“If we cannot even get rid of the most preposterously unnecessary emissions, how are we going to begin moving towards zero?” -Andreas Malm, How to Blow Up a Pipeline

If the first month or so of summer has told us anything, it is that the climate of our planet is anything but normal. From deadly heat around the world that gave rise to three consecutive days of record-shattering global temperatures to catastrophic rains that washed out swaths of New York State and Vermont, places typically somewhat immune to the harsher effects of weather systems, scientists are being quoted left and right on their concern that climate change is here and accelerating quickly. So, of course, our governments around the world are rushing to curb emissions and build a future in which we collectively work toward a common goal, right? And surely the people are rising up, taking to the streets, demanding – and creating – the kind of change we need to save ourselves? …

rafa esparza has an exhibition titled Camino on view through August 19 at Artist Space in NYC. The immersive installation ruminates on humans and cyborgs, mobility, access, the freeways of L.A. and more. The title has two meanings in Spanish, “road” and “I walk.” The work itself is a deconstructed section of freeway and reflects on how the construction of this system has divided the city of Los Angeles and affected lives in vastly different ways. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.

Rachel Stern joined us to talk about her exhibition, One Should Not Look at Anything at Baxter Street at the Camera Club of New York. The title comes from a line in Oscar Wilde’s Salomé, Stern herself being something of a Wilde devotee. Indeed the play informs the work itself. She was interested in the idea behind a line like this, in the tradition of the phrase “whatever you do don’t think about elephants.” To hear more about this show, listen to the complete interview.

Read the summary of this week's interviews and resources.