Thank you! Here is the Zoom talk with Carol Becker for replay

Published: Mon, 05/04/20

APRIL 20, 2020

Replay of Zoom talk feat. Carol Becker

We had a great time Saturday and I apologize that we were over capacity as the session was limited to 100 participants, and many people did not get to join, but next time there will be more room.

Here is the link to watch the session in its entirety - watch video here.

Also, the entire chat session is included below.

Thank you again for your interest in this, and I will send out announcements about the next talk soon.

Until then,

May you and your friends and family be safe,

Brainard + Delia

P.S. The recording of the last talk, with David Ross, is here.

This is the entire chat from the session -

11:52:56 From Brainard Carey : Quoting Carol Becker- Since so much of human external action has been stopped, and we now are living in this great Pause, how has our slow-down affected the planet? What might we learn from this catastrophe about our relationship to ourselves, each other, and the natural world. How might art and artists emerge from this as more obviously central to the collective well being of humans and the earth?
In Shambala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chogyam Trungpa writes that, “…healing our society goes hand-in-hand with healing our personal, elemental connection with the phenomenal world.”
Artists have a great role to play in making this recuperative process visible.

end of quote
11:53:09 From Brainard Carey : Carol Becker is Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts. Before this position she was Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

She holds a PhD in English and American Literature from the University of California, San Diego and has worked closely with the World Economic Forum to build their art and culture programming.

