VSW Project Space Podcast The Visual Studies Workshop

Hernease Davis sits down with the artist, Raymond Thompson, Jr. at the end of a very busy season that included a tour that launched his recent book project, entitled, Appalachian Ghosts: A Photographic Reimagining of The Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster, which caused the death of nearly 800 workers, 2/3 of which were black americans. Their conversation focuses on an ongoing series that Raymond worked on as a resident at VSW, entitled “It’s hard to stop rebels that time travel”- Both of these projects are very much related to one another in terms of how Raymond is approaching the North American landscape that is both research driven and integrated with speculative and imaginary interventions. Raymond made numerous references to important artist scholars whose works greatly influenced his directions. Links to Raymond’s work as well as those important references are included in the show notes.

Photo Credit: Raymond Thompson Jr., from the series “It’s hard to stop rebels that time travel”, 2021 - ongoing

Raymond Thompson Jr. Reference Links

www.raymondthompsonjr.com
Deborah Willis: https://debwillisphoto.com/home
Ingrid Pollard: http://www.ingridpollard.com/
Dawoud Bey: https://www.colum.edu/academics/faculty/dawoud-bey
Christina Sharpe: https://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/cesharpe/
Saidiya Hartman: https://saidiyahartman.com/
Simone Brown: https://www.dukeupress.edu/dark-matters
HLT Quan’s, “It’s Hard to Stop Rebels That Time Travel”: Democratic Living and the Radical Reimagining of Old Worlds
https://www.education.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Quan-ungovernability.pdf


A transcript of this episode will be available soon.

Welcome to Season 3 of the Project Space Podcast! Our brand new season starts off with a sequel. Ligia Bouton, who was an artist in residence at VSW in 2022, is back on the podcast for Part 2 of her conversation with Assistant Curator, Hernease Davis. Ligia's first conversation with Hernease was actually the Season 1 finale. If you haven’t already listened to part 1, the link to that episode is in the show notes.

For that first talk with Ligia, Hernease spoke with Ligia inside her Project Space Studio at the very end of her residency. Bouton has been researching the work of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who is an important yet overlooked historical figure who made groundbreaking contributions to Astrology. Ligia spoke about how she is using photography, performance, glass, musical composition, and installation as an interdisciplinary approach to translate the extensive research she has done on Henrietta Swan Leavitt. In this episode, Ligia shares about returning to VSW to continue her project, and many exciting developments in her work that involves another residency, a major exhibition in Denmark and a public art project in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Stay tuned and subscribed for upcoming episodes in Season 3.
Follow this link for the transcript of the episode https://www.vsw.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/202400060004_podcast_301.pdf

Links:

Ligia Bouton's Part 1 Episode:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vsw-project-space-podcast/id1654594948?i=1000591354125

Ligia Bouton’s Reference Links
http://ligiaboutonstudio.com
https://library.cfa.harvard.edu/plate-stacks
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/remembering-astronomer-henrietta-swan-leavitt


More About VSW Project Space Residency
https://www.vsw.org/exhibitions/projectspace/

VSW Spring Workshops
https://www.vsw.org/education/workshops/

VSW on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/visualstudiesworkshop/

VSW on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/visualstudiesworkshop/

VSW on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/visualstudiesworkshop

Podcast host, Hernease Davis is popping back onto the feed with two important announcements.

One: Episode 3 will be back soon! The season begins with Part 2 of Hernease’s conversation with Ligia Bouton about the exciting developments in her work. will be the follow up conversation with Ligia Bouton and spoke with the artists Aspen Mays and Dan Boardman, about their latest collaboration, which centers around the Biosphere 2 Project. Here is a short clip from our conversation. If you haven’t already listened to that episode, we highly encourage you to go back to Part 1 with Ligia.

Two: The Project Space Residency application is now open. The deadline to apply is April 5th 2024. The residency supports artists in any stage of their career who are working in photography, film, or media art. We welcome those who are 18 and older and not currently enrolled in a degree program. For more information about the residency and eligibility, check the link to our website in the show notes.

