“If not us, then who?
If not now, then when?”

-John Lewis

 

The world does not belong to us. We must, as a species, begin to unwind our belief that we are the owners and arbiters of this planet. This is the moment, the tipping point at which we decide the fate of the generations who will come after us. Our children, their children and beyond will look back on this moment. What will they see when they do? Will we have taken the necessary action to not only reverse the damage already done, but set up a restorative future? Only time will tell.

 

Benjamin Bertocci spoke to us from New York City where he is at work on a new series of large paintings. He has an upcoming show with another artist at VonAmmonco Gallery in Washington, D.C. The show will be all new work, mostly larger paintings. The paintings represent pixels and are about 4′ tall by 3′ wide. Bertocci had been working on small pieces, and he has essentially taken the images in these and blown them up to this larger size. His medium is oil and plastic entombed on canvas meaning that he takes white artist canvas and uses an epoxy resin to create a mold that covers the front and sides of the painting, in essence entombing the painting in plastic. To hear more about his work, listen to the complete interview.

 

Rebecca Bryant spoke to us from Long Beach, California. She reports that it has been an interesting year. One of her roles is as a dance teacher at California State University Long Beach, but she has been on sabbatical for the last year. This means that some of her normal activity, which includes making dance pieces with the students, has not been happening. This has given Bryant time to step back and refuel to some extent. She is now beginning to prepare for her fall classes when her sabbatical ends. In addition to creating dance pieces for her own practice, Bryant writes and creates video pieces to accompany her performances. To hear more about her work, teaching and more, listen to the complete interview.