each month at my son's elementary school there is a moral "theme" that the children explore within the bookends of 4 weeks. they are natural words that make sense to every sized brains: curiosity, kindness, honesty... that is except for our first word of the year: accountability. i spent the beginnings of autumn contemplating such a big concept. are accountability and responsibility the same thing? who do i know (myself included) that is truly accountable for their actions? how is a 6 year old tasked with being accountable? while i am still in the swamp of the high question/low answer ratio, i do believe that it's a value i'd love for our us a collective community to consider. this means how can we be action oriented right now, today. it's so easy to slide in the soup of victim, overwhelm, blame, anxiety or exhaustion, especially if you have a smart phone and assaulted by news and content every waking minute. perhaps instead of the abuse of the word boundaries (i know that's a contentious statement but hear me out, remember jonah hill. don't you find this word heavily employed with the self obsessed) how can we show up for each other in these moments of national and international horror and tragedy? can you take interpersonal and political accountability to protect the planet and your home alike? i hope so. i really hope that voting is high on your accountability list. and on that note in the push picks you'll find some resources to support asheville if you're feeling the challenge to find the right org to contribute to.
hard to transition after my impassioned diatribe but i'll do my best properly introduce you to a wonderful person that i admire deeply. few people professionally "get me" more than today's push picks. not only is she a friend and fellow frenetic gemini but she's brilliant at translating concepts into action: huge community initiative, exhibitions, incubators... you name it. please click on her grain of sand hyperlink. you won't be sorry. also, julia are we still having lunch on tomorrow ;)
without further ado...
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Julia Kaganskiy is a curator and cultural strategist working across art, science and technology. She is passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration, developing new cultural models, and re-imagining cultural institutions as inclusive spaces for artistic experimentation. Since starting her career in 2008, she has been recognized as a leading voice in art and technology and helped launch several groundbreaking programs in the field, including The Creators Project (VICE/Intel) and NEW INC (New Museum). Her curatorial practice explores the potential of art as a key interlocutor of emerging science and technology. Until recently, she served as Curator-at-Large at LAS Art Foundation in Berlin, where she oversaw the Interspecies Future research stream and co-edited the book Interspecies Future: A Primer (Distanz, 2024). As an independent curator, she has worked with Onassis ONX (New York, US), HEK (Basel, CH), 180 the Strand (London, UK), Matadero Madrid (Madrid, ES), Espacio Fondación Telefónica (Madrid, ES), Borusan Contemporary (Istanbul, TY), Science Gallery (Dublin, IE), Barbican Centre (London, UK), Eyebeam Center for Art & Technology (New York, US), Mana Contemporary, (Jersey City, US), Feral File and many others.
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what kind of life do you want to live?
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Oh man, this is deep! I honestly don't really know how to answer this one because I feel like I'm always torn between the life that I naturally gravitate towards and some abstract, idealized life that I aspire towards wanting. These days, I'm trying to work against my magpie Gemini tendencies to slow down, ground more, focus more, and be in one place for more than 4 weeks at a time. For the past few years I've been living in NYC but working mostly in Europe and, as generative as that time has been, it's left me feeling a bit unmoored (and permanently jet-lagged). Rather than trying to see/experience/learn about the whole world all at once, I now want to see if I can learn to see "the whole world in a grain of sand," as Blake put it. But in order to do so, I need stillness--which is hard to do when you're on the road all the time. So in this moment, the life that seems "ideal" is one that's rooted in a sense of place and community. In particular, I often find myself fantasizing about opening a space. Ideally something collectively run, where we could host exhibitions, talks, dinners, performances, educational workshops, etc. Not exactly a gallery per se, but something that feels warm and intimate, something that can become part of the fabric of a neighborhood and help nurture and support a creative ecosystem. Perhaps something more like a bookstore/coffee-shop/bar/screening room with an art component--or some combo of those things. The economics of sustaining an arts space in a city as famously expensive as NYC are not especially favorable, so the vision is a bit murky. Even so, it feels somehow... attainable? Like, if I can just get a couple of like-minded (and slightly delulu) folks together we could totally make it happen...
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I just co-curated the exhibition "Group Hug", currently on view at WSA in Lower Manhattan through Oct 20 (open Thurs-Sun, 1-7pm). It's an exhibition that features three large-scale, site-specific installations by artists who work with video game technologies to create interactive works that defy traditional gaming logics. I worked with a Greek artist named Theo Triantafyllidis to present a very ambitious new multiplayer game called Feral Metaverse. The work critiques the tech industry's corporatized vision for the so-called "metaverse" and offers an alternative, more primal take on how we might live together online, one that centers the body and disinhibition rather than consumerism and productivity. It asks us to consider how we design and inhabit virtual "public spaces", as well as what kind of social dynamics these spaces encourage and allow. The physical installation features a custom 8-player gaming rig in the shape of a medieval catapult. It's definitely a sight to behold! I love that the project has a lot of humor in it while maintaining a strong critical position -- it made the opening especially fun. It was so great to see people play the game and really engage with it. It's been a while since I've had the chance to curate something in NYC so it felt extra special to be able to share this project with friends here. <3
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julia's social impact project
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It's a crazy time in the world right now. I happen to have family in both Ukraine, where I was born, and the Middle East. My heart goes out to all those who have been injured, killed or displaced by the wars in these places and elsewhere. I try to give regularly to Doctors Without Borders so they can continue to try to provide aid and help save lives in these regions.
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I recently saw EO, a film told from the perspective of a donkey, and I can't recommend it enough.
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Eartheater's cover of "Chop Suey" is so hauntingly beautiful I regularly have it on repeat
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julia's article of the week
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Have you too been wondering what Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch are up to? This NYTimes profile details how the "pre-eminent artists of Internet culture escaped to rural Ohio" to build a movie-studio-cum-amusement-park in the sticks.
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As the weather grows colder, I have to shout out 5ive Spice and their delicious pho, which has gotten me through many a flu season.
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Not exactly a flower, but I have a strong fondness for dandelions. When I was a little girl in Kyiv, my great-grandmother taught me how to make dandelion crowns and, ever since then, I've always loved them. I love how they turn into those little fluffy seed clouds -- I know some people hate them but what could be more enchanting? Plus, they're very nutritious and a great plant to work with medicinally.
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and a few picks from push...
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planting a food forest with MOLD!
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love this campaign with artist Beverly McIver encouraging people to get out and vote!
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Beloved Asheville is regularly filling up their trucks with food, water and gas and distributing it in Asheville. Donations go directly to funding the food, water and supplies they are bringing.
Mountain Mule Packer Ranch are taking strings of pack mules with supplies to hard hit areas that are not accessible by any other way.
Operation Airdrop is providing direct disaster relief to communities most impacted by this storm. They are based in North Carolina.
The Cajun Navy 2016 is bringing supplies directly to the people.
Grassroots Aid Partnership - Another local, grassroots org that is cooking meals locally sourced and distributing in Asheville.
Hearts with Hands disaster relief in Asheville -
Asheville Dream center is setting up a large distribution center of supplies at the Asheville Mall.
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nutrition and healthcare facilities
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we hope you are loving the transitional weather and that you enjoyed another installment of push picks. as always, if you like what you read, forward it to someone or encourage them to sign up. it would mean the world to us 🌎
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