We are excited to share new conversations with the amazing artists who have participated in the Project Space Residency. Stay subscribed and tuned!




Links:

Ligia Bouton Part 1
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vsw-project-space-podcast/id1654594948?i=1000591354125

More About VSW Project Space Residency
https://www.vsw.org/exhibitions/projectspace/

VSW Spring Workshops
https://www.vsw.org/education/workshops/

VSW on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/visualstudiesworkshop/

VSW on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/visualstudiesworkshop/

VSW on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/visualstudiesworkshop

Photo Caption:
Earth (Mom and I) by Eduardo L Rivera. Archival Pigment Print, 24" x 30", 2018. © Eduardo L Rivera. Courtesy of the artist.

Season 2 Episode 5

In this episode Hernease speaks with Eduardo Rivera about how the Project Space residency - and particular aspects of Rochester’s weather - gave him much needed space and perspective to parse through nuances within his images.

Stay tuned and subscribed for upcoming episodes in Season 2.

A transcription of this episode can be found at https://www.vsw.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Season-2-Episode-5-Eduardo-Rivera.pdf


Reference links:

Eduardo Rivera’s Website
https://www.eduardolrivera.com/


Lightwork Exhibition: The Sun Echoed Like a Song
August 25th - December 15th, 2023
https://www.lightwork.org/archive/eduardo-l-rivera-the-sun-echoed-like-a-song/

Silver Eye Exhibition: Radial Survey, Volume 3
November 2nd - February 3rd, 2024
https://silvereye.org/exhibitions/radial-survey-vol-3

Deana Lawson
https://gagosian.com/artists/deana-lawson/

Season 2 Episode 4

This episode features a conversation between artist, Ana Paula Estrada and Tate Shaw, the editor of VSW Press. Ana was a remote resident in 2020, in the early months of the COVID pandemic. One of the outcomes of Ana’s remote residency was an award winning publication entitled I.Am.Here. You will hear about that work, and how timely and relevant it was and continues to be.

Stay tuned and subscribed for upcoming episodes in Season 2.

Please find a transcription of this podcast at https://www.vsw.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Season-2-Episode-4-Ana-Paula-Estrada-with-Tate-Shaw.pdf

Reference Links -

Ana Paula Estrada’s Website:
http://bit.ly/3ZB8WPH

I.Am.Here. is available at VSW’s online bookstore:
https://bookstore.vsw.org/product/i-am-here-the-flowers-in-her-room

Ulises Carrión Lecture at VSW's Options in Independent Art Publishing conference in November 1979:
https://soundcloud.com/user-501846314/options-in-independent-art-publishing-ulises-carrion-1979

More About VSW Project Space
https://www.vsw.org/exhibitions/projectspace/

VSW Fall Workshops
https://www.vsw.org/education/workshops/

Follow us on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/visualstudiesworkshop/

Follow us on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/visualstudiesworkshop/

Season 2 Episode 3

For this next episode, Hernease Davis spoke with the artist Meredith Davenport about her most recent return to The Project Space Residency, and how she is going beyond photography in her practice to engage with her family’s ties to slavery in the U.S.

Stay tuned and subscribed for upcoming episodes in Season 2.

Please find a transcript for this episode at the following link https://www.vsw.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Season-2-Episode-3-Meredith-Davenport.pdf

Reference Links

Meredith Davenport
https://www.meredithdavenport.com

On Psychogeography
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56f54f3b746fb9744ebcb410/t/5de8043e64b7db055cd9d8bf/1575486535534/In-Two-Directions.pdf

Decolonizing the Camera: Photography in Racial Time by Mark Sealy
https://lwbooks.co.uk/product/decolonising-the-camera-photography-in-racial-time

Find VSW

More About VSW Project Space
https://www.vsw.org/exhibitions/projectspace/

VSW Spring Workshops
https://www.vsw.org/education/workshops/

Follow us on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/visualstudiesworkshop/

Follow us on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/visualstudiesworkshop/