She also is the author of several books and numerous articles. Her books include: The Invisible Drama: Women and the Anxiety of Change; Zones of Contention: Essays on Art, Institutions, Gender, and Anxiety; Surpassing the Spectacle: Global Transformations and the Changing Politics of Art; The Subversive Imagination: Artists, Society, and Social Responsibility; Thinking in Place: Art, Action, and Cultural Production and the memoir Losing Helen.
11:53:28   From Brainard Carey : Where are you now and...
11:56:35   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : Marion from Paris, director of the Art Dpt of la Sorbonne
11:57:58   From bnaidus : Beverly from Tacoma, WA
11:58:13   From Anne Murray : I am in Budapest
11:58:23   From Alexander Strecker : Durham, NC (Duke)
11:58:40   From Anne Murray : Hi everyone
11:58:42   From jonkeppel : Hi, I’m from Northeast Ohio
11:59:14   From Anne Murray : thanks for doing this
11:59:24   From Brainard Carey : Since so much of human external action has been stopped, and we now are living in this great Pause, how has our slow-down affected the planet? What might we learn from this catastrophe about our relationship to ourselves, each other, and the natural world. How might art and artists emerge from this as more obviously central to the collective well being of humans and the earth?
In Shambala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chogyam Trungpa writes that, “…healing our society goes hand-in-hand with healing our personal, elemental connection with the phenomenal world.”
Artists have a great role to play in making this recuperative process visible.
11:59:25   From Anne Murray : salut a tous/tes
12:00:00   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : :) very convenient time thanks
12:01:01   From Carmen Tellez : I am in South Bend/Notre Dame, Indiana
12:01:06   From regina : Hallo from Regina Maria Moeller from Berlin, Artist and Flunder of the Magazine regina and the Label embodiment
12:02:03   From Adrian Martin : I’m Adrian, Australian film critic in Spain.
12:03:55   From john wilson : John. Baltimore. grad student mica
12:05:04   From drjaneann_dill@emerson.edu : Janeann Dill joined Artist/Scholar
12:05:11   From Mimi To Brainard Carey(privately) : I keep hitting the audio icon but there's no sound
12:08:52   From Anne Murray : Just reacting to your statement, should we be other to the dolphins, herons? I am wondering if thinking this way should go beyond species distinction, but more thinking of ourselves as indistinguishable from all things, as a body, the universe as a corporal entity… more than an ecosystem, but a total system of connections in the universe…
12:09:20   From Mimi To Brainard Carey(privately) : got it. Have to leave at 10.
12:09:48   From Anne Murray : would you say that artists are part of the M theory, the multiverse, able to see parallel or overlapping realities, as in quantum mechanics?
12:10:18   From Jonathan Herbert : yes
12:11:58   From Anne Murray : will artists emerge as another more equal position/profession in society alongside already venerated professions such as doctors, politicians, religious leaders, lawyers?
12:15:06   From Mindy R. Nierenberg : I wish but I thought that might happen after 9/11 and it didn’t sustain
12:16:02   From Jonathan Herbert : I believe we can offer connection to the universal spirit. If we can each one of us survive this economic devastation.
12:16:10   From Sheila Pepe : Can you put your vision in the context of an economic collape
12:16:38   From toti : This talk is great - thank you
12:16:41   From Sheila Pepe : collapse
12:17:36   From drjaneann_dill@emerson.edu : Thank you … love that you are speaking “in time” - the big pause points to the crossing of dimensions in stasis and in motion. I’ve always seen my role as making visible that which is invisible.
12:17:51   From Alexander Strecker : I know Brainard said we weren’t going to talk about higher ed, but given the economic climate / catastrophe, it seems hard to imagine how the next generation of artists will be able to take their place in our current, broken, unequal system (see: Columbia MFA, $60,000+/year)
12:17:52   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : This is the start of a long period of pandemies, we'll be more living like African people… surviving to different viruses till too tired to. Maybe after 3 or 4 pandémies, people would finally react in a positive way to the ecological challenge ?
12:18:06   From Anne Murray : I am wondering if artists could be consultants to many of these positions because of their unique ability to visualise things from multiple points of view and see problems and potential problems and solutions from multiple viewpoints?
12:18:16   From Suzanne Benton : What about the inner transformation happening because of this time allowing us to experience deeper levels of solitude?
12:19:17   From Beverly Naidus : It’s crucial that artists see a way to work in communities as healers, documenters, provocateurs and visionaries. This must be done in ethical ways that have been modeled by people doing cultural democracy work for decades. The old career paradigm created by the capitalist version of being an artist is not useful now. There’s a spectrum of practices that are important to help people recognize the vortex we’re moving through and how to adapt and be resilient in this Rite of Passage.
