Ask Addoley + Anna is a collaboration between artists Addoley Dzegede and Anna Ihle in podcast- format. Available on podcast platforms. “A Different World” by Ask Addoley + Anna is part of “A Structure Envisioned for Changing Circumstances” (ASEFCC) curated by Maija Rudovska (Blind Carbon Copy), in close partnership with Amy Mackie (PARSE NOLA) and Tina Rigby Hanssen (Vestfold Art Center), and brings together artists from the United States, Latvia, and Norway.
www.asefcc.org
In the first episode of Season 4, “A Different World,” Addoley and Anna are back after one and a half years, recording from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Stavanger, Norway. Addoley and Anna tally things that have changed for them during the pandemic: Addoley learning Spanish and Anna becoming a mother.
David Ashley Kerr is the first guest of the season. David is a curator and artist, who lives and works in Riga. Latvia. He helps Addoley and Anna give advice on how to stay out of the grind, how to avoid the “how’s your project going” conversation, as well as what one can offer as an artist to a partner. In the other half of the episode, Addoley and Anna bring in Inga Meldere, an artist from Latvia who lives in Helsinki. The questions that Inga chose to help Addoley and Anna’s listeners with are connected to parenting. How to be an artist and mother when your partner has other expectations in life? What to do if your child is an extrovert and you’re an introvert?
For the second episode of Season 4, “A Different World,” Addoley and Anna have New Orleans-based artists Cristina Molina and Dave Greber help out as guest advisors. Both artists are part of the project, “A Structure Envisioned for Changing Circumstances,” along with Ask Addoley + Anna. Cristina and Dave bring up how Hurricane Ida, as well as the pandemic, has brought about changes in life and work. Cristina and Dave give advice on time management and how to prioritize. Another question regarding what an artist can offer as a partner amplifies the different cultural contexts in the conversation—as hurricanes and healthcare may play a big part in how to address the question. When a listener asks how to smoothly leave a project, Cristina offers up the best sentences to memorize.
For the third episode of Ask Addoley + Anna’s Season 4, Anna and Addoley talk with artist and curator Kaspars Groševs in Riga and art worker Airi Triisberg in Tallinn.
Addoley records from her apartment, Anna in the hallway at home (complete with baby sounds in the background), and Kaspars from bed. With Kaspars, they talk about how their relationship with social media has changed during the pandemic. A listener is very tired of looking at contemporary art and wonders what to do. Perhaps they should spend their time looking at something else, as Kaspars suggests. Addoley prefers getting inspiration from things other than art in the world. Anna thinks spending longer stretches of time, even with bad art, can help. Anna brings up (again) the question of how to have meaningful conversations with artists without ego driving it.
When Addoley and Anna have Airi on, they tackle two of many workplace-related problems submitted by listeners. Airi draws on her own experience of working with art workers’ rights. What do you do when you have a solo show at an institution but they refuse to pay you an artist fee? Or how can you follow up after taking all the steps in filing a complaint regarding sexual misconduct at your workplace?
In the final episode of Season 4: A Different World, Addoley and Anna have invited Maija Rudovska (Riga, Latvia), the curator of “A Structure Envisioned for Changing Circumstances,” to help give advice along with her colleague Amy Mackie (from Parse Nola, New Orleans). In response to a listener’s question about art travel and climate change, Maija challenges the notion of going back to “normal.” Another listener wonders how to deal with envy towards their friends’ successes, leading Amy to question how success is defined. Maija opens up about how she changed her perspective and stopped constantly running after “a better life.” As curators, they both reflect on how to create boundaries for oneself and separate life and work in a healthy way. An artist with a practice spanning over a decade is wondering whether their work should surprise the audience with every new exhibition. Listen to find out how Amy and Maija respond as curators, and Addoley and Anna as fellow artists.
Learn more about our guests at:
www.david-ashleykerr.com and www.meldere.com
www.cristinamolina.com and www.thesculpted.com
www.kasprsg.com www.fourtoseven.info and www.art-workers.org
www.parsenola.org and www.blindcarboncopy.org
Anna Ihle 