influence on the climate and environment has introduced two post-natural rocks: Synthetic and Digital. Salguero is also the founder of Interspecies Library - the first archive dedicated to the study and advancement of artists’ books exploring alternative interspecies futures. Deborah is on Instagram at: deboraht_ff Oscar is on Instagram at softcoreny Find us on Instagram at Mater________ Our website it mater.digital Projects & people referenced: The Toaster Project, Thomas Thwaites, 2011 Neo Mineralia, Oscar Salguero Sae Honda, Everybody Needs a Rock Works by Deborah Tchoudjinoff  Ceramic Material Atlas Lehman Brothers Earth Emotions by Glenn Albrecht Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    42 min

  8. 11 JUL

    Deep Time Matters with Miriam Sentler & Paulina Blaesild

    This week I’m joined by Miriam Sentler and Paulina Blaesild, to speak about deep time matters, art, archeology and the act of swimming Miriam lives and works between Norway and the Netherlands. She is a contemporary artist and doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo.. Her projects often result in long research trajectories, taking shape in different mediums like installations, audio, textile, video, photography, artist publications, and text. Sentler's interdisciplinary work emphasises the changing of landscapes, focussing on the cultural and environmental legacy of (fossil fuel) industries and the modern era. Paulina is a doctoral research fellow at the department of Historical Studies, Gothenburg University, Sweden. She is a palaeoecologist and wetland archaeologist working with vegetation development studies and artistic practice to explore past and present ecological encounters, their interconnections and the mediatory effects of technology. This discussion highlighted to me the potential within having not just conversations but also working collaborations across disciplines.. Or even non-disciplinary spaces as Paulina mentioned - where you are not restricted by certain processes.. These in-between spaces create so much room for curiosity and productive exploration.  Miriam referenced the book Arts of Living on a damaged planet: https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517902377/arts-of-living-on-a-damaged-planet/ Find Miriam online at: www.miriamsentler.com  www.deeptimeagency.com  Find Paulina online at: Blaesild, P. (2024). Paulina Blaesild - Human-Environmental Interactions in Wetlands, Arkeologisk Forskningsseminar, Universitetet i Bergen (presentation, in Swedish). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVK4_Tp6D3Q Karlsson, M. (2021). Unik stenåldersmiljö grävs fram i Östergötland, Forskning och Framsteg (Interview, in Swedish). https://fof.se/artikel/2021/7/unik-stenaldersmiljo-gravs-fram-i-ostergotland/ Larsdotter, A. (2021). Torvbrytning hotar fornmiljö. Populär Historia (Interview, in Swedish). https://popularhistoria.se/nyheter/torvbrytning-hotar-fornmiljo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    45 min
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About

The Mater Podcast explores materials through the eyes of artists and researchers. Host Maddie Rose Hills invites two guests to speak together about a material central to their practice. We will be speaking with seed keepers, artists, geographers, media theorists, writers, philosophers, archaeologists, and curators about the materials that fascinate them. The podcast is created off the back of Mater, a research project initiated by Maddie in 2021. Mater commissions new writing on the subject of materials, as well as hosting artist interviews and exhibitions. More at @mater________ & https://mater.digital/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Maddie Rose Hills
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Maddie Rose Hills
  • Show Website
    The Mater Podcast

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