12:20:18   From Anne Murray : When you said tendrils, it made me think of the article in e-flux The Octopus in Love by Chus Martinez where she compares the art world to the octopus who has part of its brain in the decentralised position of the eight arms, which can act independently from thoughts in its brain
12:20:44   From drjaneann_dill@emerson.edu : Also applaud your call to historicizing (outside of illustrating it) in that Peter Sellers notion of under-sourcing the problem.
12:21:22   From Anne Murray : how will you create opportunities as the Dean at Columbia to advocate for this kind of change and exchange? Will you have specific conferences, activities?
12:22:54   From Anne Murray : yes, cultural democracy
12:24:04   From wendywoon : interesting that Holger Cahill, who set up WPA set up over a hundred community art centers and engaged artists to do workshops and teaching in communities (Southside Community Art Center in Chicago was one of those centers)
12:25:39   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : Fortunately, we never had this idea of success in France, since there was not enough money in contemporary art to compete
12:25:56   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : with the States for ex
12:26:33   From Anne Murray : and we are not highlighting those artists enough so they can be role models to others for cultural democracy
12:26:51   From michaelaschenbrenner : Define what is success is a great idea to talk about today. The 1980’s model is not working for most artists.
12:27:21   From toti : Yes - defining success is a big one!
12:27:27   From Anne Murray : I don’t know who the different speakers are to have a point of reference for where they are coming from, wish the names appeared with their video image
12:27:42   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : Considering a possible collapse, would success survive to the end of the concept of historicity ?
12:28:06   From Alexander Strecker : It’s very important, but it’s harder to pursue unconventional definitions of success if you are $100,000s of educational debt… (see note above about cost of MFAs)
12:28:16   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : What should artist do if cultural history stops ?
12:29:07   From Beverly Naidus : Success for artists right now is helping people move through this collapsing ecosystem - how do you reshape your practice to prepare for extinction…and deal with the uncertainty of this time?
12:29:10   From Beatriz Ledesma : educating artists within an individualist and narcissist society would imply to sift the focus for individual to community
12:29:20   From michaelaschenbrenner : For artists: I believe if you do your work success will follow. We ast artists need to clearly define what success is.
12:29:46   From alisamargolis : great to hear about Newton’s current perspective and projects
12:30:21   From MATTHEW : How could cultural history stop? I don’t understand the premise, Marion. Can you describe what that would look like, and what it means.
12:30:27   From jonkeppel : Inspired to share in light of these wonderful comments that I have taken to treating all of life as art and working on personhood as the work, referencing it as life art, manifesting, visualization, prayer, meditation, mindfulness to be a compassionate citizen of the world and perhaps let go of Danto’s concept of the art world as others are saying here and maybe see the borders between the everyday world and what has been the art world become interrelated to a new fresh healing time
12:31:33   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : OH, this is very complicated to explain… about cultural history collapse, this is Something that come back and back in the different shamanic initiations I had. Discussed about it a lot especially with the Pygmies…
12:32:45   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : Pygmies and Aborigens experiment the loss of their own history jusrt now and explain we would be the next to experiment it. I know it sound crazy, but actually it's quite understandable
12:33:06   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : forgot to say I was anthropologist
12:34:05   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : With the lack of money, history was the answer to success
12:34:24   From alisamargolis : how about our roles as teachers - to take responsibility for young people and to support them in their struggles? Have art schools prepared artists to be people “of the world” (as Kaprow said)? I think not, frankly. What would be the concrete steps to do so now?
12:34:45   From Anne Murray : I think that becoming successful in terms of notoriety also includes the envy to have enough fame to gain enough monetary income to create new projects that have more of a global reach with ideas, concepts, movements
12:34:56   From Marion Laval-Jeantet : I definitely Believe in vision transmission through art and teaching
12:35:24   From Anne Murray : can we advocate for a universal income for artists?
12:35:26   From Beverly Naidus : “How did this class prepare you for extinction?” https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-04-21/how-did-this-class-prepare-you-for-extinction
12:35:48   From Anne Murray : it is more than American this notion of success
12:36:04   From drjaneann_dill@emerson.edu : Bernard, may I respond? Briefly …
12:36:13   From Sheila Pepe : how about asking artist to have a full liberal arts educational base along with crafts - citizens first
12:37:31   From Anne Murray : I feel like I have to chase this success to have the opportunity to do bigger projects, it is a constant balance between rushing to apply for projects and saving the time and mental space to develop my own new works on new avenues that have not been introduced through these open calls or curatorial visions
12:39:00   From Batia : i agree, Anne
12:40:26   From Anne Murray : I would like to see that more value is placed, lauded for thinking and seeking out success through community action, global thinking and problem solving, new visions for the future of artists in society playing a role that is more integral into movement towards meliorism
12:41:21   From Jonathan Herbert : all this understood I still don't believe that any artist can achieve success at affecting the universe on any level without the material resources to continue functioning day-to-day.
12:41:35   From Anne Murray : is culture as a term inherently biased? I am wondering if we need even a new terminology that represents more inclusive visions, maybe cultural history ends and there is a new term and a new epic
12:42:31   From Mindy R. Nierenberg : Alisamargolis I think that’s been an urgent question in art education but now more than ever it’s crucial. A foundation in civic learning, root causes of social inequalities, systemic issues that impact climate change and economies, connecting the local to global…students need this knowledge to inform their art-making so they can truly be (as Beverly said) “healers, documentarians, provocateurs and visionaries”, and collaborate with communities to address issues, in recognition of the wisdom that lies there.
12:42:48   From Sheila Pepe : the 1% of the art world - schools and museums already has begun erasing the cultural history of the world
12:42:56   From Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan von Miller : perhaps you need a new look at education, a religion that has inspired many centuries of artists? a democratic society is supplanted by a society of desire for money. The art of Athens now ultimately turns into the art landfills installations! real art brings together opening the audience a new look at the artist's world to rethink
12:42:58   From Batia : sounds like the issue is, how to survive beyond the daily hustle of income as an artist to get to the level we truly need and want to function at as community leaders and thinkers....
12:43:17   From Jonathan Herbert : "god" did make those objects. they/it used us as the conduit.
12:43:24   From Anne Murray : what an important point and explanation about the artist and their/his/her relationship to the museum
12:43:56   From toti : Yes - thank you for your thoughts
12:44:43   From Anne Murray : I would like to as some questions after her
12:44:52   From Anne Murray : ask
12:45:46   From Anne Murray : notion of luck in the success of artists??
12:46:22   From Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan von Miller : surprisingly, for a month now I delve into the ancient texts of Tibet! Aboriginal people are more human than we when they invade their world with our innovations. is this an occasion to think about what is actually a person that artists and the society of the present will be able to pass on to future generations in the cultural heritage?
12:46:43   From Alexander Strecker : Thank you Brainard and Carol for organizing this! Take care everyone <3
12:46:44   From robert lyons To Brainard Carey(privately) : Maybe as we move forward to “educate” students that it is more important to build community and cross link these communities with various other social communities that the paradigm of artist as individual….
12:46:56   From Anne Murray : good point to say accepting the alienation and guarding/preserving your integrity
12:47:33   From Anne Murray : my thesis was about courage as an elixir
12:48:18   From Anne Murray : I never even dared to think of myself as ever being a celebrity artist when I was a student
12:48:19   From Carmen Tellez : Such wonderful words Janeann!
12:49:15   From jonkeppel : Carol, What if we bring artists into museums more so that the process as you explained can be engaged with directly through dialogue, talks, Q&A, round tables that may have objects interrelated but maybe just the talking not just about art but talking as art could go on and engage artists, museum folks and the general community? Sometimes I think this Zoom talk is a contemporary version of what a museum could be…people talking with people as a compliment to object hood, a place for people
12:49:53   From drjaneann_dill@emerson.edu : Thank you so much, Carmen.
12:50:12   From Mindy R. Nierenberg : I am also in higher ed in Boston (Tufts) but disagree about the absence of courage in students. I see students taking risks, speaking “truth to power”, recognizing their privilege and stepping so far outside their comfort zones.
12:50:15   From Jonathan Herbert : being an artist is a revolutionary act
12:50:34   From Sarah Cunningham : Yes, since we have enclosed nature within the category of object and property, this was in large part relegated to the cabinet of historical curiosities, when things were given this animist, fetishist energy, at a past moment in the evolution of human reason, these distinctions between animals and persons, objects and subjects, nature and culture were not yet clearly demarcated... but I think we are gradually starting to realise that the most fundamental human rights are bounded with the very environs that we inhabit, and the life of other species with which we co exist... very thankful we are having these discussions right now.
12:51:01   From drjaneann_dill@emerson.edu : Michael - yes, external (parents) approval …
12:52:22   From Anne Murray : this is exactly what I am wondering about, why are artists so undervalued
12:52:23   From Anne Murray : ?
12:52:47   From Mindy R. Nierenberg To Brainard Carey(privately) : This is terrific. Is there a way to get contact info of people and have a convo again, even if Carol is not available? Thank you
12:53:11   From Anne Murray : this denial element is so true
12:53:11   From Sheila Pepe : the answer to the American cultural question is born in the original’s of the country - if history were a true part of ur education we would understanding that implicity
12:53:46   From Brainard Carey : if anyone wants to keep in touch, put your contact info here and i will share this chat with all attendees after ward with the video replay
12:53:48   From drjaneann_dill@emerson.edu : Anne: my expertises are in fine art and film (teach Animation Histories) - so the “film industry” plants those seeds of celebrity as well as their own inadequacies …
12:53:55   From Sheila Pepe : I’d like trout this to the group verbally
12:53:57   From Anne Murray : this is exactly how I was thinking, we need to tell artists that this is the gap they fill, they are so important for this reason
12:54:08   From drjaneann_dill@emerson.edu : drjaneanndill@alum.calarts.edu
12:54:11   From Beverly Naidus : Some of my students at UW Tacoma are very courageous despite being exhausted. They are mostly working class (multiple service jobs), 60% students of color, learning how systems of oppression have impacted their lives and speaking out about it. They are doing projects in their apartment windows and front yards, trying to create dialog with neighbors and are taking lots of risks doing this.
12:54:11   From susanhensel : susan@susanhenselprojects.com
12:54:16   From Laura Curry : lauracurry1@me.com
12:54:17   From Brainard Carey To Sheila Pepe(privately) : ok, you want to ask a question?
12:54:24   From Brainard Carey To Sheila Pepe(privately) : with the mic?
12:54:28   From Anne Murray : so when teams are formed, I think artists should be part of them, task forces, etc
12:54:34   From Mindy R. Nierenberg : Mindy.nierenberg@tufts.edu
12:54:36   From Sarah Cunningham : sarah.cunningham@network.rca.ac.uk
12:54:36   From Sheila Pepe To Brainard Carey(privately) : sure
12:54:51   From Brainard Carey To Sheila Pepe(privately) : ok, one moment
12:55:12   From Anne Murray : anne@annemurrayartist.com
12:55:22   From alisamargolis : alisamargolis@gmail.com jeremiah_day@hotmail.com
12:55:29   From Beverly Naidus : It’s spectrum of practices that we need to offer to keep young people resilient in this time.
12:55:36   From jonkeppel : jonkkeppel@gmail.com
12:55:57   From Lisa Blas : Carol, In reference to the questions you are asking to your students, « what are your thinking about / working on now », are you recording these responses in an archive of sorts?
12:56:05   From Anne Murray : thank you so much for your answers Carol
12:56:07   From toti : letting their doubt go is - Powerful
12:56:15   From Batia : batiaartist@gmail.com
12:56:22   From Heather : heather.nicol@gmail.com
12:56:23   From mlaird : mwlaird@yahoo.com
12:56:23   From Nadine Renazile : narenstudio@gmail.com
12:56:26   From Shelly Silver : info@5lessonsmovie.com
12:56:41   From Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan von Miller : boh.dan@yahoo.com
12:56:45   From Jonathan Herbert : jhstudio68@gmail.com
12:56:49   From aaronetra : Aaron@etra.com
12:56:52   From Carmen Tellez : In some institutions there seems to be a critical mass of students caught between their desire to be artists and their parents and institutions’ pressures to be financially successful. This leads the students to undertake two and three majors, to satisfy these different goals. The context does matter in the cultivation of artistic purpose and courage versus meeting parental and institutional concerns for financial success. Universities need to discuss more fully what support for the arts can truly mean in the new society after the pandemic.
12:56:53   From Sarah Olson : Sarah@sarah-olson.com
12:56:54   From elenabajo : elena@elenabajo.com
12:56:59   From Mimi : mimilauducci@gmail.com
12:57:02   From lucia gomez : arte@luciagomez.com
12:57:06   From Beverly Naidus : bnaidus@uw.edu - co-facilitating several Zooms about activist art in this time and reimagining the world we want - contact me for details.
12:57:07   From Katherine Guillen : katherine.guillen@duke.edu
12:57:11   From Adrian Martin : adrian.martin@monash.edu
12:57:14   From darleneaschbacher : daa230@nyu.edu
12:57:16   From Daniel Bozhkov : bozhkovdaniel@gmail.com
12:57:19   From MATTHEW : Matthew Rose / matthew.rose.paris@gmail.com Instagram: @mistahcoughdrop
12:57:25   From Ann Rosenthal To Brainard Carey(privately) : please keep me on your mail list atrart@gmail.com. great discussion. thank you.
12:57:25   From meredith : meredith_nickie@yahoo.com
12:57:26   From michaelaschenbrenner : michaelaschenbrenner@hotmail.com
12:57:42   From Anne Murray : thank you Sheila for this reference to Calvinism, I was unaware to even research this as an origin to the perception of artists in American culture
12:57:53   From michaelaschenbrenner : I am enjoying this conversation. More to cover than just one meeting.
12:57:56   From Beverly Naidus : Read Arts for Change: Teaching Art Outside the Frame
12:57:59   From Maureen Reardon : CardinalPointsPlace@gmail.com Maureen Reardon Thank you!
12:58:00   From Mimi To Brainard Carey(privately) : mimilauducci@gmail.com
12:58:18   From Anne Murray : I am so grateful for this discussion!!
12:58:39   From jonkeppel : Also very grateful for this discussion. Thank you for this.
12:58:42   From Jonathan Herbert : hang together or separately!
12:58:50   From ronnie landfield : Thank you all, Keep working, Keep creating and stay safe
12:59:14   From MATTHEW : Merci Brainard and Carol. Appreciate your organization of this and your thoughts on the future of what we’re doing.
12:59:28   From drjaneann_dill@emerson.edu : I often recommend to my students, THE COURAGE TO CREATE by Rollo May.
12:59:40   From Mimi : yes. Keep creating & keep working
12:59:44   From toti : I make work etc but, I’ve had the privilege of teaching art to kids at times - and, giving them Permission.. seemed, felt, like what empowered them, what got that doubt leaving :)
12:59:47   From Brainard Carey To Sheila Pepe(privately) : thanks Matthew, so glad you came
12:59:58   From Brainard Carey : thanks Matthew, so glad you came
13:00:02   From Anne Murray : Yes!!
13:00:06   From ronnie landfield : Thanks Brainard, important moment
13:00:07   From Anne Murray : the year of water!!!
13:00:11   From Anne Murray : exactly
13:00:13   From lucia gomez : So interesting thank you !
13:00:14   From Anne Murray : wonderful
13:00:15   From Mimi : mimilauducci@gmail.com
13:00:20   From robert lyons To Brainard Carey(privately) : thank you for a great meet-up
13:00:35   From Anne Murray : can you share your email carol
13:00:42   From elenabajo : thank you so much Carol and Brainard for this talk, so inspiring and encouraging in these times
13:00:47   From Anne Murray : i would love to talk to you more about that year of water
13:00:50   From Anne Murray : how that worked
13:00:55   From Anne Murray : and the direction
13:00:55   From Batia : this has been so helpful as i have been re-apporaching, evolving personal misson/vision statement right now as an artist-- and it is about community and spirit...this is exact continuation of my personal process right now...including to re-envision my website, not just updating it which i originally planned.... fuller, more whole, holistic...
13:01:03   From aaronetra : Yes, inter-weaving issues like water with creativity is an important contribution
13:01:03   From Jonathan Herbert : we are mostly water. 98% ?
13:01:10   From Mindy R. Nierenberg : Thank you Carol. You have been a hero to me for many years and someone whose work has been seminal to me as an artist, educator, and higher ed administrator. I am so glad to see you in person and hear your thinking, even though it’s virtual :-) Your work has mattered deeply to me and those with whom I’ve shared your ideas over the years.
13:01:19   From Anne Murray : you should invite Kader Attia to speak on repair, his art is about this
13:01:22   From jennalash : So inspiring! jenna Lash- lash.jenna@gmail.com
13:01:23   From toti : Thank you Brainard and Carol
13:01:30   From Sarah Olson : This was truly incredible especially around WATER as I am working on this issue in my work. This has been an incredible talk! Sarah Olson / Sarah@sarah-olson.com/ instagram @olsonelizabethsarah www.sarah-olson.com #riseallboats
13:01:35   From Beatriz Ledesma : thank you Brainard
13:01:37   From Sheila Pepe : Thank you all
13:01:44   From Anne Murray : thank you so much Brainard!!
13:01:45   From Carmen Tellez : Thank you, Brainard! The replay would be fantastic—so much to share with students!
13:01:45   From Lisa Blas : Thank you Brainard, Thank you Carol.
13:01:46   From Sarah Cunningham : Thank you Carol and Brainard!
13:01:49   From silvia rocciolo : Thank you so much!
13:01:51   From aaronetra : Thank you Brainerd and Carol
13:01:52   From Jonathan Herbert : love to all
13:01:54   From alisamargolis : Repair! Excellent - inspired and constructive - thank you for this
13:01:54   From Jennie : Thank you all for this conversation. So Rich. Best.
13:01:55   From hermionespriggs : Thanks everyone x
13:01:57   From Sarah Olson : Thank you so much Brainard!! And Carol!!
13:01:57   From stephanie farquhar : Thank you!
13:01:58   From Pierre : thank you
13:01:59   From Adrian Martin : Thanks everyone!
13:01:59   From michaelaschenbrenner To Brainard Carey(privately) : Thank you Brainard for hosting this
13:01:59   From Batia : thanks, Brainard!
13:02:03   From susancohn : Thank you